As a confirmed grammar freak, I despair at the way
the Queen's English is abused in internet communication. Running a mail
order business, as I do, I receive email all day long. It's dismaying how
adults, confronted with a computer keyboard, revert to 4th-grade English.
Clumsy spelling, no punctuation, lazy substitutions of numbers or abbreviations
for words and phrases. And worst of all, the mutilation of the possessive
form of the word "it."
And every evening, "Star Trek" intones a split
infinitive: "To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before." It should,
of course, read: "To Go Boldy Where No Man Has Gone Before."
End of rant. We won't get into whether it
should read, "To Go Boldy Where No Person (of any known gender, race, or sexual
proclivity) Has Gone Before.
On a less pedantic subject, refitting of Chimpanzee
the Montgomery 15 is moving apace. I have:
1. Finished rerigging the spars and deck,
fitted the new sails and roller furling, and added rigging for the
spinnaker.
2. Compounded and waxed the entire hull and
deck. (It looks new!)
3. Installed a 12V system with running
lights, cabin lights, and a solar panel atop the companionway
slide.
4. Removed the (fiberglass) centerboard for
refairing and replacement of pendant. (I think "pennant" is a sailor's
contraction of "pendant," though I'm not sure.)
5. Filled and faired the keel.
6. Restored the teak trim to as-new
condition.
I would just oil the teak, but I'm teaching a
seminar on marine varnishing tomorrow and Sunday, so I'll have the students
varnish the teak, drop boards, rudder, and other bits for me. (Heh
heh. Nothing like getting people to PAY to work on your own
boat. It's one up on old Tom Sawyer.)
Varnished teak is hard to keep up, but hopefully
I'll be having the varnishing class once or twice a year, so the class can
refinish it for me.
The vague hope is to launch Chimpanzee for a maiden
overnight cruise next weekend.
Cheers,
John
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, March 22, 2002 11:06
AM
Subject: RE: M_Boats: grammar and other
stuff
>It appears
that any one of us could have trouble with grammar
Ain't that the
truth!
It's fascinating (to me, at least)
how the language has changed over time. And how parts of what we consider
grammar have little reason for existing, while others are but remnants of the
older versions of the language. Somebody mentioned yesterday, I think, that
Lloyds want to stop referring to vessel as "she" -- which I suspect is
one of the last vestiges of grammatical gender in English. Or a preposition
being a bad thing to end a sentence with? Why? (Hint: There's no good
reason).
This language stuff is
fun!
Giles
Morris
Arlington VA
Vancouver 25 "Dolphin"
Montgomery 15
"Umiaq"
Sundry small craft
Mark