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Rio
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:12 pm
Post subject: Re: Should I use the British or American spelling? (check/ch |
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On 18 Mar 2005 05:56:12 -0800, rrhersh@acme.com wrote:
| Quote: | You know of a restaurant in America that takes checks? Where is this
singular establishment?
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If I told you, I'd have to kill you. ;-)
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Rio
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:13 pm
Post subject: Re: Should I use the British or American spelling? (check/ch |
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On 18 Mar 2005 05:52:05 -0800, georgeh@ankerstein.org wrote:
| Quote: | 1) Be consistent.
2) Write out the name of the element "Al" to
determine which spelling system to use.
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Thanks, but please clarify (2). I'm not sure what you mean...
Luke |
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Guest
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:42 pm
Post subject: Re: Should I use the British or American spelling? (check/ch |
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Peter Duncanson wrote:
| Quote: | On Fri, 18 Mar 2005 14:12:07 GMT, LukeOnder@RioESP.net (Rio) wrote:
On 18 Mar 2005 05:56:12 -0800, rrhersh@acme.com wrote:
You know of a restaurant in America that takes checks? Where is
this
singular establishment?
If I told you, I'd have to kill you. ;-)
Please check your weapons at the door.
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I just checked them, and they are working just fine. Thank you for
asking. |
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Mike Lyle
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 11:46 pm
Post subject: Re: Should I use the British or American spelling? (check/ch |
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Rio wrote:
| Quote: | On Fri, 18 Mar 2005 11:49:39 GMT, Daniel James
wastebasket@nospam.aaisp.org> wrote:
In article news:<39ue7pF60luvgU1@individual.net>, Mike Lyle
wrote:
Consider Bill Bryson's very amusing _Short History of Nearly
Everything_. The edition I've just read is so laboriously
Europeanised that it actually distracted me: I'd be happier
reading a straight American version.
Is the American version different? Bill Bryson himself is fairly
laboriously Europeanized (thanks, in part, no doubt, to the
estimable Mrs.Bryson) that it may just be "his style".
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That had crossed my mind, I admit. As so often, I can't remember
specific examples when it comes to the crunch; but I did think he
went very heavy on the metric system, and that didn't seem natural.
| Quote: |
(Every bugger on the planet will notice that idiosyncratic --
nay,
eccentric -- use of "avail", though.)
.. and some of us who aren't buggers, too ...
No dount you (Mike or Daniel) can tell us all a shorter word that
has
the same meaning... If not, I'll happily continue to make good use
of
the word "avail".
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"...the article in question is a self-published thing that I
avail to my clients ..." does not constitute "good use" of the word
"avail". And why do you want it shorter?
But, since you _do_ ask for a shorter synonym, COD suggests "help".
Now do you agree with me? I might say "offer my clients". (Sorry if
this comes out blue: it's a pasting-from-Quotefix thing.)
--
Mike. |
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Mike Lyle
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 11:47 pm
Post subject: Re: Should I use the British or American spelling? (check/ch |
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Rio wrote:
| Quote: | On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 22:21:38 -0000, "Mike Lyle"
mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Why didn't you say so before, then?
So that I'd waste lots of your time.
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That's OK then: we're good at that round here.
--
Mike. |
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Michael Mendelsohn
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 1:30 am
Post subject: Re: Should I use the British or American spelling? (check/ch |
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Rio schrieb:
| Quote: | On 18 Mar 2005 05:52:05 -0800, georgeh@ankerstein.org wrote:
1) Be consistent.
2) Write out the name of the element "Al" to
determine which spelling system to use.
Thanks, but please clarify (2). I'm not sure what you mean...
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Al is the symbol of the chemical element with the number 13.
Cheers
Michael
--
It's silly talking about how many years we will have to spend
in the jungles of Vietnam when we could pave the whole country
and put parking stripes on it and still be home by Christmas.
-- Ronald Reagan, October 10, 1965 |
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Peter Duncanson
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 1:50 am
Post subject: Re: Should I use the British or American spelling? (check/ch |
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On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 22:21:38 -0000, "Mike Lyle"
<mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
| Quote: | Luke wrote:
On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 16:27:19 +0000, JPG <me@privacy.net> wrote:
snip
No doubt, but the article in question is a self-published thing
that I
avail to my clients via the web and in hard-copy form.
snip
(Every bugger on the planet will notice that idiosyncratic -- nay,
eccentric -- use of "avail", though.)
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My understand of "avail" is that it is what the client will do with the
article. If I make an item available someone else is then _able_ to _avail_
of it.
--
Peter Duncanson
UK (posting from a.e.u) |
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Rio
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 2:46 am
Post subject: Re: Should I use the British or American spelling? (check/ch |
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On Fri, 18 Mar 2005 18:50:23 +0000, Peter Duncanson
<mail@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
| Quote: | On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 22:21:38 -0000, "Mike Lyle"
mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Luke wrote:
On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 16:27:19 +0000, JPG <me@privacy.net> wrote:
snip
No doubt, but the article in question is a self-published thing
that I
avail to my clients via the web and in hard-copy form.
snip
(Every bugger on the planet will notice that idiosyncratic -- nay,
eccentric -- use of "avail", though.)
My understand of "avail" is that it is what the client will do with the
article. If I make an item available someone else is then _able_ to _avail_
of it.
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The way I used the word is quite commonplace, as you must be aware.
Whether that usage is listed in any dictionary or not, I don't know. I
can't be bothered to look!
Luke |
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CDB
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 2:51 am
Post subject: Re: Should I use the British or American spelling? (check/ch |
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"Michael Mendelsohn" <invalid@msgid.michael.mendelsohn.de> wrote in message
news:423B1E57.AD472C91@msgid.michael.mendelsohn.de...
| Quote: | Rio schrieb:
On 18 Mar 2005 05:52:05 -0800, georgeh@ankerstein.org wrote:
1) Be consistent.
2) Write out the name of the element "Al" to
determine which spelling system to use.
Thanks, but please clarify (2). I'm not sure what you mean...
Al is the symbol of the chemical element with the number 13.
No, that's Mj (marijuanium). CDB |
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Mike Lyle
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 6:26 am
Post subject: Re: Should I use the British or American spelling? (check/ch |
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Rio wrote:
| Quote: | On Fri, 18 Mar 2005 18:50:23 +0000, Peter Duncanson
mail@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 22:21:38 -0000, "Mike Lyle"
mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Luke wrote:
On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 16:27:19 +0000, JPG <me@privacy.net> wrote:
snip
No doubt, but the article in question is a self-published thing
that I
avail to my clients via the web and in hard-copy form.
snip
(Every bugger on the planet will notice that idiosyncratic --
nay,
eccentric -- use of "avail", though.)
My understand of "avail" is that it is what the client will do
with
the article. If I make an item available someone else is then
_able_ to _avail_ of it.
The way I used the word is quite commonplace, as you must be aware.
Whether that usage is listed in any dictionary or not, I don't
know. I
can't be bothered to look!
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OK, I was completely unaware, but no problem. But if you're happy to
hand your clients linguistic eccentricities, why come here asking for
advice you aren't going to avail yourself of?
(And to Peter: I prefer the traditional reflexive form.)
--
Mike. |
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Peter Duncanson
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 7:19 am
Post subject: Re: Should I use the British or American spelling? (check/ch |
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On Fri, 18 Mar 2005 23:26:30 -0000, "Mike Lyle"
<mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
| Quote: | Rio wrote:
The way I used the word is quite commonplace, as you must be aware.
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Unaware. This is first time I have met this use.
| Quote: | Whether that usage is listed in any dictionary or not, I don't
know. I
can't be bothered to look!
OK, I was completely unaware, but no problem. But if you're happy to
hand your clients linguistic eccentricities, why come here asking for
advice you aren't going to avail yourself of?
(And to Peter: I prefer the traditional reflexive form.)
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Me too.
--
Peter Duncanson
UK (posting from a.e.u) |
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Tony Cooper
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 8:03 am
Post subject: Re: Should I use the British or American spelling? (check/ch |
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On Fri, 18 Mar 2005 19:46:09 GMT, LukeOnder@RioESP.net (Rio) wrote:
| Quote: | On Fri, 18 Mar 2005 18:50:23 +0000, Peter Duncanson
mail@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 22:21:38 -0000, "Mike Lyle"
mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Luke wrote:
On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 16:27:19 +0000, JPG <me@privacy.net> wrote:
snip
No doubt, but the article in question is a self-published thing
that I
avail to my clients via the web and in hard-copy form.
snip
(Every bugger on the planet will notice that idiosyncratic -- nay,
eccentric -- use of "avail", though.)
My understand of "avail" is that it is what the client will do with the
article. If I make an item available someone else is then _able_ to _avail_
of it.
The way I used the word is quite commonplace, as you must be aware.
Whether that usage is listed in any dictionary or not, I don't know. I
can't be bothered to look!
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Add me to the list of people that have never seen "avail" used this
way. Your clients may "avail themselves of" your material, but you do
not avail it to them.
You can be bothered to come here and pose your questions about the
wording of a product you intend to use to sell your services, but you
can't be bothered to use a dictionary?
--
Tony Cooper
Orlando FL |
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Michael Mendelsohn
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 2:05 pm
Post subject: Re: Should I use the British or American spelling? (check/ch |
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Tony Cooper schrieb:
| Quote: | On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 16:27:19 +0000, JPG <me@privacy.net> wrote:
No doubt, but the article in question is a self-published thing that I
avail to my clients via the web and in hard-copy form.
Add me to the list of people that have never seen "avail" used this
way. Your clients may "avail themselves of" your material, but you do
not avail it to them.
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JPG makes something available, i.e. by putting it on the web clients
clients are able to avail themselves of it. I concur that "avail" is no
synonym of "make available".
| Quote: | You can be bothered to come here and pose your questions about the
wording of a product you intend to use to sell your services, but you
can't be bothered to use a dictionary?
|
Well, I thought he was a fuzzy thinker when he outlined his plan,
because he never considered the possibility that his mixed spelling
might make him appear American to Brits and British to Merkins: both are
not going to notice the words spelled "their" way, but observe the words
spelled "wrong". (And I'm not even going into the notion of encumbering
the text with parentheses whenever a word is used that has alternate
spellings).
Cheers
Michael
--
It's silly talking about how many years we will have to spend
in the jungles of Vietnam when we could pave the whole country
and put parking stripes on it and still be home by Christmas.
-- Ronald Reagan, October 10, 1965 |
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Odysseus
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 2:18 pm
Post subject: Re: Should I use the British or American spelling? (check/ch |
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georgeh@ankerstein.org wrote:
| Quote: |
Luke wrote:
If I am writing an article about paper money, to a world-wide
readership, including an uncertain number of Brits, Americans and
Australians. Which spelling should I use: "cheque" or "check"?
1) Be consistent.
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Agreed.
| Quote: | 2) Write out the name of the element "Al" to
determine which spelling system to use.
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Why that example in particular? It would certainly be a poor
diagnostic for standard Canadian spellings; it's one of the few words
we spell the same as is done in the US rather than the UK. The nouns
"curb", "jail", and "tire", with some of the "draft(-)" words, are
the only others I can think of offhand.
--
Odysseus |
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Bill McCray
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 4:00 pm
Post subject: Re: Should I use the British or American spelling? (check/ch |
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On 18 Mar 2005 05:56:12 -0800, rrhersh@acme.com wrote:
| Quote: | You know of a restaurant in America that takes checks? Where is this
singular establishment?
|
There's a small, family-run restaurant near us where we eat once or
twice a week. Although I haven't tried, I have no doubt that they
would take a check from me if I found that I didn't have enough cash
to pay for my meal. It reminds me of a small-town restaurant where
everyone in the town gathers regularly to catch up on the local
gossip, although I live in a community of a quarter-million. No, they
don't take credit cards.
Bill
Swap first and last parts of username and ISP for address. |
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