Which is the proper spelling of this word in English?
Canceled
Cancelled
I ponder these kinds of questions myself.
I always wrote cancelled, but recently I have noticed canceled appearing more often.
Really, I think both/either are correct.
How about capital and capitol.
I was in Austin recently and they have a "capital" highway. Does that mean they put a lot of taxpayer capital in it?
Either spelling is correct. The British and Canadian spelling uses the double l's, but American English has traditionally been a single l, though both spellings are correct.
http://www.bartleby.com/61/16/C0061600.html has the listing according to the American Heritage Dictionary. Typically, the preferred spelling is listed first (in this case, the single l), but both are acceptable. If you are writing for formal or business purposes, I would use the single l. (I personally am prone to double the l in cancelled and travelling.)
For uber-nerdiness, I saw a shirt that said "Real men use the harvard comma."
I had to look it up, a "Harvard Comma" is a command used before the word "and"
ie: Red, White, and Blue.
quote:
Originally posted by Conan71
How about capital and capitol.
I was in Austin recently and they have a "capital" highway. Does that mean they put a lot of taxpayer capital in it?
"Capital" is the city or area that is the seat of government, while "capitol" is the actual building itself. So that highway is correctly named since it is in Austin, the state capital of Texas, which contains a capitol building.
quote:
Originally posted by sgrizzle
For uber-nerdiness, I saw a shirt that said "Real men use the harvard comma."
I had to look it up, a "Harvard Comma" is a command used before the word "and"
ie: Red, White, and Blue.
Even that is subject to debate, e.g. others refer to it as the "Oxford comma."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_comma
We are lazy American's, I need no "U" in color or extra "e" at the end of some words. Nor do I need an extra "L" in canceled. Firefox agrees with me.
The above reference definition of capital is correct. It turns out many school teachers are idiots and/or dont fully explain things to school children. Leaving us poorly educated and misinformed for life.
one phrase that bugs me is
'could care less' vs 'couldn't care less'
i hear people say 'could care less' all the time. that implies that you care about what youre professing to not care about!
im pretty sure dear abby has said both are acceptable. I couldn't agree less.
Cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy*, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.
The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
This post brought to you by the fine makers of Seagram's VO.
* The "Chambridge Coma" comes before, after, or in the middle of the word "AN,D".
Try running spell-check on (hic) this one...jdb
I hate when people use the phrase "begs the question." It's never used in proper context, or at least, it rarely ever is.
quote:
Originally posted by jdb
Cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy*, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.
The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
This post brought to you by the fine makers of Seagram's VO.
* The "Chambridge Coma" comes before, after, or in the middle of the word "AN,D".
Try running spell-check on (hic) this one...jdb
Brought to you by the Evelyn Woodhead Sped Redin' Course.[:P]
The internet tells me that newer usages for "begs the question" are not in the old English context but are OK nonetheless. Wikipedia tells me that the internet is generally reliable. A quick Google search says that Wikipedia is a fairly reliable source of information. So its safe to assume that the new usage of "Beg the Question" as "raises the question" is OK.
/tried to make it painfully obvious
The Internets are unreliable. Using the Internets to prove the veracity of the Internets really does beg the question of whether the Internets are reliable, so good point.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Way to use it in its proper context IP. I considered lurking in every thread until I had the chance, but decided to just go for broke. [8D]
CF wrote: "It turns out many school teachers are idiots and/or dont fully explain things to school children. Leaving us poorly educated and misinformed for life."
True, we were taught in Public School that summer is June, July and August, basically known as the teachers union employees summer break.
In private school I was taught about the Solstice in the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere is 180 degrees out, as most of us now know due to chatting online with folks that live in Australia and other parts of the World.
SUMMER SOLSTICE: The first day of the Season of Summer. On this day (JUNE 21 in the northern hemisphere) the Sun is farthest north and the length of time between Sunrise and Sunset is the longest of the year.
In the southern hemisphere, winter and summer solstices are exchanged. Summer: December 22. Winter: June 21.
EQUINOX:
Two times of the year when night and day are about the same length. The Sun is crossing the Equator (an imaginary line around the middle of the Earth) and it is an equal distance from the North Pole and the South Pole.
SPRING EQUINOX:
The first day of the Season of Spring - and the beginning of a long period of sunlight at the Pole. In the northern hemisphere: MARCH 20 (the Sun crosses the Equator moving northward). In the southern hemisphere: SEPTEMBER 22 (the Sun crosses the Equator moving southward).
AUTUMN EQUINOX:
The first day of the Season of Autumn - and the beginning of a long period of darkness at the Pole. In the northern hemisphere: SEPTEMBER 22 (the Sun crosses the Equator moving southward). In the southern hemisphere: MARCH 20 (the Sun crosses the Equator moving northward).
I also learned that the Earth revolves towards the East. Hard to determine where you are going if at first you do not know where you are or in what direction you are traveling through space.
I also learned in private school that Nikola Tesla invented the radio, not Marconi. Public schools may still teach the wrong information.
"Nikola Tesla is now credited with having inventing modern radio; the Supreme Court overturned Marconi's patent in 1943 in favor of Tesla."
Wonder how old those text books were that we had in public school?
We were also told that Christopher Columbus discovered America ???
I believe that final claim has been revised to something along the lines of "Columbus was the first modern explorer to land in America and ushered in European conquest of the land."
Which is an accurate statement, if not vague.
I am a fan of the Oxford comma. For reasons I will not develop here, I think it is more logical.
As for language guides, one has to decide whether he or she prefers a prescriptive or descriptive guide. I prefer a prescriptive reference, which is why I referred to the American Heritage dictionary. In a nutshell, prescriptive guides tell readers how language should be used (and spelled).
On the other hand, descriptive guides tell us how language is being used. The most notable descriptive reference is Webster's. It was back in the '50s (if I recall the date correctly) that Webster's made the switch from prescriptive to descriptive, with no small amount of public outcry.
So, if you want to know how language should be used, look to a prescriptive guide (American Heritage). If you want to know how language has come to be used, go descriptive (Webster's, Wikipedia, the Internets, etc.).
And in the example of "begs the question," I would venture that a prescriptive guide would tell you that is is only appropriate when used in conjunction with a logical argument; whereas, a descriptive guide would say it can be used anytime you want to ask a question.