[sbanerjee]

Seeing folks tell "I want to buy a M2, M3, M16" etc. It's always an M2 or whatever and not a.

[binand]

Originally Posted by Guite

It's random capitalization. People apparently use it to stress certain words. To me as a reader it seems pretty random, I find it difficult to read. It's a trend I dislike. It does not have any grammatical basis.

In the early days of Internet, these techniques were used to convey emphasis and emotions.

* Underlining by using underscores. I _will not_ permit it.
* Emphasis by using slashes. I am /completely/ at a loss as to what to say.
* Bold, using asterisks. The *single largest* polluter in the world.
* Strikethrough using hyphens. The -nation- world is not yet ready for it.
* Shouting using capitals. Will you please STAY ON TOPIC?

This is because many people accessed Internet only via text-based terminals where formatted text couldn't be displayed.

[AZT]

This thread made me check out Sam Kapasi and find out about his tragic untimely death in 2012. Such a loss to the fraternity.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Sam was a great guy, a noble Team-BHPian, and a scholar of English language for pleasure.

Originally Posted by binand

In the early days of Internet, these techniques were used to convey emphasis and emotions.

In the early days of the internet, and the late days of manual typewriting, we did not have bold or italic, just one monospaced font.

It's worth thinking about these typographic flourishes, though. Do we really need them? Most good novels will not lack for expression, but will use italic or bold type sparsely. We can express ourselves well without them, sometimes with a little effort.

[Guite]

Originally Posted by sbanerjee

Seeing folks tell "I want to buy a M2, M3.

Sorry to pick on you Mr /Ms Banerjee. The use of "tell" in this context is so common that it has come to be accepted as normal. The correct word in your sentence should have been "say", as in "Seeing folks say, 'I want to buy....'".

There is a big difference between usage of tell and say. When you use the word "tell" there has to be a specific recipient, a person, whether direct or implied. Direct: "The guard told the kids to scoot". Implied: "Nitin was telling a joke". In second example there are listeners to the joke.

The word "say" is used to make statement with no specific recipient or listeners in mind. "Galileo said the world is round". (Please ignore any technical inaccuracy in this statement).

Originally Posted by binand

In the early days of Internet, these techniques were used to convey emphasis and emotions.

* Underlining by using underscores. I _will not_ permit it.
* Emphasis by using slashes. I am /completely/ at a loss as to what to say.
* Bold, using asterisks. The *single largest* polluter in the world.

This is because many people accessed Internet only via text-based terminals where formatted text couldn't be displayed.

We used to do that in the nineties in WordStar application, before WYSIWYG. However I think this casual attitude towards correct written English is a recent phenomenon.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by sbanerjee

Seeing folks tell "I want to buy a M2, M3, M16" etc. It's always an M2 or whatever and not a.

In my humble opinion, it should be an, because we say, "An em two," and saying "uh em two" has no flow.

Originally Posted by Guite

Sorry to pick on you Mr /Ms Banerjee. The use of "tell" in this context is so common that it has come to be accepted as normal. The correct word in your sentence should have been "say", as in "Seeing folks say, 'I want to buy....'"

Piling in, (no hard feelings) there is only half a sentence there. Who or what is doing the seeing?

Next...

The thing that annoys me than anything, and this forum is full of it these days, is what I just did. More than? Less than? What than? That than is absolutely meaningless without its qualifier. There is no assumed more, bigger, louder, smellier, etc: it must be stated.

Perhaps the biggest problem for the English language, is that we can always work it out. We almost always know what the other person means, but that doesn't make it right.

Mostly, when I type break, or loose, the reader, from the context knows without even thinking about it that I meant brake, or lose. To name but two of my most regular mistakes in the only language I know!

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

In my humble opinion, it should be an, because we say, "An em two," and saying "uh em two" has no flow.
.....
.....

Is it to do with 'flow' or the fact that the following word begins with a vowel/vowel sound? M is spoken as 'em'.

[sbanerjee]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Is it to do with 'flow' or the fact that the following word begins with a vowel/vowel sound? M is spoken as 'em'.

It has got to do with the vowel sound. M (em) starts with a short e.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Is it to do with 'flow' or the fact that the following word begins with a vowel/vowel sound?

Yes.

Originally Posted by sbanerjee

It has got to do with the vowel sound. M (em) starts with a short e.

Yes.

Which indefinite article would you use for Em dash? Not only is English my mother tongue, but I have also worked in publishing and typesetting, and I assure you that it is an em dash.

Equally...

M <--- That letter is an M. This is kindergarten stuff!

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by sbanerjee

Seeing folks tell "I want to buy a M2, M3, M16" etc. It's always an M2 or whatever and not a.

Where did you see this on the forum?

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

The thing that annoys me than anything, and this forum is full of it these days, is what I just did.

Or this?

I think these might have been the exceptions, rather than the general usage. Both sound incorrect just rolling off the tongue, and I doubt they may be in common usage.

[sbanerjee]

Originally Posted by mayankk

Where did you see this on the forum?

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/luxur...2c-vs-m3c.html (BMW M2c vs M3c)

Under this thread.

[binand]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

The thing that annoys me than anything, and this forum is full of it these days, is what I just did. More than? Less than? What than? That than is absolutely meaningless without its qualifier.

The complementary problem of the missing "than" and beyond is also quite prevalent.

"These days rain is a bigger problem". Bigger than what? The comparative needs something to compare with.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by binand

The complementary problem of the missing "than" and beyond is also quite prevalent.

"These days rain is a bigger problem". Bigger than what? The comparative needs something to compare with.

It could be, "There was a time when cows used to be an issue on this route. These days, rain is a bigger problem."

Or a response in continuation, though this would be more in a conversational aspect. Would be incorrect academically, I think:

A: "Cows are a big problem on this route".
B:[..quote]..[/quote] These days, rain is a bigger problem.

[binand]

Originally Posted by mayankk

It could be, "There was a time when cows used to be an issue on this route. These days, rain is a bigger problem."

Yes, if there is contextual information available the comparison point could be possibly dropped. But not otherwise. I have seen MSM journalists making this mistake.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by Samurai

A.R.Rahman made the classic Indian mistake of interchanging the word marriage for wedding during his acceptance speech. The celebrity crowd now must be under the impression that A.R.Rahman must be terrified throughout his marriage, although he meant only during his wedding.

Since he refereed to his marriage in past tense, they must also think he is divorced.

Somehow remembered this post and had to search for it, on browsing through the hot threads column just now