Grammer (was Re: virtual OS / a proposal regarding one of the principles))

Chris Corrigan corcom at interchange.ubc.ca
Wed Mar 29 16:58:21 PST 2000


The grammer of the principles is most interesting.  For example,
"whoever comes is the right people." should be either "whoever comes are
the right people" or "whoever comes is the right person," according to
that sublime authority, the Microsoft Word 98 Grammer Checker.

I think that so far, the only accepted change to the principles (as
decreed by the International OS Committee Responsible for Reviewing
Grammer and Other Oversights) is changing the law of two feet to the law
of mobility.  The Hair Spliiting and Raising Subcommittee is somewhat
wedded to the status quo, but had to accept this change after realizing
that whereas two feet were useful things to have, they didn't mean squat
until you allowed them to move you.

I understand that they're currently reviewing a proposal to clarify
exactly why the people who sit at the bar are called butterflies and not
barflies.


CJC

Harrison Owen wrote:

> At 02:53 PM 3/29/00 +0000, you wrote:>"What happens is the only thing
> that happens.">I'm with you.>That "only thing that could have" has
> stuck in my conscience like a fishbone>for more than a year.>>-Chris
> Weaver*******************************I love to split hairs. And being
> grammatically correct is not one of my virtues. (Politically correct
> neither) So. If it didn't happen -- it couldn't happen -- just then.
> Sometime later -- maybe. In the past -- possibly. But right then it
> didn't, and therefore couldn't. Not possible. You want it a different
> way? Sounds fine to me. Especially when you get it into German. Any
> people who split a verb between the front and back of a long sentence
> which should have been a paragraph -- making it impossible to decipher
> for folks who usually keep their verbs all in one place -- can
> certainly have it any way they want. If for no other reason, I for one
> will never figure it out. So carry on. Seriously, the words really
> aren't all that important -- Opening space is.Harrison
>
>                             Harrison Owen
>                        7808 River Falls Drive
>                           Potomac, MD 20854
>                                  USA
>                          phone 301-469-9269
>                           fax 301-983-9314
>                                website
>                      www.mindspring.com/~owenhh
>                     Open Space Institute websites
>                         www.openspaceworld.org
>
                                   --
                             CHRIS CORRIGAN
                        108-1035 Pacific Street
                              Vancouver BC
                                V6E 4G7

                          Phone: 604.683.3080
                            Fax: 604.683-3036


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