BH:========
>> Is this something that only Canadian dentists do? My dentist has never
>> had to instruct my teeth before filling them. Am I missing out? ;-)
>>
>> sorry, it must be late ..... back to work.
>
>Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
>Well done Brian . . . I would love to say it was very late when
>I wrote this, but I would be bearing false witness. Nothing worst than
>an assistant professor of mechanics taking one to task on the mechanics of
>grammar, eh?
>Denis
>
I should be more careful, I would hate for anyone to think I actually
care about grammar mechanics :-). A couple of years ago I decided to
try out a grammar checking program that came with my word processor.
I had the program check a paper that I had previously published in a
respectable journal (I figured this must be my best stuff :). The
program gave an almost endless list of suggested improvements, none
of which I understood. Finally, it gave an overall assessment in the
form of a grade level. Alas, my grammar was 6th grade level :-(.
As a check on the program, I gave it one of my favorite passages
from _Pensees_ (thinking reed). Pascal got a 5th grade ranking :-).
I also tried Shakespeare and Nietzsche with similar results. In
retrospect this makes sense since a program like this can only
check for adherance to some rigid set of rules which is, of course,
the antithesis of good writing, right?
Anyway, there's nothing worse than a spelling or grammar flame,
so I hope you didn't take my response as a flame [its a joke, son].
For spelling flames, I keep the following quote in reserve:
"Its a damn poor mind indeed that cannot think of at
least two ways to spell a word" -- Andrew Jackson
At last, Dan Quayle (the potatoe head) is vindicated :-).
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Brian Harper |
Associate Professor | "It is not certain that all is uncertain,
Applied Mechanics | to the glory of skepticism" -- Pascal
Ohio State University |
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