tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7099099432720184584.post594689386545091106..comments2023-10-28T19:42:01.039+01:00Comments on Going fast, getting nowhere: The Bunsen Burner EffectRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15743685798068014455noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7099099432720184584.post-85861159930388966832012-03-11T09:42:24.274+00:002012-03-11T09:42:24.274+00:00Try writing a patent application in Word.
With a...Try writing a patent application in Word. <br /><br />With a careful mix of scientific accuracy and legal soundness, the average patent claim sends Word's grammar check into apoplexy.patentlyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00602962323262055007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7099099432720184584.post-10766773701967827762012-03-11T07:22:51.687+00:002012-03-11T07:22:51.687+00:00I'm a happy-go-lucky thrill-seeking kinda guy,...I'm a happy-go-lucky thrill-seeking kinda guy, so I use Word with the grammar and spell checkers turned off, and don't F7 a last-minute check, even when writing to the Queen. I like to live dangerously.<br /><br />But seriously, Word's suggestions do seem to be all primary colours (colors) and My First Handwriting Primer. Often, their suggestions for 'improvements' make me laugh out loud. The parameters are not set too high - it's the standards that are too low. They seem to have joined the 'if it's difficult it must be elitist and bad' movement.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743685798068014455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7099099432720184584.post-22727106096625231372012-03-11T06:32:43.056+00:002012-03-11T06:32:43.056+00:00"Nothing wrong with that, whoever you are. &q...<i>"Nothing wrong with that, whoever you are. "</i><br /><br />I think we all know who he isn't...<br /><br /><i>" I sometimes run a grammar check in Word, and it almost always admonishes me for being 'difficult'.."</i><br /><br />We long ago gave up using that in my office, as even the simplest training and guidance document got similarly flagged. It seems the parameters are set too high.<br /><br />Or...maybe they just anticipate the inevitable dumbing-down of our society?JuliaMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07844126589712842477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7099099432720184584.post-2346518562576908712012-03-10T16:48:17.380+00:002012-03-10T16:48:17.380+00:00You're right, of course. In terms of readabil...You're right, of course. In terms of readability I was talking about the passive voice rather then the third person, but as you say they amount to the same thing. I sometimes run a grammar check in Word, and it almost always admonishes me for being 'difficult', before suggesting some primary-school alternative to my finely-honed rhetoric.<br /><br />No, I wouldn't expect it in a diary. Context is everything. As you say, language can be used to cloak the truth, even from oneself.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743685798068014455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7099099432720184584.post-66200593245203454582012-03-10T16:33:53.008+00:002012-03-10T16:33:53.008+00:00Anyone who has extensively used Word's grammar...Anyone who has extensively used Word's grammar checker will be familiar with the whining it creates about using 'passive voice'. Not exactly the same thing in terms of grammar maybe but it often leads to the same sentence structures.<br />But 3rd person is correct for science because it ensures that the science - equipment, sample, process etc - becomes the object of each sentence. That's good because the science is the subject of the writeup (not the experimenter).<br />But I would not expect 3rd person in someone's diary, or recollections where that person is the subject.<br />Joyce was using it to deflect criticism from himself, making the situation impersonal, which is rather sneaky and fits somewhat with my recent thoughts on terminology at http://grumpologist.blogspot.com/2012/03/using-right-words.htmlWoodsy42https://www.blogger.com/profile/12355671210161625647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7099099432720184584.post-48751415465925821062012-03-10T16:29:30.942+00:002012-03-10T16:29:30.942+00:00Not quite: some were councillors (moot point, I kn...Not quite: some were councillors (moot point, I know) and one was a policeman. And he broke a window in the copshop. Nevertheless, well said, Sir.<br /><br />He called the Tory MPs 'c*nts', too, so he can't have been all that drunk.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743685798068014455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7099099432720184584.post-65853479762696070912012-03-10T14:18:14.556+00:002012-03-10T14:18:14.556+00:00Must have been a difficult sentencing decision.
...Must have been a difficult sentencing decision. <br /><br />On the one hand, some aspects point towards a serious custodial sentence. He was drunk & disorderly, he assaulted several people, and he is an MP who should know better. <br /><br />On the other hand, other aspects point towards a total discharge, specifically that all the people he hit were MPs.patentlyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00602962323262055007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7099099432720184584.post-89811144733710435632012-03-10T12:48:49.911+00:002012-03-10T12:48:49.911+00:00Nothing wrong with that, whoever you are. The lang...Nothing wrong with that, whoever you are. The language belongs to us, and we use it how we choose. I just thought his choice of expression was an interesting one, as I see it all the time when 'hard choices' have to be made and 'difficult decisions' taken. Look how the cost of staging the Olympics has mysteriously 'risen' to eleventy million pounds, as opposed to 'we've been given carte blanche to piss all your money up the wall, and by God we're going to do it, and then some'. A neutral observation, rather then a personal admission.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743685798068014455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7099099432720184584.post-74657213955386979342012-03-10T12:45:50.133+00:002012-03-10T12:45:50.133+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743685798068014455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7099099432720184584.post-9809507949551396972012-03-10T12:36:31.772+00:002012-03-10T12:36:31.772+00:00To be honest i'm guilty of the same things mys...To be honest i'm guilty of the same things myself, i use "freedom" words as a choice instead of "i'm not paying a speeding fine".<br /><br />Don't be to hard on members of parliment as we all do the same stuff.Captain Rantyhttp://captainranty.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com