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Jess Askin
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 2:02 am
Post subject: Re: Helpful hints |
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"Ray Heindl" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:Xns95A3AF892EF33amfmssb@130.133.1.4...
| Quote: | "Mark Barratt" <mark.barratt@enternet.hu> wrote:
Excellent. The first isn't always true, but I can't argue with
any of the others. Not all of them are exclusively British,
though, I think. Doesn't "With the greatest respect..." always
precede a disagreement?
There was a short thread in the Dilbert cartoon some time back where
somebody discovered that they could insult the pointy-haired boss at
will, as long as the insults were preceded by "With all due respect".
That's slightly more ambiguous than "with the greatest respect", as
"all due respect" could mean "no respect whatsoever".
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In Evelyn Waugh's Scoop, when you want to tell the newspaper owner that he's
right, you say "Definitely, Lord Copper [Beaverbrook?]". When he's wrong,
you say "Up to a point, Lord Copper."
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Vivek
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 10:03 am
Post subject: What is Skitt's law |
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Hi everyone,
Thats the second occassion I've seen "Skitt's Law" on this board in
the last week. What IS Skitt's Law ?
Do let me know- i'm intrigued.
Thanks
Vivek
arcadianrises@aol.com (Arcadian Rises) wrote in message news:<20041116161933.06305.00000397@mb-m27.aol.com>...
| Quote: | From: que.sara.saraDELETE@gmail.com (Sara Lorimer)
Skitt wrote:
From the latest issue of Harpers, (December, 2004):
Oy! (It's Harper's. Or Harper's Magzine, if you want to make them
happy.)
That's one of the best illustrations of Skitt's Law.
Unless "Harper's Magzine" is actually the name of that publication and I hereby
made a fool of myself. |
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Qp10qp
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 2:03 pm
Post subject: Re: What is Skitt's law |
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| Quote: | Subject: What is Skitt's law
From: vivkhemka@gmail.com (Vivek)
Thats the second occassion I've seen "Skitt's Law" on this board in
the last week. What IS Skitt's Law ?
|
Skitt's first law targets sloppy coves like me who dash posts off hurriedly on
aol (no preview facility) and in the process make mistakes worse than the ones
they're prognostificating on (go, Skitt).
His second law is that all languages are Latvian in disguise.
Peasemarch.
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Laura F Spira
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 2:06 pm
Post subject: Re: What is Skitt's law |
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Qp10qp wrote:
| Quote: | Subject: What is Skitt's law
From: vivkhemka@gmail.com (Vivek)
Thats the second occassion I've seen "Skitt's Law" on this board in
the last week. What IS Skitt's Law ?
Skitt's first law targets sloppy coves like me who dash posts off hurriedly on
aol (no preview facility) and in the process make mistakes worse than the ones
they're prognostificating on (go, Skitt).
|
For sundry amusements, including the Bush Wordifyer, go to
www.screentoys.com (you need Flash) (I particularly like the economists)
--
Laura
(emulate St. George for email) |
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Ross Howard
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 2:06 pm
Post subject: Re: Helpful hints |
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On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 23:56:16 -0000, "Mike Lyle"
<mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrought:
| Quote: | Sara Lorimer wrote:
Mark Barratt wrote:
Sara Lorimer wrote:
Skitt wrote:
From the latest issue of Harpers, (December, 2004):
Oy! (It's Harper's. Or Harper's Magzine, if you want to make
them happy.)
Skitt's law strikes again. Didn't it used to be Harper's &
Queen's, or was that something else?
The various American Harpers are related: Harper's Magazine,
Harper's
Bazaar, Harper's Weekly, Harper and Row, Harper Collins, etc; I
don't
know about the British Harpers. There were two brothers, John and
James, who started it all.
HarperCollins, one word, two caps, is the British connection. Harper
took over Collins; and a black day it was for publishing, though I
suppose it represented an inevitable trend. The book as "product".
|
What's the typographical equivalent of a Luddite? Anyway, count me in
as one.
I can't be doing with this daft fad for internal caps -- unless,
obviously, they appear in the chemical compounds formulas (e.g.
"NaCl") or other abbreviations (e.g. "SoCal"). So I suggest that we
should write the name of that company as either "Harper-Collins" or
"Harper Collins" (preferably whichever annoys them most). And as for
the absurdly guffaw-worthy "PricewaterhouseCoopers", what the hell's
wrong with indicating its merger-after-a-merger status with some
combination of hyphens and spaces, like "Price-Waterhouse Coopers"?
If we are to take the typographical design of logos into account when
determining the spelling of company names and products, then we
should *always* take them into account. This means that if
"HarperCollins" is correct, then so is "SONY PlayStation". And it's
not; it's Dead Wrong.
(Rant ends.)
--
Ross Howard |
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Sara Lorimer
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 2:07 pm
Post subject: Re: Helpful hints |
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Ross Howard wrote:
| Quote: | On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 23:56:16 -0000, "Mike Lyle"
mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrought:
Sara Lorimer wrote:
The various American Harpers are related: Harper's Magazine,
Harper's
Bazaar, Harper's Weekly, Harper and Row, Harper Collins, etc; I
don't
know about the British Harpers. There were two brothers, John and
James, who started it all.
HarperCollins, one word, two caps, is the British connection. Harper
took over Collins; and a black day it was for publishing, though I
suppose it represented an inevitable trend. The book as "product".
What's the typographical equivalent of a Luddite? Anyway, count me in
as one.
|
Indeed. I knew it was one word, but refused to write it as such. My old
job involved making sure things like that were written "correctly," but
until I start getting a paycheck from Usenet Corp...
--
SML |
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Arcadian Rises
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 6:02 pm
Post subject: Re: What is Skitt's law |
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| Quote: | From: vivkhemka@gmail.com (Vivek)
Thats the second occassion I've seen "Skitt's Law" on this board in
the last week. What IS Skitt's Law ?
Do let me know- i'm intrigued.
|
[ObAUE: isn't Skitt's Law covered in FAQ?
It should be, for what Skitt originally meant is everyday embellished by AUE
folklore.]
My interpretation of Skitt's Law: those who correct a poster's mistake are
damned to err in the very corrective post. So, in my view Skitt's Law is more
like a curse.
The post you quotted is the best example of Skitt's Law (or curse) because the
poster corrected The Skitt.
I don't fall under the incidence of Skitt's Law (or curse); as a non-native
speaker of English, I err all the time grammarwise or spellingwise, not only
when I correct other posters.
| Quote: | arcadianrises@aol.com (Arcadian Rises) wrote in message
news:<20041116161933.06305.00000397@mb-m27.aol.com>...
From: que.sara.saraDELETE@gmail.com (Sara Lorimer)
Skitt wrote:
From the latest issue of Harpers, (December, 2004):
Oy! (It's Harper's. Or Harper's Magzine, if you want to make them
happy.)
That's one of the best illustrations of Skitt's Law.
Unless "Harper's Magzine" is actually the name of that publication and I
hereby
made a fool of myself.
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Donna Richoux
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 6:02 pm
Post subject: Re: What is Skitt's law |
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Arcadian Rises <arcadianrises@aol.com> wrote:
| Quote: | From: vivkhemka@gmail.com (Vivek)
Thats the second occassion I've seen "Skitt's Law" on this board in
the last week. What IS Skitt's Law ?
Do let me know- i'm intrigued.
[ObAUE: isn't Skitt's Law covered in FAQ?
It should be, for what Skitt originally meant is everyday embellished by AUE
folklore.]
|
No, because (a) nobody agrees what it is, precisely; (b) those who think
they know what it is have never proved it is true, and (c) Skitt
disavows it -- he was not the formulator. I generally don't put items
into the Intro docs containing so little information, but if people want
me to put *that* in, I will.
| Quote: |
My interpretation of Skitt's Law: those who correct a poster's mistake are
damned to err in the very corrective post. So, in my view Skitt's Law is more
like a curse.
|
Skitt being the curser? I don't think that's fair to him. He never
placed a curse on these people. And curses aren't Laws.
| Quote: |
The post you quotted is the best example of Skitt's Law (or curse) because the
poster corrected The Skitt.
I don't fall under the incidence of Skitt's Law (or curse); as a non-native
speaker of English, I err all the time grammarwise or spellingwise, not only
when I correct other posters.
|
Well, so do the rest of us. Nobody has tried calculating a ratio of
lines posted to mistakes made, in *any* sort of post, let alone ones
that speak of a correction.
Yeah, yeah, I know this all goes to prove I have no sense of humor. So
be it. Calling it "folklore" is all very well, but not when it involves
living participants and their reputations.
You know, this same principle has been called other things in other
groups. Maybe I'd like it better under some other name.
--
Best - Donna Richoux |
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Mike Lyle
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 6:02 pm
Post subject: Re: What is Skitt's law |
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Arcadian Rises wrote:
| Quote: | From: vivkhemka@gmail.com (Vivek)
Thats the second occassion I've seen "Skitt's Law" on this board
in
the last week. What IS Skitt's Law ?
Do let me know- i'm intrigued.
[ObAUE: isn't Skitt's Law covered in FAQ?
It should be, for what Skitt originally meant is everyday
embellished
by AUE folklore.]
My interpretation of Skitt's Law: those who correct a poster's
mistake are damned to err in the very corrective post. So, in my
view
Skitt's Law is more like a curse.
[...] |
I formulate the Law (and a law may also be a curse) as follows:
In a given Usenet message the probability of error is proportional to
the intent of correction of a previous Usenet message.
There is also a closely-related inverse square law of Usenet posting:
The visibilty of an error decreases in proportion to the square of
the need to identify it.
This latter law is associated with another: The apparent correctness
of a given expression in the English language diminishes in
proportion to the time expended in examining it.
Mike. |
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Laura F Spira
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 6:02 pm
Post subject: Re: What is Skitt's law |
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|
Mike Lyle wrote:
| Quote: | Arcadian Rises wrote:
From: vivkhemka@gmail.com (Vivek)
Thats the second occassion I've seen "Skitt's Law" on this board
in
the last week. What IS Skitt's Law ?
Do let me know- i'm intrigued.
[ObAUE: isn't Skitt's Law covered in FAQ?
It should be, for what Skitt originally meant is everyday
embellished
by AUE folklore.]
My interpretation of Skitt's Law: those who correct a poster's
mistake are damned to err in the very corrective post. So, in my
view
Skitt's Law is more like a curse.
[...]
I formulate the Law (and a law may also be a curse) as follows:
In a given Usenet message the probability of error is proportional to
the intent of correction of a previous Usenet message.
There is also a closely-related inverse square law of Usenet posting:
The visibilty of an error decreases in proportion to the square of
the need to identify it.
This latter law is associated with another: The apparent correctness
of a given expression in the English language diminishes in
proportion to the time expended in examining it.
|
Bravo! Does this neat articulation now make this Lyle's Law?
(and, just to prove it by exception, may I very carefully point out the
error in the spelling of "visibility"?)
--
Laura
(emulate St. George for email) |
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Mike Lyle
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 6:02 pm
Post subject: Re: Helpful hints |
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|
Sara Lorimer wrote:
| Quote: | Ross Howard wrote:
On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 23:56:16 -0000, "Mike Lyle"
mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrought:
Sara Lorimer wrote:
The various American Harpers are related: Harper's Magazine,
Harper's Bazaar, Harper's Weekly, Harper and Row, Harper
Collins,
etc; I don't know about the British Harpers. There were two
brothers, John and James, who started it all.
HarperCollins, one word, two caps, is the British connection.
Harper
took over Collins; and a black day it was for publishing, though
I
suppose it represented an inevitable trend. The book as
"product".
What's the typographical equivalent of a Luddite? Anyway, count me
in
as one.
Indeed. I knew it was one word, but refused to write it as such. My
old job involved making sure things like that were written
"correctly," but until I start getting a paycheck from Usenet
Corp... |
What disgusts me about it is that they're publishers. Some dumb-arse
advertising agency or airline might escape the worst of my rage; but
these people have the effrontery to make _dictionaries_. What's even
less digestible is that the dictionaries are often good ones.
Mike. |
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Qp10qp
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 6:03 pm
Post subject: Re: What is Skitt's law |
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| Quote: | Subject: Re: What is Skitt's law
From: Laura F Spira
This latter law is associated with another: The apparent correctness
of a given expression in the English language diminishes in
proportion to the time expended in examining it.
Bravo! Does this neat articulation now make this Lyle's Law?
(and, just to prove it by exception, may I very carefully point out the
error in the spelling of "visibility"?)
|
Only if you sort out your bracket techneeque.
Peasemarch. |
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Mike Lyle
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 6:03 pm
Post subject: Re: What is Skitt's law |
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|
Laura F Spira wrote:
| Quote: | Mike Lyle wrote:
Arcadian Rises wrote:
From: vivkhemka@gmail.com (Vivek)
Thats the second occassion I've seen "Skitt's Law" on this board
in
the last week. What IS Skitt's Law ?
Do let me know- i'm intrigued.
[ObAUE: isn't Skitt's Law covered in FAQ?
It should be, for what Skitt originally meant is everyday
embellished
by AUE folklore.]
My interpretation of Skitt's Law: those who correct a poster's
mistake are damned to err in the very corrective post. So, in my
view
Skitt's Law is more like a curse.
[...]
I formulate the Law (and a law may also be a curse) as follows:
In a given Usenet message the probability of error is proportional
to
the intent of correction of a previous Usenet message.
There is also a closely-related inverse square law of Usenet
posting:
The visibilty of an error decreases in proportion to the square of
the need to identify it.
This latter law is associated with another: The apparent
correctness
of a given expression in the English language diminishes in
proportion to the time expended in examining it.
Bravo! Does this neat articulation now make this Lyle's Law?
(and, just to prove it by exception, may I very carefully point out
the error in the spelling of "visibility"?)
|
Perfect!
Mike. |
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R H Draney
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 6:03 pm
Post subject: Re: What is Skitt's law |
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Mike Lyle filted:
| Quote: |
I formulate the Law (and a law may also be a curse) as follows:
In a given Usenet message the probability of error is proportional to
the intent of correction of a previous Usenet message.
There is also a closely-related inverse square law of Usenet posting:
The visibilty of an error decreases in proportion to the square of
the need to identify it.
This latter law is associated with another: The apparent correctness
of a given expression in the English language diminishes in
proportion to the time expended in examining it.
|
Is there a corollary to something I've often noted, namely that a post with a
misspelled word in the subject line will always engender a longer thread (thus
spreading the typo over many weeks of message-summary pages) than one with
everything spelled correctly?...r |
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R H Draney
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 6:03 pm
Post subject: Re: What is Skitt's law |
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Qp10qp filted:
| Quote: |
His second law is that all languages are Latvian in disguise.
|
Except one, which is Latvian *not* in disguise....r |
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