Proof reading

[John_Hartley]

You made it accessible to someone (me) who really isn't into detailed accounts of strategies and battle tactics;..........You made possible to engage with the men's experiences.

Thank you. It's certainly the aim to make it readable for a wider audience than the anoraks. I think there's a lighter style needed for the modern battalion history (6th Manchesters in this case ) - see Bernard Lewis's "Swansea Pals" and Jill Knight's "Civil Service Rifles", both published by Pen & Sword (Yes, they're doing mine seeing as you ask) - more conversational language, if you like. That is not to say that proof-reading is not important. It remains vital. My wife read the whole manuscript and was able to regularly comment "Eh? What does that mean?"

[SiegeGunner]

My wife read the whole manuscript and was able to regularly comment "Eh? What does that mean?"

Ah, so it's one of them Janet and John books, is it ...

[John_Hartley]

Tres bon, M. Gunner.

[CarylW]

I never correct for the sake of it, except when deliberately 'counting coup' on someone I know can take it. But it is sometimes necessary to correct errors that are, for example, preventing someone from finding material on a subject because they are spelling it incorrectly.

I know SG, didn't mean you

[Dragon]

Thank you. It's certainly the aim to make it readable for a wider audience than the anoraks. I think there's a lighter style needed for the modern battalion history ... more conversational language, if you like. That is not to say that proof-reading is not important. It remains vital. ...

Totally agree. As I said before, one skill of being knowledgeable is being able to communicate to people who aren't fellow specialists.

My husband has just read me an extract from a report sent to him by someone. In that person's efforts to avoid actually saying anything he ends up saying nothing. And takes hundreds of words to say so. I still don't know what he intended to avoid committing himself to, but someone's paid him a professional fee to say it. Or not say it. It's buzz-words flying in formation.

I think what he meant was, 'Don't put your nuclear power station here in case there are bits of Romans underneath.'

Give me ten minutes with some Tippex and a felt pen...

Gwyn

[gem22]

Gwyn

Here is an example of poor proof reading, or no proof reading, that you might like to take your Tippex pen to. A character in a movie is described as "excentric"; did the writer mean the character was off-centre or am I misreading something?

Garth

ps Fascinating discussion going on but sadly my grammar lets me down so I think I'll put my head back below the parapet.

[Moonraker]

... I have noticed people occasionally having their posts and spelling corrected by the pedants here and wonder how it makes them feel, totally humiliated I reckon...

Caryl

In most cases this is either to help the person refrain from repeating a basic error or a matter of us pedants having a go at each other. I was going to observe that it's quite amusing to see a pedant hoist by his own petard (as I have been more than once), but, being a pedant, I've just checked the meaning of this expression in the Penguin Dictionary of English Idioms and the Oxford Dictionary.The former says what I had always thought: that the petard was a small bomb (which sometimes injured its thrower; the latter says the origin relates to breaking wind. Certainly we do generate some hot air!

At work in the 1970s a lady of certain age referred to a man in a neighbouring officer as a "fornicator", thinking it meant that he was a bit of a smoothy; my boss took her aside to explain what the word really meant. It's better to correct a mistake than for it to be perpetuated.

I too prefer to work on a print-out rather on screen. And I know a guy who does freelance sub-editing for the Daily Telegraph and he confirms that it's an area where economies are being made - to the extent that in the past two years I've noticed more infelicities in the past year.

Moonraker

[healdav]

You should try having people who insist on writing in a language which is not their native language but "I speak English perfectly, so I have no need of a translator and anyone who corrects MY English will be disciplined" - I remember one guy who actually changed back corrections!

One ended up (but wouldn't accept it and it went into law which them had to be changed at vast expense) with a text that said, 'the supplier promises to pay the buyer within 30 days of receipt of the material'.

Then there was the British know-all 'I have a PhD in chemistry and therefore know everything there is to know about everything' - who wrote a letter to someone (not British) correcting his English with the usual, 'don't start sentences with but or and, etc' and other well known nonsenses. Unfortunately, he made five howlers of grammatical errors in the letter.

The consultants who set a report (about 750 pages). The English was so bad that I was asked to rewrite it before it was presented to the directors. It was so bad I could tell from the grammar the nationalities of the various people who had written it, and some parts were so bad that they were prefaced, 'I think they are trying to say..................'. The worst were prefaced, 'I have no idea what they are trying to say'. I spent three weeks doing this and ende up recommending that we deduct my salary from their fees..

Later I was asked to write a paper on how to write papers. It was very popular, but unfortunately I put in a sentence which said something like, "the sentnece that yu put in just asit gos for print will lookk absoulutely perfec, bt yo shold check the speling al the same'.

The director called me in to complain that this sentence was badly spelt! I did explain and he did see the point.

[gem22]

- to the extent that in the past two years I've noticed more infelicities in the past year.

Moonraker

Moonraker you mentioned, at the start of the post I'm quoting from, that you are a pedant. I have no problem with that and I tend to agree with the posts that suggest that, in the right circumstances, it can be helpful to, politely, point out errors. On that basis and with nothing but the best of intentions could you please explain the sentence I've quoted from your posting.

Garth

[truthergw]

... and meanwhile back at the oasis the Arabs were eating their dates.

I reject all comment from any country that cannot spell ' Thoroughly good colouring '...,,,'''

I have provided the resources for punctuation to taste.

[SiegeGunner]

You should try having people who insist on writing in a language which is not their native language but "I speak English perfectly, so I have no need of a translator and anyone who corrects MY English will be disciplined" - I remember one guy who actually changed back corrections!

I think I him too know ...

[Moonraker]

- to the extent that in the past two years I've noticed more infelicities in the past year.

Moonraker

Moonraker you mentioned, at the start of the post I'm quoting from, that you are a pedant. I have no problem with that and I tend to agree with the posts that suggest that, in the right circumstances, it can be helpful to, politely, point out errors. On that basis and with nothing but the best of intentions could you please explain the sentence I've quoted from your posting.

Garth

Um er. Um, again. Well, it does prove my points "that it's quite amusing to see a pedant hoist by his own petard" and "I too prefer to work on a print-out rather on screen", especially as I have dry-eye syndrome, which is exacerbated by staring at a screen.

Moonraker

[edwin astill]

I have dry-eye syndrome, which is exacerbated by staring at a screen.

Moonraker

I used to suffer from that, but use artificial tears - hypromellose - you can get it over the counter at chemists. Worked a treat for me.

Edwin

[apwright]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8627335.stm

Adrian

[dfaulder]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8627335.stm

Adrian

An Australian publisher has had to pulp and reprint a cook-book after one recipe listed "salt and freshly ground black people" instead of black pepper.

>><<

"We're mortified that this has become an issue of any kind, and why anyone would be offended, we don't know," head of publishing Bob Sessions is quoted as saying by the Sydney newspaper.

(my underlining)

??

[truthergw]

What is wrong with grinding white people? I demand an apology for this blatant culinary discrimination. I'll bet Scots taste much better than Sassenachs.

[Steven Broomfield]

I used to suffer from that, but use artificial tears - hypromellose - you can get it over the counter at chemists. Worked a treat for me.

Edwin

Work well for Cocker Spaniels with Dry Eye, too, but jolly pricey from a vet.

[centurion]

Work well for Cocker Spaniels with Dry Eye, too, but jolly pricey from a vet.

Terrible if you're a crocodile

[Doug Johnson]

I own a book called "My trains & planes annual 1984". It was given to my young son and I have kept it ever since as an amazing example of how much rubbish can can be crammed into one book. Examples such as these;

It was not long, however, before a new inventor came on the scene - George Stephenson, a Welsh miner I knew that mines sometimes went a long way underground but surely not that far!

And this one re Richthofen;

Flying "aces" emerged, such as the well known Manfred Von Richthofen, who flew a triplane, called "Fokker", and shot down many Allied planes until he got lost on enemy territory and was shot down himself by French fighters No wonder it has been so difficult to establish who shot him down, we have been looking in the wrong place!

And this one which took me a while to understand;

In 1919, two British pilots, Alcock and Brown, took off from Terrra Nova. Their destination was Ireland

This one, re the Wright brothers' plane is a bit technical;

Two bicycle chains transmitted a rotating movement to each propeller, which, in turn, rotated in opposite directions in order to neutralize the engine's torque or turning force. In other words, the air resistance to the propellers was counteracted.

One of the illustrations of an aircraft is captioned "Question Mark (1923), American"

Doug