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17831. thoughtful - 12/14/2005 8:05:34 PM in english it's direct object and indirect object. 17832. thoughtful - 12/14/2005 8:10:09 PM for native speakers, so much of languange is learned by what one hears that the rule becomes 'it sounds right to me' regardless of grammatical correctness.
Another area that makes no sense is the use of the article 'the'. Some people are in hospital or in the hospital...people may be at college or at the university, but rarely at the college...and the ever mysterious 'the Bronx' which is never ever 'Bronx'. 17833. Magoseph - 12/14/2005 8:22:20 PM First, that in German all rivers are feminine, except der Main, der Rhein und der Neckar, which are masculine.
Le Rhein and le Rhône are masculine too in French, but they are called “fleuves”, which means “large rivers”.
But the point is that most Germans have no clue that this rule exists.
Yes, but they rarely misuse the terms, unless maybe when German is a second language. 17834. Macnas - 12/14/2005 11:18:44 PM Now then, I'm just finished a long day, and I shan't darken my office door until next year.
The very best to everyone at the good old Mote, have a cracking Christmas, drink and eat until you're fit to burst, and rest assured that I'm doing the same.
See you in 2006! 17835. thoughtful - 12/14/2005 11:35:37 PM happy times mac and see you next year! 17836. Ms. No - 12/14/2005 11:51:18 PM Have a wonderful holiday, Mac! 17837. Ms. No - 12/15/2005 12:03:18 AM I've also noticed a tendency for this author to say "one" instead of "a" or "an" and I do find myself giving rather convoluted explanations that boil down to "I don't know why, but that's the way it is all the same."
I'm the second person to edit this piece. He'd gotten it published and received some negative feedback so he sought out another editor and found me. So, I'm re-editing and feeling bad for him that the first person he worked with short-changed him.
Speaking of which, I promised to get this back to him by this afternoon so I'd best be off! 17838. wonkers2 - 12/15/2005 1:40:35 AM Ms. No, is editing part of your regular job, or do you do it on the side? If you do it on the side, how do you get clients? Do you advertize, or just rely on word of mouth? (The idea of doing a bit of freelance editing has crossed my mind, but I've never gotten around to pursuing it.) 17839. alistairconnor - 12/15/2005 1:46:50 PM In the car, on the bus...
Probably historical reasons. e.g. a bus is descended from an earlier form of collective transport which was an open wagon with wooden benches, that you climbed up on.
Likewise, the first trains were open, so it was logical enough to get "on" a train.
People still laugh at me when I say "je suis monté sur le train" (I got on the train). (You mean, you climbed on the roof?) On monte "dans" le train in French.
I just got off the aeroplane from Madrid. I haven't a clue whether I was "on" the plane or "in" it, in Spanish.
17840. jayackroyd - 12/15/2005 5:16:28 PM [jexster shameless boasting mode]
A note I sent to Josh Marshall got posted onto his site, and then picked up by atrios and Kos
[/jexster shameless boasting mode]
17841. alistairconnor - 12/15/2005 5:27:23 PM oh what a lovely post Mago :
My diet is very tame and is a never-ending series of tofu, salmon, fresh fruit and vegetables, cooked cereals, yogurt, eggs and home cooked- breads. So, I enjoy looking at a big mess of gooey chocolate, “fruit confits”, and sinful pastry once in a while and so does Ms. No, dear Mac.
so it's sort of girl porn? 17842. wonkers2 - 12/15/2005 5:34:54 PM Well put, Jay! 17843. Magoseph - 12/15/2005 5:36:17 PM Oui, une orgie de chocolat et autres douceurs... 17844. Ms. No - 12/15/2005 5:43:26 PM Nice, Jay! 17845. Ms. No - 12/15/2005 6:01:58 PM Wonk,
I'm a volunteer editor for an adult fiction website. It's as easy as putting your name on a list of people available to provide editing. There's always work, but there is no money and there are very few good writers so you have to do it because you enjoy it or you'll be beating your head against a wall in no time. Hell, sometimes I still beat my head against a wall.
17846. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 12/15/2005 6:34:49 PM Indeed, bravo Jay! 17847. jayackroyd - 12/15/2005 6:41:41 PM The latest in the Harris story is that he just bailed from his scheduled chat, posting one question and not answering it. I'd say he got a lot of questions he didn't want to answer. 17848. jayackroyd - 12/15/2005 10:08:41 PM Outright theft from Brad DeLong:
The Computer Help Catechism
Dad?
Yes?
Can you help me with the computer?
What's wrong?... Oh, spinning beachball of death I see.... What are you trying to do?
Print.
Print a document from Microsoft Word?
Uh-huh.
Did you save it before you tried to print?
I'm not sure.
What's the first rule of using Microsoft Word?
That it does not like me. That it is not my friend?
And so before doing anything major to your document, you?
Save.
Before you print?
Save.
Before you print preview?
Save.
Before you globally change margins?
Save.
Before you reformat all the paragraphs?
Save.
Before you save?
Save--there's something wrong there, Dad.
OK. I'm going to have to kill Word. Let's hope you saved your document...
17849. arkymalarky - 12/15/2005 11:53:15 PM Yugo, Jay! 17850. jayackroyd - 12/15/2005 11:58:21 PM 17847 was wrong. He simply didn't answer questions on the Froomkin topic.
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