seasalt007
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- "A witness shall not bear falsies against thy neighbor."...Archie Bunker
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Spelling for Today
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Spelling: Potatoe (with an "e" added onto its end) - As per Dan Quayle... addressing a grade school class... while holding position as the first Bush's U.S. VP!
http://www.capitalcentury.com/1992.html
http://www.capitalcentury.com/1992.html
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eyschulman
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Spelling and misuse of words. Very interesting. Well some of the wires in my brain are hooked up to the wrong terminals and spelling and grammar are not my thing. I do believe it is not all my fault since the English language is also not very intuitive. Fortunately the ability to prosper is not fully dependent on crossing all the Ts and dotting the Is unless you are a publisher. And as with mathematics language skills may soon fall heavily into the realm of computer science. I could not even write this without the help of spell check. As for messing about in boats does it matter?
CPseudonym
Moderator Emeritus
As for me
Robster_in_edmonds
Senior Member
I keep seeing people use "loose" when they mean "lose." Lots of other common issues as well as others have noted.
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Not so sir, sorreee…kn stands for knots, which by definition is a nautical mile per hour...kph = kilometres per hour in the rest of the world…
Several other errors we commonly see are 'your', when they mean you're, short for you are…'there' when it should be they're for they are, and so on...
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Originally Posted by jimbob
some of us are uneducated not ignorant but having to start nick picking spelling is bullshit
All the same psn, there is nothing wrong with liking English to be written like what it is meant to be wrote..right..?
some of us are uneducated not ignorant but having to start nick picking spelling is bullshit
I'll have a beer on that!
Some take pride in things I can't even imagine.....
All the same psn, there is nothing wrong with liking English to be written like what it is meant to be wrote..right..?
As a writer/author (among other things) it's always been very important to me to use and preserve accuracy, both historical and according to definition. This is why I always use the term "flying bridge, not "flybridge." I read up on the origin and use of the term many years ago for some project or other, and this structure on a vessel was called a flying bridge because that's exactly what it was, and to a degree, still is.
Common language use does evolve, of course, so it's easy to see how the term became "corrupted" to flybridge, if for no other reason than it's easier to say.
"Rope" and "line" get used incorrectly a lot. Rope is the material, a line is an object that can be made using rope. The term, "rope rode" is correct, for example.
My most recently published book came out just the other week. It's the story of the Clise family and the property development company they founded the day after Seattle burned down in 1889. Both the family and their business continue to be a huge part of the reason Seattle has become the city it is today.
Just as one example-- which blew me away when I learned about and then saw it in person-- anyone in the northwest quadrant of the United States reading this forum right now would not be able to access it-- or any other site on the web-- were it not for what goes on in a set of three high-rise buildings in the middle of downtown Seattle. Called an "internet hotel," it is one of only three such facilities in the country, and they are where all this nation's connectivity takes place. The one in Seattle is owned and operated by the Clise family.
The Clise book was a fascinating project because the story is so intertwined with the history of the city and this region. (As another example, anyone with a child who's benefited from Children's Hospital has Anna Clise to thank; she created and founded Chidren's after she lost one of her own children and decided to do something about the almost total lack of children's health care capabilities in Seattle).
I've written several published books, but this one is the first I've written with two screens in front of me; one with the manuscript itself and the other with Google opened on it.
The Internet has a huge amount of total rubbish on it, but for a writer it's a fabulous source of information with regards to history and facts. For example, for the book I've been working on in my spare time for a number of years now, I needed to know the price of gasoline in Fall River, Massachusetts in the fall of 1942. Turns out there are tables of fuel prices scanned into websites that contain not only that exact information, but also explain the whole reason behind gas rationing during WWII, which as it turns out, had nothing whatsoever to do with gas.
I find it a fascinating way to work because one learns a huge amount about a whole lot of things. Among them, that it's a flying bridge, not a flybridge, and that it's a saloon, not a salon.
Common language use does evolve, of course, so it's easy to see how the term became "corrupted" to flybridge, if for no other reason than it's easier to say.
"Rope" and "line" get used incorrectly a lot. Rope is the material, a line is an object that can be made using rope. The term, "rope rode" is correct, for example.
My most recently published book came out just the other week. It's the story of the Clise family and the property development company they founded the day after Seattle burned down in 1889. Both the family and their business continue to be a huge part of the reason Seattle has become the city it is today.
Just as one example-- which blew me away when I learned about and then saw it in person-- anyone in the northwest quadrant of the United States reading this forum right now would not be able to access it-- or any other site on the web-- were it not for what goes on in a set of three high-rise buildings in the middle of downtown Seattle. Called an "internet hotel," it is one of only three such facilities in the country, and they are where all this nation's connectivity takes place. The one in Seattle is owned and operated by the Clise family.
The Clise book was a fascinating project because the story is so intertwined with the history of the city and this region. (As another example, anyone with a child who's benefited from Children's Hospital has Anna Clise to thank; she created and founded Chidren's after she lost one of her own children and decided to do something about the almost total lack of children's health care capabilities in Seattle).
I've written several published books, but this one is the first I've written with two screens in front of me; one with the manuscript itself and the other with Google opened on it.
The Internet has a huge amount of total rubbish on it, but for a writer it's a fabulous source of information with regards to history and facts. For example, for the book I've been working on in my spare time for a number of years now, I needed to know the price of gasoline in Fall River, Massachusetts in the fall of 1942. Turns out there are tables of fuel prices scanned into websites that contain not only that exact information, but also explain the whole reason behind gas rationing during WWII, which as it turns out, had nothing whatsoever to do with gas.
I find it a fascinating way to work because one learns a huge amount about a whole lot of things. Among them, that it's a flying bridge, not a flybridge, and that it's a saloon, not a salon.
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FF
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Spelling: Potatoe (with an "e" added onto its end) - As per Dan Quayle... addressing a grade school class... while holding position as the first Bush's U.S. VP!
He was actually reading from a script , not many folks can edit on the fly.
Even the bummer had never read Marine CORPS before and failed attempting to read it.
He was actually reading from a script , not many folks can edit on the fly.
Even the bummer had never read Marine CORPS before and failed attempting to read it.
psneeld
Guru
Like mom used to say...is this the place to do it?
People start hitting the report button and crying like babies when other nitpick their "nautical knowledge" so what's the diff?
Plus this ain't no novel writing contest...it's about transfer of info...ya all want edited writing...read an e-book on the subject.
Sure stuff hits my "proofing eye" too...just not my "give a darn nerve".
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As a writer/author (among other things) it's always been very important to me to use and preserve accuracy, both historical and according to definition. This is why I always use the term "flying bridge, not "flybridge." I read up on the origin and use of the term many years ago for some project or other, and this structure on a vessel was called a flying bridge because that's exactly what it was, and to a degree, still is.
Common language use does evolve, of course, so it's easy to see how the term became "corrupted" to flybridge, if for no other reason than it's easier to say…... I needed to know the price of gasoline in Fall River, Massachusetts in the fall of 1942. Turns out there are tables of fuel prices scanned into websites that contain not only that exact information, but also explain the whole reason behind gas rationing during WWII, which as it turns out, had nothing whatsoever to do with gas.
I find it a fascinating way to work because one learns a huge amount about a whole lot of things. Among them, that it's a flying bridge, not a flybridge, and that it's a saloon, not a salon.
Ah, Marin, if you are going to be that linguistically correct, then it's not really even gasoline, certainly not gas, but more correctly petroleum, from which we derive the term petrol in our part of the world.
Brian Harward
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I recently saw "whose" when it should have "who's".... Even in the penal colonies some of us like correct spelling so their...
seasalt007
Guru
I thought this topic would pull you out of your "birth" Marin.
Interesting Marin. Hope your Clise book sells well.
May I ask you to place a net-link for reason of calling a specific boat location "saloon" instead of "salon"? I agree with your "flying bridge" - vs - "flybridge". In 50's / 60’s dad was strictly against using that abbreviation. He was a purest to most marine terms. Rope - vs - line, as they might be used in some instances, was another pet peeve of his!
I see little reason for distress as English language words morph into abbreviations and terms condense into acronyms (use of computers and the net have greatly accelerated both circumstances). Different product types and profession groups have their own sets of vernacular-rules and inside-clues to unique vocabularies that are specific unto themselves.
If it were not for this general morph-effect and per group/product vocabulary detail we would still be speaking and writing in Old English. Although it suites me fine for ease of reading, actually I enjoy many of its pronunciations as well as its cadence, large portion of the public becomes thoroughly frustrated by vernacular used in King James Version of The Bible.
Various world regions (nations) having their own substantially morphed English language dialects can be a hoot to listen to. Some of the word-morphs they have moved into over centuries of dialect development present melodic overtones that can be a pleasure to hear.
List of dialects of the English language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dialects_of_the_English_language
May I ask you to place a net-link for reason of calling a specific boat location "saloon" instead of "salon"? I agree with your "flying bridge" - vs - "flybridge". In 50's / 60’s dad was strictly against using that abbreviation. He was a purest to most marine terms. Rope - vs - line, as they might be used in some instances, was another pet peeve of his!
I see little reason for distress as English language words morph into abbreviations and terms condense into acronyms (use of computers and the net have greatly accelerated both circumstances). Different product types and profession groups have their own sets of vernacular-rules and inside-clues to unique vocabularies that are specific unto themselves.
If it were not for this general morph-effect and per group/product vocabulary detail we would still be speaking and writing in Old English. Although it suites me fine for ease of reading, actually I enjoy many of its pronunciations as well as its cadence, large portion of the public becomes thoroughly frustrated by vernacular used in King James Version of The Bible.
Various world regions (nations) having their own substantially morphed English language dialects can be a hoot to listen to. Some of the word-morphs they have moved into over centuries of dialect development present melodic overtones that can be a pleasure to hear.
List of dialects of the English language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dialects_of_the_English_language
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Ah, Marin, if you are going to be that linguistically correct, then it's not really even gasoline, certainly not gas, but more correctly petroleum, from which we derive the term petrol in our part of the world.
It's not "gasoline" any longer, it's "motor fuel" (should be "engine fuel" but that's another argument for another time). What we used to buy as "gasoline" has now been adulterated with up to ten percent ethanol.
The real question is, if someone is using words incorrectly ("wench" for"winch" for example), is it better to correct the person or leave him to continue to embarrass himself in the future?
I think that if there is so gross a misplaced spelling that a word or two might confuse the meaning of a statement or question... then offering correction for that word may be an item to undertake.
Otherwise... this is just TF... wherein "Pleasure Boaters" can visit to relax and enjoy while learning things and providing their own insights.
I don't think need for exacting grammatical, punctuation, or spelling inputs should be required here. We all have our own manner of writing. So long as thoughts can be understood... what's the big diff in a "Pleasure Boating World"???
mahal
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Nitpicking? Maybe. But could be helpful too.
Here's my entry:
"should of" - when it should be "should have"
"then" - when it should be "than"
"effect" - when it should be "affect" and vice versa
Here's my entry:
"should of" - when it should be "should have"
"then" - when it should be "than"
"effect" - when it should be "affect" and vice versa
RT Firefly
Enigma
Greetings,
If I may interject at this point...There have been several suggestions, and good ones at that, regarding proper word usage and spelling BUT there are a number of members whose first language is NOT English. To those members who hesitate to post because they think they will be made fun of or badly thought of for their less than "perfect" use of the vocabulary...Please post. Your input IS valuable and no-one will or SHOULD criticize you for your use of English.
To the rest, continue on.
If I may interject at this point...There have been several suggestions, and good ones at that, regarding proper word usage and spelling BUT there are a number of members whose first language is NOT English. To those members who hesitate to post because they think they will be made fun of or badly thought of for their less than "perfect" use of the vocabulary...Please post. Your input IS valuable and no-one will or SHOULD criticize you for your use of English.
To the rest, continue on.
Nomad Willy
Guru
mahal,
I've been wondering about that .... ""effect" - when it should be "affect" and vice versa".
When should one use affect and effect? I was just asking my wife about this posting on TF at Starbucks.
Marin I remember when we had a thread about saloon and salon. Seems to me the outcome really didn't matter and I've been using salon for the place on a boat and saloon for the drinking place ... but it's not correct? The drinking place is obviously a saloon so how could the boat place be anything but a salon as they are clearly a very different place?
You wrote .. "The term, "rope rode" is correct, for example." Never would'a thunk. According to one of you're favorite persons (Chapman) that is incorrect.
I've been wondering about that .... ""effect" - when it should be "affect" and vice versa".
When should one use affect and effect? I was just asking my wife about this posting on TF at Starbucks.
Marin I remember when we had a thread about saloon and salon. Seems to me the outcome really didn't matter and I've been using salon for the place on a boat and saloon for the drinking place ... but it's not correct? The drinking place is obviously a saloon so how could the boat place be anything but a salon as they are clearly a very different place?
You wrote .. "The term, "rope rode" is correct, for example." Never would'a thunk. According to one of you're favorite persons (Chapman) that is incorrect.
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mahal
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Good point RT. I mentioned in my post above that this thread could be helpful because I had other members like myself that don't speak English as their native tongue in mind as some of it's beneficiaries. I find these types of discussions helpful.
mahal
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From what I've learned - effect is a noun and affect is a verb. Hope that helps.
RT Firefly
Enigma
Greetings,
As to saloon VS salon...The way I understand it saloon was adopted to describe those, less than genteel, drinking establishments to lend an air of respectability and class to a business otherwise known for cheap liquor and expensive women.
Saloon - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Sort of like calling a store selling junk, an "Antique Shoppe".
As to saloon VS salon...The way I understand it saloon was adopted to describe those, less than genteel, drinking establishments to lend an air of respectability and class to a business otherwise known for cheap liquor and expensive women.
Saloon - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Sort of like calling a store selling junk, an "Antique Shoppe".
Nomad Willy
Guru
Thank's RT .. OK it's a saloon .. but do you pronounce it salawn?
.
.
Bay Pelican
Moderator Emeritus
ef·fect
əˈfekt/
noun
a change that is a result or consequence of an action or other cause.
"the lethal effects of hard drugs"
the lighting, sound, or scenery used in a play, movie, or broadcast.
"the production relied too much on spectacular effects"
verb
cause (something) to happen; bring about.
"nature always effected a cure”
af·fect
əˈfekt/
verb
have an effect on; make a difference to.
"the dampness began to affect my health"
touch the feelings of (someone); move emotionally.
"the atrocities he witnessed have affected him most deeply"
əˈfekt/
noun
a change that is a result or consequence of an action or other cause.
"the lethal effects of hard drugs"
the lighting, sound, or scenery used in a play, movie, or broadcast.
"the production relied too much on spectacular effects"
verb
cause (something) to happen; bring about.
"nature always effected a cure”
af·fect
əˈfekt/
verb
have an effect on; make a difference to.
"the dampness began to affect my health"
touch the feelings of (someone); move emotionally.
"the atrocities he witnessed have affected him most deeply"
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markpierce
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During my career, I've edited (and often had to substantially rewrite) hundreds of draft reports that eventually became public. The writers knew that and should have been more diligent, but the same mistakes continued. The common errors have been identified here except for nautical terms which were never the subject.
Donsan
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I agree. Just don't call Stuart, Stewart. The issue isn't spelling or grammar. It is insulting a native Floridan....if there is such a thing.
Peter--- I actually use the term "petrol" most of the time instead of "gas" or "gasoline." I suspect the reason lies in my owning British vehicles over the years-- Austin-Healey, Aston Martin, Land Rover, Range Rover, etc. I do/did most or all of my own work on these vehicles using their factory shop manuals, so I became more used to seeing the word "petrol" than the word "gasoline." But in the US I do tend to use "gas" as most Americans don''t have a clue what one is talking about when they hear the word "petrol." I also tend to use the term "bonnet" instead of "hood" thanks to those same shop manuals.
Al-- The distribution for the Clise book (titled Up From the Ashes: The Clise Family and the Shaping of Seattle) is being determined now. Like the coffee table cookbook I wrote for the corporate yacht Daedalus some years back, the Clise book is one that I was hired to write, as opposed to writing it on my own and then trying to get it published as with my other books. This is one reason I found the project so intriguing--- it's about a subject and a business that I knew virtually nothing about before taking on the project.
Regarding "saloon" vs "salon," my reference for that is actually one or more threads on the subject on this forum. Someone-- RTF most likely--- came up with the actual definitions of both words, and I remember that these made a pretty convincing case for "saloon" being the correct term as applied to a boat. In the US it seems incorrect because the word "saloon" to an American immediately brings to mind a bar (tavern, pub) in the old west days, not a "lounge" on a vessel.
Eric--- The definitions of rope, line, etc. I got out of Chapman's. I don't have much use for Chapman's, not because I think it's a bad book but because it tends to be so general in its coverage of topics that it rarely has the specific information I've been after. But I suppose for a newbie to boating, it provides a useful introduction to the basics of the subjects it covers.
But it made it very clear that "rope" is the material that "lines" are made of. In fact, I think we had a discussion on this very subject some years ago, which is what prompted me to look it up in the first place.
An anchor rode is not a specific material, but is the use of a material. As you well know, a rode can be chain, rope (usually nylon but previously Manila), cable, wire-rope (not sure how that differs from cable but perhaps it does), or a combination of materials.
Regarding the spelling of place names, a local example that put me in the wrong until someone emphatically corrected me is "Sidney" vs. "Sydney." I had incorrectly assumed that town of Sidney on Vancouver Island was either named after the city of Sydney in Australia or was named for the same person. So my spelling of the town in BC was "Sydney." I now know better.
Local dialects can be fascinating, at least to me. One of my favorites, albeit one I know very little about, is the Geordie dialect of northeastern England. The person who first made me aware of it is Mark Knopfler, who uses Geordie expressions in some of his songs. Mark is from the Newcastle area, and I find it really intriguing how English became so warped around.
For example, most of us, if we see our neighbor leaving his house and ask him where he's going, he might say "I'm going to town." But in the Geordie dialect, the exact same answer is "Haddaway toon."
Al-- The distribution for the Clise book (titled Up From the Ashes: The Clise Family and the Shaping of Seattle) is being determined now. Like the coffee table cookbook I wrote for the corporate yacht Daedalus some years back, the Clise book is one that I was hired to write, as opposed to writing it on my own and then trying to get it published as with my other books. This is one reason I found the project so intriguing--- it's about a subject and a business that I knew virtually nothing about before taking on the project.
Regarding "saloon" vs "salon," my reference for that is actually one or more threads on the subject on this forum. Someone-- RTF most likely--- came up with the actual definitions of both words, and I remember that these made a pretty convincing case for "saloon" being the correct term as applied to a boat. In the US it seems incorrect because the word "saloon" to an American immediately brings to mind a bar (tavern, pub) in the old west days, not a "lounge" on a vessel.
Eric--- The definitions of rope, line, etc. I got out of Chapman's. I don't have much use for Chapman's, not because I think it's a bad book but because it tends to be so general in its coverage of topics that it rarely has the specific information I've been after. But I suppose for a newbie to boating, it provides a useful introduction to the basics of the subjects it covers.
But it made it very clear that "rope" is the material that "lines" are made of. In fact, I think we had a discussion on this very subject some years ago, which is what prompted me to look it up in the first place.
An anchor rode is not a specific material, but is the use of a material. As you well know, a rode can be chain, rope (usually nylon but previously Manila), cable, wire-rope (not sure how that differs from cable but perhaps it does), or a combination of materials.
Regarding the spelling of place names, a local example that put me in the wrong until someone emphatically corrected me is "Sidney" vs. "Sydney." I had incorrectly assumed that town of Sidney on Vancouver Island was either named after the city of Sydney in Australia or was named for the same person. So my spelling of the town in BC was "Sydney." I now know better.
Local dialects can be fascinating, at least to me. One of my favorites, albeit one I know very little about, is the Geordie dialect of northeastern England. The person who first made me aware of it is Mark Knopfler, who uses Geordie expressions in some of his songs. Mark is from the Newcastle area, and I find it really intriguing how English became so warped around.
For example, most of us, if we see our neighbor leaving his house and ask him where he's going, he might say "I'm going to town." But in the Geordie dialect, the exact same answer is "Haddaway toon."
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