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Guest
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| Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 4:39 am
Post subject: Re: [OT] April Snow |
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On Tue, 26 Apr 2005 17:26:24 +0000 (UTC), Areff <me@privacy.net>
wrote:
| Quote: | the Omrud wrote:
Not me. I was in the hills about 100 miles West of New York (the
city - I was only a couple of miles from the state),
No need to clarify. New York is the city. New York State is the state.
New York contains Brooklyn (FLCIA), which in turn contains Coney Island.
New York State contains coneys, which are hot dogs, which are not
sandwiches or sausages.
The capitalization of 'w' in "West" was, I assume, intentional, but it
looks odd to my AmE eyes. West New York, BTW, is in New Jersey. East New
York is in Brooklyn (FLCIA). South Brooklyn is in northeastern Brooklyn.
Southeast, New York is about 60 miles north-northeast of New York.
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Is that comma in the last sentenc intentional? It looks odd to my
EnglishE eye. |
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Edmund Lewis
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 6:21 am
Post subject: Re: April Snow |
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Mike Barnes wrote:
| Quote: | In alt.usage.english, Edmund Lewis wrote:
Buxton [...] is the highest town in England.
Alston regularly makes the same claim. They're both at about 300m, so
presumably it's down to exactly where you measure.
--
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England
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Has been discussed on other groups I post to as well. Looking at
http://www.streetmap.co.uk, only a small part of Buxton is below 300m,
ie the bit by the river which is mostly not built on, (the station
seems absolutely bang on the contour, town hall about 310), while the
main part of Alston is just below it.
Edmund |
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Maria Conlon
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 6:53 am
Post subject: Re: [OT] April Snow |
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Areff wrote:
| Quote: | rbaniste1@shaw.ca wrote:
Areff wrote:
Southeast, New York is about 60 miles north-northeast of New York.
Is that comma in the last sentenc intentional? It looks odd to my
EnglishE eye.
It is intentional, but I'm not saying I like it. It's conventional in
AmE, when reciting a locality in town+state format, to separate town
and state by a comma. Southeast, New York (so-called) is a town in
New York State. I'd prefer "Southeast, New York State", which is
less misleading. (Southeast *is* in the southeastern quarter of New
York State,
I guess. I don't know if that explains the name.)
It sort of violates the norms associated with the Pause School of
Commafication, of which I am an adherent.
I am somewhat surprised that it looks odd to you, for surely it
complies with prewar BrE writing norms, not that you lads had states.
Blackburn, Lancashire, anyone? The postwar social re-engineers were
the ones that purged BrE of punctuation.
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The convention when I was in school was this: "Southeast, New York, is
about 60 miles...." As far as I know, that's still correct, but I'm
seeing fewer and fewer commas around state names these days.
It could also be "The City of Southeast (New York) is about 60
miles...."
And what of "Southeast NY is about 60 miles...."? I think the comma-less
version would be acceptable nowadays *but only if the city name is
city-like*. In other words, "Southeast NY" doesn't work, but "Detroit
MI" does. (Note: In the past, the abbreviations would have been "N. Y."
and "Mich." They would have required commas fore and aft.)
The usage of commas, parentheses, or abbreviations eliminates -- or at
least lessens -- confusion, I think. Naming cities more carefully would
help, too.
Prediction: The Pause School of Commafication is going to lose
accreditation one of these days.
Maria Conlon
OBediting: I've edited this post a few times for clarity. It may now
contain some inexplicable errors. |
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Mark Brader
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 10:24 pm
Post subject: Re: [OT] April Snow |
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Mike Barnes writes:
| Quote: | The BBC Weather Centre reports it at <http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/weath
erwise/living/keydates/keydates_05.shtml>:
2 June 1975
Snow fell across the Midlands and south-east England preventing
cricket at Buxton in the Peak Districk.
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Sic.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "1. Buy 64 more buses."
msb@vex.net --Michael Wares |
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Mike Barnes
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 2:07 am
Post subject: Re: [OT] April Snow |
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In alt.usage.english, Mark Brader wrote:
| Quote: | Mike Barnes writes:
The BBC Weather Centre reports it at <http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/weath
erwise/living/keydates/keydates_05.shtml>:
2 June 1975
Snow fell across the Midlands and south-east England preventing
cricket at Buxton in the Peak Districk.
Sic.
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I thought about it... and decided against.
Later in the same message:
| Quote: | This is the latest reliable
date on which snow has fallen in lowland Britain, and was an
exeptional event,
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Si.
--
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England |
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Wood Avens
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 3:35 am
Post subject: Re: [OT] April Snow |
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On Tue, 26 Apr 2005 22:01:00 GMT, "Maria Conlon"
<maria.c-b@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
| Quote: | Ray Heindl wrote:
Chardon, Ohio (AKA the buckle of the snow belt), got 18 inches of snow
yesterday. At my house, less than 20 miles away as the snow flies, it
rained and/or snowed for two and a half days, but there was no snow
accumulation at all.
And our snow is all gone now (as of yesterday afternoon). Will more come
our way (before winter)? Could be. I'd never say otherwise.
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And we have no snow at all, but here in southern England the cherry
petals blowing off the trees have been spectacularly blizzard-like. I
don't remember a year when the cherries were quite as covered in
blossom as they've been this April. The petals are lying in great
drifts outside as I write.
--
Katy Jennison
spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @ |
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Mark Brader
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 6:09 am
Post subject: Re: [OT] April Snow |
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Mike Barnes:
| Quote: | The BBC Weather Centre reports ...
... at Buxton in the Peak Districk.
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Mark Brader:
Mike Barnes:
| Quote: | I thought about it... and decided against.
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Well, I didn't want anyone to think the error was the fault of Mick. 
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "Do people confuse me with Mark Brader?"
msb@vex.net --Mark Barratt |
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