SPG

[Guest david west]

What's a "hollaback girl?"

 

 

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?...laback+girl&r=f

 

 

... back to Phil's SPG....

 

...your spelling, punctuation, and grammer are BIG clues as to what your general IQ probably is.

 

There may be a few here who are brighter than their writing might indicate; however, it is a good general indicator... Rather than getting excited and slinging insults at one another i propose that we ALL view the posts that are "less than perfect" with a slightly skeptical eye insofar as trusting the content of aforementioned posts...

 

 

I personally have found the information shared here on a similar level to what you might find in the faculty lounge at a GOOD film school. We have the good fortune to converse with the Faculty and Grad students of the Cinemetography.com filmschool anytime. I have also noticed that some comments are coming from people that you might do well to look carefully at how they write. These are comments that might come from the first year students.

 

There are experts here who are kind enough to share their knowledge free of charge. I am truly greatful to those people. As I learn small bits here and there I will try to help others as others have helped me... I HAVE NO DESIRE TO INSULT ANYONE. If i have ever done so then I apologize and am sure I was misunderstood.

 

again, THANK YOU to the experts that have posted here, and THANK YOU to the not yet experts who still dared to give it their best shot in the spirit of sharing what they know...

 

 

... cheers all...

[Josh Bass]

I think it's been said before, but that doesn't apply so much to non-native english speakers.

[James Steven Beverly]

That sounds awfully like a personal attack... rather pointless and it contributes absolutely NOTHING to the discussion at hand

 

Personally I feel that this forum is a place for informal discussions and exchanges of ideas... so its not so important that the Queens English is spoken... just so long as people can be easily understood ;)

It ia exactly the desussion at hand. Some people take umbrage with pointless and useless things and try to silence those who disagree with them by engaging in insult rather than logic or debate. My comments in that post were a responce to three previous attacks by the same clown, all of which were unproved, as my posts where never directed at him. As far as the topic of this tread you and I agree completely on the issue. I would also add though that I simply see this discussion as a debate that does nothing to further disscussions nor exchange of ideas reguarding filmmaking and are merely rants about personal pet peeves that have no place in a filmmaking forum

[Thomas Worth]

Capt.Video,

 

I noticed that many of your posts contain spelling errors. You are correct about the absence of a spell checker on this forum, so as a fellow poster I would like to refer you to my spell-check workaround (I actually posted this earlier on this thread). It's not the quickest solution, but it works and I thought you might appreciate it:

 

1. Copy your entire post (before submitting it, obviously)

2. Create a new message in Outlook Express

3. Paste the text of the post into the message and spell check it

4. After the corrections are made, copy the text again and paste it back into the browser

5. Submit the post

6. Discard the email message you created in Outlook Express

 

I happen to check almost all of my posts this way before submitting them. Sometimes it catches things that would have made the posts unclear. So, use it if you like!

[Mike Rizos]

I would also like to thank all the experts and professionals who post here. It's taken me several months to read almost all the archives and it's been fascinating. I am glad they write the way they do.

 

After a while you get used to one's writing style, and know what to expect. Everyone makes mistakes here and there and it's not bothersome.

 

But postings with numerous grammatical errors are very tiresome to read. It's strange but these posters seem to go away after a while.

[Daniel Sheehy]

... I simply see this discussion as a debate that does nothing to further disscussions nor exchange of ideas reguarding filmmaking and are merely rants about personal pet peeves that have no place in a filmmaking forum

 

Hey thats probably why its on the 'Off Topic' board! :D

[Robert Edge]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?...laback+girl&r=f

... back to Phil's SPG....

 

...your spelling, punctuation, and grammer are BIG clues as to what your general IQ probably is.

 

This is one of those discussions that are 50 per cent fun and 50 per cent ugly.

 

I want to tell you a story.

 

I have spent some time, as skipper or crew, sailing boats on the open ocean in the Atlantic, the Pacific, the North Sea, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.

 

Some years ago, I helped sail a 70 foot racing yacht from Cabo San Lucas in Mexico to San Diego. This was in was late March/beginning of April, when the weather is unsettled. If you know the west coast of North America, you also know that this involves sailing against the wind, the entire way, for about 900 miles (or at least, that is my best recollection of the distance).

 

The skipper of the boat was profoundly dislexic. Among other things, he could not read the weather reports that we were getting without assistance. During the voyage, we ran into 60mph winds, starting at night. I want you to understand that winds of that magnitude, on open ocean, are of serious consequence. By that, I mean that on a 70 foot yacht, in those winds, with a crew of 13, leadership and disipline are absolutely essential to ensure that no-one is injured or killed.

 

I believe that the fellow who skippered this yacht through the conditions that we met was one of the two finest sailors that I have ever met. I can't emphasise too heavily how important it is, if one is on a yacht on open ocean, for the crew to have confidence in the skipper. Neither I, nor anyone else on this boat, ever had any doubt in his ability to pull us through.

 

As far as I know, his IQ was at least as good as that of the members of his crew.

 

Last fall, a friend who has done a Transatlantic crossing, and I helped a gentleman who owns a very high-end 39ft yacht, worth about US$250,000, sail his boat from New York south for the winter. The owner is a very literate guy, and talked big, the only problem being that maybe he is a better sailor in the Hudson River than the Atlantic Ocean. The sail from New York to Atlantic City was so bad, by which I mean irresponsible, that we had a long talk with him when we got down there. He chose to ignore our advice, as clever a fellow as he is, and we and the third crew member got on the bus back to New York.

 

I"ll take a guy who can't spell, but who knows how to sail a boat, over a guy who can spell and who may get me killed, any day of the week :)

 

As for people whose native language is not English and who participate on this web site, I am embarrassed when they are corrected, as happens from time to time. There are two reasons. The first is that sometimes they come up with really original uses of the English language. The second is that I am all too aware of my own gaffs in French. I am equally aware of the tolerance of that French-speaking friends show to those gaffs.

 

Have a good weekend, everyone.

[James Steven Beverly]

Capt.Video,

 

I noticed that many of your posts contain spelling errors. You are correct about the absence of a spell checker on this forum, so as a fellow poster I would like to refer you to my spell-check workaround (I actually posted this earlier on this thread). It's not the quickest solution, but it works and I thought you might appreciate it:

 

1. Copy your entire post (before submitting it, obviously)

2. Create a new message in Outlook Express

3. Paste the text of the post into the message and spell check it

4. After the corrections are made, copy the text again and paste it back into the browser

5. Submit the post

6. Discard the email message you created in Outlook Express

 

I happen to check almost all of my posts this way before submitting them. Sometimes it catches things that would have made the posts unclear. So, use it if you like!

Thank you for your advice. To me this is constructive. I think it could help others as well who are insecure about their spelling.

 

Hey thats probably why its on the 'Off Topic' board! :D

Good point :)

 

 

I believe that the fellow who skippered this yacht through the conditions that we met was one of the two finest sailors that I have ever met. I can't emphasise too heavily how important it is, if one is on a yacht on open ocean, how important it is for the crew to have confidence in the skipper. Neither I, nor anyone else on this boat, ever had any doubt in his ability to pull us through.

 

As far as I know, his IQ was at least as good as that of the members of his crew.

 

Terrific story and Great parable

Edited February 18, 2006 by Capt.Video

[David Mullen ASC]

I still feel that the standard should be clarity of meaning when communicating. A few spelling and grammatical errors are not going to be a problem, but excessive mistakes and poor expression in general can make a post misread and the poster misunderstood, which I assume is not something they want to happen.

[Guest]

Well this thread has been moderately amusing, almost like the good ol' days. Not quite mind you.

 

Where are Daniel and Landon in all of this? They would have brought their own unique perspective.

 

R.

 

PS: To you Americans, will you please start spelling the English language correctly, here is a quick guide for you of common mistakes.

 

American: catsup

English: ketchup

 

American: color

English: colour

 

American: check (as in for cashing)

English: cheque

 

American: theater

English: theatre

 

American: Y'all

English: You all

 

American: about

English: about

Canadian: abooooooot :)

[James Steven Beverly]

Well this thread has been moderately amusing, almost like the good ol' days. Not quite mind you.

 

Where are Daniel and Landon in all of this? They would have brought their own unique perspective.

 

R.

 

PS: To you Americans, will you please start spelling the English language correctly, here is a quick guide for you of common mistakes.

 

American: catsup

English: ketchup

 

American: color

English: colour

 

American: check (as in for cashing)

English: cheque

 

American: theater

English: theatre

 

 

American: Y'all

English: You all

 

American: about

English: about

Canadian: abooooooot :)

 

We don't have to spell Engsish correctly! Not as long as we have most of the Nukes!!!! (manical laugh) HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

[Guest]

"We don't have to spell Engsish correctly! Not as long as we have most of the Nukes!!!! (manical laugh) HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"

 

I know you're joking. However, when I lived in the USA I met far too many people who assumed "might made right" even when it came to bastardizing the Queen's English.

 

BTW, have you heard your president speak lately? I don't even think he can speak "Merican."

 

Of course I can't talk too much, it wasn't long ago that Canada had a Prime Minister who was unable to speak either official language. His name was Jean Chretien.

 

FYI, what is the official language of the USA? Guess what, the answer is: unknown?

 

There is no piece of paper any where in the USA that says, "The official language of the USA is _______" Try going to Washington DC and finding it in a law book some place, good luck you won't find it. So really we might as well have this board in Cantonese or Scottish.

 

California has tried to pass laws making English the "official" language of the state. Gee I wonder what language they where trying to keep out, hmmmmm, was it Norwegian, French, German? (Ok I won't even say the language, I know that will start a riot.)

 

Every time CA has tried to pass such a law, some folks have been able to get a judge to immediately squash it and that was that.

 

The question is why pass such a law in the first place? Canada has two official languages (English and Punjabi) and look how well that has worked out.....ok wait a second bad example skip that. Try Switzerland maybe, they have five official languages, and they all seem to get along just fine.

 

R,

[Rik Andino]

FYI, what is the official language of the USA? Guess what, the answer is: unknown?

 

There is no piece of paper any where in the USA that says, "The official language of the USA is _______" Try going to Washington DC and finding it in a law book some place, good luck you won't find it. So really we might as well have this board in Cantonese or Scottish.

 

California has tried to pass laws making English the "official" language of the state. Gee I wonder what language they where trying to keep out, hmmmmm, was it Norwegian, French, German? (Ok I won't even say the language, I know that will start a riot.)

 

Every time CA has tried to pass such a law, some folks have been able to get a judge to immediately squash it and that was that.

 

The question is why pass such a law in the first place? Canada has two official languages (English and Punjabi) and look how well that has worked out.....ok wait a second bad example skip that. Try Switzerland maybe, they have five official languages, and they all seem to get along just fine.

 

R,

 

Are you trying to make a point about America's social structure...

Having a paper that dictates what a country's official language is is usually irrelevant.

It's about as useless as naming cattle--especially slaughterhouse cattle. (I know that's a bad analogy.)

 

Everyone knows that you need to speak English if you want to efficiently function in most areas in the U.S.

Just like everyone knows they normally speak French in France...(what else would French speak? :huh: )

So you don't need some kinda of legislative paper to inform you of the obvious...

Like putting a sign on the bathroom to inform people to wash their hands--only a pig wouldn't know that. :)

 

As a fluent speaker of two languages and a somewhat speaker or a third...

I see it rude to present English only as the norm

In fact I wish more American could speak two, three languages--it wouldn't kill us to do so.

 

I feel it's courteous enough to the immigrants that migrate to this country...

To make them feel welcome by not having to think that the official language is English

& not make them feel wrong for speaking their own tongue...it's not a crime to not know English (is it?)

Afterall the US was founded by dozens of cultures

So in honor of that tradition we keep the idea that English is not the only language spoken here.

(We fought a war with the English to break from them--so now we can make their language our own)

 

Although it's quite obvious English is mostly spoken here--mostly. (I know it's bad grammar.)

[Stephen Williams]

"We don't have to spell Engsish correctly! Not as long as we have most of the Nukes!!!! (manical laugh) HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"

 

I know you're joking. However, when I lived in the USA I met far too many people who assumed "might made right" even when it came to bastardizing the Queen's English.

 

BTW, have you heard your president speak lately? I don't even think he can speak "Merican."

 

Of course I can't talk too much, it wasn't long ago that Canada had a Prime Minister who was unable to speak either official language. His name was Jean Chretien.

 

FYI, what is the official language of the USA? Guess what, the answer is: unknown?

 

There is no piece of paper any where in the USA that says, "The official language of the USA is _______" Try going to Washington DC and finding it in a law book some place, good luck you won't find it. So really we might as well have this board in Cantonese or Scottish.

 

California has tried to pass laws making English the "official" language of the state. Gee I wonder what language they where trying to keep out, hmmmmm, was it Norwegian, French, German? (Ok I won't even say the language, I know that will start a riot.)

 

Every time CA has tried to pass such a law, some folks have been able to get a judge to immediately squash it and that was that.

 

The question is why pass such a law in the first place? Canada has two official languages (English and Punjabi) and look how well that has worked out.....ok wait a second bad example skip that. Try Switzerland maybe, they have five official languages, and they all seem to get along just fine.

 

R,

 

Richard,

 

There are only 4 Official languages in Switzerland. What funny is the second launguage taught in some cantons is now English. So whilst English is not an official language its spoken by more people than French which is the no. 2 official launguage of Switzerland.

 

The number one spoken launguage is Swiss German however it can't be written. They write in high German.

 

Stephen

[Tim J Durham]

We don't have to spell Engsish correctly! Not as long as we have most of the Nukes!!!! (manical laugh) HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

 

Sadly, this argument seems to be prevalent at the top.

[Guest]

"Having a paper that dictates what a country's official language is is usually irrelevant."

 

Well Rik that is certainly one view point. It's kind of like getting married vs living together, you can do every thing married people can if you live together, you just don't have a piece of paper that makes it official. Although I think the reality is that by not having an official language, the USA could end up with "no language" if you know what I mean? The US gov't really needs to take a leadership role and define this issue once and for all to bring order and prevent the chaos that is happening in some US school districts. Right now the US relies on the idea that English is so predominant it always will be, & that may not be so.

 

"There are only 4 Official languages in Switzerland."

 

Ooops sorry Stephen, for some reason I thought it was five :)

 

When people in Canada complain about having two official languages, some else says, "be thankful you don't live in Switzerland they have five!!!!" I guess that's where idea came from.

 

Any way either Canada or the US could have 50 official languages and still be no where near covering all of the languages spoken in both countries.

 

One thing is for sure, for better or worse, the English language now rules the world. I'm always amazed in my world travels that I can get along just fine speaking English only, there are English speakers no matter where you go. It's the language of commerce and of course air travel. If you only spoke Norwegian you would have a very difficult time traveling outside of your own country.

 

This is a fact that France and Quebec are quite furious about I know, French is rapidly going downhill in use around the globe as English takes its place.

 

R,

[Leo Anthony Vale]

American: catsup

English: ketchup

 

 

American: Y'all

English: You all

 

Actually it's:

 

DelMonte: catsup

Heinz: ketchup

 

Yins is usually more acceptable than y'all

 

 

---LV

[Daniel Sheehy]

I still feel that the standard should be clarity of meaning when communicating. A few spelling and grammatical errors are not going to be a problem, but excessive mistakes and poor expression in general can make a post misread and the poster misunderstood, which I assume is not something they want to happen.

 

Well put Mr Mullen, I think you've hit the nail on the head!

[Josh Bass]

Yo,

 

color

color

color

color

 

ketchup

ketchup

ketchup

ketchup