05-15-2013, 05:57 AM | #1 |
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New punctations marks we all need to brush up on
I found this article amusing and thought I'd share it. http://www.collegehumor.com/article/...nctuation-mark...
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05-15-2013, 07:03 AM | #2 |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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See the jokes thread.
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05-15-2013, 10:32 AM | #3 |
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I admit the Morgan Freemark was amusing, prompting the reader to hear the text in Morgan Freeman's voice.
The Andorperspand, combining the ampersand, does illustrate a clumsiness of how English handles logic. "Or" can be vague because it can mean picking ONLY one or it can mean one or both. Similarly "if" can be vague, because it's not always clear if it means if or "if and only if." I've seen people write "iff" for "iff and only if," but the problem with that is how would you pronounce it? |
05-15-2013, 10:57 AM | #4 | |
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Quote:
'If' generally does not mean 'if-and-only-if', which is why mathematicians often abbreviate the latter to iff (pronounced "if and only if") as it's a lot quicker to write! |
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05-15-2013, 12:35 PM | #5 |
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Love it!
But if they have one for and/or, then I want one for s/he aka "he or she" . I do some technical writing and "he or she" is so clunky! eP Edit: I found a symbol for it! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tr...ual_symbol.svg |
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05-15-2013, 12:46 PM | #6 | |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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Quote:
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05-15-2013, 01:04 PM | #7 | |
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Quote:
eP |
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05-15-2013, 01:11 PM | #8 | |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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Quote:
It's already correct, and of long-standing, in some contexts. E.g. "I would have everybody marry if they can do it properly." — Austen, Mansfield Park But I agree that it still sounds odd in some circumstances. |
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05-15-2013, 01:25 PM | #9 |
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That's why most technical documents are written in the second person "[you] do this..."
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05-15-2013, 04:31 PM | #10 |
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"Today" used to be written as "to-day", so perhaps "and/or" might someday evolve to be "andor".
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05-17-2013, 12:42 AM | #11 |
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