Advanced English, for beginners.

[Midnight Blue]

Right then.

We here in Toronto, are the self-acknowledged, Elite of this Country.

(Even us few Conservatives.)


We may tease some participants on this Forum about their less-than-Parliamentary

use of the English Language, but it is all in good fun.


Nevertheless, with Elitism, comes responsibility....


We are setting an example; if only to distinguish ourselves from the downtown Hamilton bottle-collectors,

who probably include 62% of all Ti-Cat fans. Give or take a few percent.


In fact, if minimum standards are not set, or more importantly, not adhered to,

then the whole State of Civilization, runs the risk of falling into disrepute.


So without further adieu, please allow us to highlight the brilliance of the English language. (Outside of Quebec, of course.)



God Save The Queen !

[Midnight Blue]

Ladies and Gentlemen,


Words have their own individual meanings;

If you wish to be taken seriously, then you must ensure, that the words you choose to speak or write,

correspond with the ideas which you are hoping to project.


For example:


When Irishmen come home,

they're very happy,

to find that their Whiskey,

is still there.

[Midnight Blue]

Sometimes, a Hooker may demand an unseemly sum.

You can respond with:

Who're (who are) you kidding? Twenty bucks?!


Full disclosure: being too lazy to look it up (it would cut into my drinking time),

I am not altogether sure, whether the question mark comes before the exclamation mark,

or vice versa. Perhaps it is a matter of personal preference, but I suspect not.


Perhaps one of the two or three Professors on this forum, can help me out....

[Midnight Blue]

Speaking of Ellipses ....


Those three dots are called Ellipses ... they can be used as an elegant pause, or to just

proclaim your apparent superiority over people who know nothing about them (just kidding).


But did you know, that while three-dot ellipses are used in the middle of sentences, and/or paragraphs,

as well as in endings or possible extensions of above said sentences and/or paragraphs,

a fourth dot is added (not part of the ellipses ... a non-ellipsis), when the ellipses end a sentence or paragraph?

This fourth dot is actually the period/full-stop dot, which occurs at the end of every sentence. Period.



(And yes, "ellipses" is the plural form, and "ellipsis" is the singular form of the plural form,

meaning that when the singular form is not used, because it is not needed --- since the mistaken use of the

plural form, inadvertently used when the singular form would be an obvious choice --- may lead to a

less-than-ideal use,

and this may possibly lead to confusion, if you are not precise and careful with your language and meanings,

whether speaking either singularily, or otherwise....)



Seriously. I discovered this in print years ago, from an Oxford, or perhaps Cambridge website. I kid you not.

It was one of the two. Leave it to the Brits, to define proper English.

Lost the link on my older computer, but will try to find it again, in between drinking sprees.



Oh and by the way, language humour aside, I still get laid upon occasion. I am after all, a Football fan.


And I occasionally write wicked poetry. This helps me to get laid even more. We'll cover poetry later.



Rule Britannia !



Ka' Pla !

[Argocister]

Thanks for the explanation on ellipses .... So my question is... If I use more than 4 ., does that mean I am more elegant or .......even more superior than those I am talking too?

;)

Having a good laugh thanx

[Midnight Blue]

Sometimes ignorance is bliss.


I already knew why Brits snicker at non-Brit men, when such men refer to trousers as "pants".

While in North America pants are pants, in Britain, men wear trousers, and pants are slang for panties,

which are something that women wear, on both sides of the pond (in case you haven't discovered this for yourself).



Furthermore, Brits will only say "Excuse me", after they burp. Normally, Brits will just say "Sorry",

if they accidentally bump into you or something.



But what's really funny, is that the only time Brits will say "Pardon me", is after they accidentally expel gas,

through an alternate orifice.



This is especially and extremely funny, in a polite country such as Canada.



Every time now, whenever someone says "Pardon me", I really have to try my best to not completely crack up laughing.




Just keep your pants on, Dude....





Ka' Pla !

[Midnight Blue]

Thanks for the explanation on ellipses .... So my question is... If I use more than 4 ., does that mean I am more elegant or .......even more superior than those I am talking too?

;)

Having a good laugh thanx



Babe, thanks for at least feigning a moderate interest, into my serious thoughts.


But to answer your question ... there is no such thing as more than three ellipses.

The period is the fourth dot, as I've explained above, but if you choose to encumber this,

or any other forum with a supposed fifth, or further dot, then you will only be identifying

yourself (and perhaps the rest of your family) as foreigners.


And this would certainly be a most un-British thing to do.



Cheer O !

[Argocister]

............

And this would certainly be a most un-British thing to do.



Cheer O !

Well, I will consider myself foreign..... Only 1/4 British, 1/4 Scot and 1/2 German

........ So more than 3 for me

[Midnight Blue]

Well, I will consider myself foreign..... Only 1/4 British, 1/4 Scot and 1/2 German

........ So more than 3 for me


Ok fine ... feel free to use four (as written in stone above), but only at the end of sentences, and when appropriate. The rest of the time, I sincerely invite you to use only three....

It is the British way. Even Germans would limit their ellipsis use to only four, had they ever had the foresight to invent, and use them in their language.

Furthermore, it is the Klingon way !


(Actually, Klingons do not need to use punctuation. Their words are incisive and to the point.)



Mind you, Women often need extra convincing; the things we Men grasp right away, are often grasped by Women, during their own sweet time. Not that I have a problem with that. I do not.



Ka' Pla !

[rdavies]

Loose vs Lose (http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/difficulties/looselose.html)

The words loose and lose are mixed up in writing; for some reason, many people write loose when they really mean lose. But there's no reason to lose your mind worrying about this, just lose the extra o!

Loose

Loose is an adjective, the opposite of tight or contained.

My shoes are loose
I have a loose tooth
There's a dog running loose in the street

Lose

Lose is a verb that means to suffer the loss of, to miss.

I win! You lose!
Don't lose your keys
I never lose bets

The Bottom Line

Simple carelessness leads people to write loose when they mean lose. Just remember that lose has one o, and loose has two. Start with loose, lose an o, and what do you get? Lose!

[Midnight Blue]

Loose vs Lose (http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/difficulties/looselose.html)

The words loose and lose are mixed up in writing; for some reason, many people write loose when they really mean lose. But there's no reason to lose your mind worrying about this, just lose the extra o!

Loose

Loose is an adjective, the opposite of tight or contained.

My shoes are loose
I have a loose tooth
There's a dog running loose in the street

Lose

Lose is a verb that means to suffer the loss of, to miss.

I win! You lose!
Don't lose your keys
I never lose bets

The Bottom Line

Simple carelessness leads people to write loose when they mean lose. Just remember that lose has one o, and loose has two. Start with loose, lose an o, and what do you get? Lose!





A great and poignant contribution. Thank you, Rdavies.

(I like to capitalize names/avatars, out of respect and politeness, when responding.)


Hell, I had completely forgotten about this thread. Thanks.

I find myself laughing. At least I sometimes do something constructive when drinking.

Besides, if one maintains correct spelling and grammar (not to mention, logic), then people really cannot tell how much one (meaning, me) has been drinking....


Anyway (not, Anyways), I just realized that my bracketed paragraph explaining singular/plural ellipses, is not grammatically correct; I mean, it is factually true, but to make perfect understandable sense, I think that the paragraph requires that I either add the word "it", somewhere, and/or subtract the word "and", from somewhere else....

I will leave this up for a day or two (my work schedule is varied and unpredictable), in case anyone wants to take a stab at it, before offering a correction.


In the meantime, I will attempt to use the words loose/lose in a sentence, while keeping with the above-started "Irishmen" theme:


When young Irishmen come home after drinking, and happen to find some new loose young Women there, they may all, suddenly lose their virginity.


Slainte !


And, Ka' Pla !

[1argoholic]

One thing I hate more than politics is school. Hated it up until my three years at Humber in the early 80's. Now I hate it again.

[Midnight Blue]

One thing I hate more than politics is school. Hated it up until my three years at Humber in the early 80's. Now I hate it again.


Just think of this as Advanced Humour 102. The English language part is a collateral option.


Ka' Pla !