SlapHappy Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 I really enjoyed the Box-o-Truth website! Thanks for posting the link.... Of course, now Battlefront must supply our Stryker troops with Buffalo Rifles...get cracking! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Secondbrooks Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Originally posted by John Kettler: I have ZERO idea how you got anything hostile from what I saidWell this is good thing... I mean that i misunderstood your post's tone slightly I don't know why is it in these forums that it's hard for me to understand what people are writing and i'm also able to write lots of typos and mis-spellings (even when i douple-check my texts) Maybe people are using their english language in more creative way than in "regular" english forums or something. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Secondbrooks, English as a second language (ESL) is tough, for it's not only highly idiomatic, but exists in multiple forms. I'd hate to be an outsider trying to master it. Example follows. A South American gallant (noun form, an especially courteous man ever attentive to women), in earlier, less health conscious days, seeks to offer a woman a light for her cigarette. What does he come up with? "Pardon, may I inflame you?" This has a bunch of meanings, to include, "May I (literally) set you on fire? Not so good! More promising, though, is "May I turn you on sexually?" Neither, though, is what he's actually trying to say. My dad used to go around saying: "Be alert. The world needs more lerts!" This is precisely the sort of thing that must drive people like you nuts. Context alone sometimes isn't enough to follow the action, either. "Nice rack!" could apply to a stowage device on a car, truck, or SUV, the expert way someone organizes the balls tightly to play pool, or a woman's bosom. Depending on how the last is delivered (and heard), it may be taken as a compliment or get you slapped. If she's got a guy in the vicinity, things can get even more exciting! Doubtless adding to your confusion are people who use the wrong words, yet which sound alike. Such mistakes are called homophone errors. Case in point, "site," which can be used as either a noun (a place), a verb (to locate or position), or as an adjective, as in "The matter was site specific." "Site" is often used where "sight" should be. Thus, we see LOS (line of sight) written out as "line of site." "Sight," though, is a noun (something to see, also short for gunsight), a verb (sight a weapon, see something), and an adverb (bought the item sight unseen). Things get even more confusing when the suffix "ed" is added. "The 88 was sited (placed) so as to command the valley floor." "Once the enemy was sighted (seen), the 88 crew carefully held its fire until ordered to open up. More fun awaits when you discover U.S. military manuals, which are written at 6th grade level. Thus, where you'd normally see "alignment" spelled as shown, the Army spells it "alinement," the "gn" apparently being thought too difficult for the troops! And don't get me started on the systematic bastardization of the language by marketers and text messaging! As for your making spelling errors in postings, they are easy to do, because we tend to get caught up in simply expressing ourselves, but here, unlike some places, are easy to fix, too. Regards, John Kettler [ March 13, 2008, 12:35 AM: Message edited by: John Kettler ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Code13 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Without wanting to hijack this thread (or is it shanghai?) into one about linguistics, when you spell check a document created on MS Word you will often see a stat called Flesch grade or Flesch-kincaid grade, these are reading scales developed for the US navy to allow them to write training manuals at a level their sailors would understand them. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Code13, Rudolf Flesch is the author of THE ART OF READABLE writing. Back in my Amiga days, I had a great little word processing program from SoftWood called Final Copy. It had the ability to program in a particular reading level and would tell you when you exceeded the preset value. Slick! People, To get back on track here, I shall be most interested to see what Steve has to say after grokking in fullness, in his copious free time (irony on), the wealth of new terminal ballistic data he just got. Could have all sorts of interesting impacts (pun intended and not!) on how things are handled in the game. For example, I had no idea the AK-74 was better than the AK-47 at penetrating the NATO target, until I did the research. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.