[ida]

A full stop (or period) at the end of a sentence tells me that the sentence is over and there are no words missing... No full stop tells me there may be some stuff missing.

[ida]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daithi

The "proper" function is good because it will return correctly punctuated and capitalised surnames which have an apostrophe. To return all lower case letters use the "lower" function

The only thing it doesn't recognise though is names that start with Mc, where the next letter should be capitalised. As in McDonnell, McCarthy, etc. Being from Ireland working in the UK this is a pain for me.

[Mica]

I can't stand when people stop writing in proper English the second they leave the office. I never understood this idea that just because we are not at work or in school, we can bastartize a language that people spend quite sime time perfecting.

And don't even get me started on that 'u' and '2' nonsense. I refuse to talk to anyone that uses letters or numbers instead of words.

Is it really that difficult to use the shift key?

Quote:

Originally Posted by haferkamp

As a young whipper-snapper who stops using her shift key the moment she leaves the office, I resemble that remark!

. . . I'm actually quite a stickler for clarity, by temperament and by education. It's just that I find clarity doesn't always require traditional capitalization (and often doesn't require punctuation--do we really need a period if there's no sentence immediately following?). Words and syntax are much more important, in my mind.

However, I do know correct form, and I'm not afraid to use it. I always deploy correct form in less-casual contexts like work emails, or forms that are going into someone else's database. Especially forms. I've been the person who cleans up that stuff, so I try to not be an annoyance.

It's all about context! It drives me nuts when people are insensitive about their audience.

[Vinojd1]

That would be 'bastardize' a language



Jim DiGiovanni
Application Manager, CSM
Wycliffe Bible Translators
407-852-3756
407-459-6756 (cell)
407-852-3601 (fax)
Vinojd1 <mailto:Vinojd1>
Life is a series of short equations Jim DiGiovanni
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something Jackie Mason <http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/1008.html>

I think it would be a good idea.(when asked what he thought of Western
civilization) Mahatma Gandhi <file:///\\quotes\Mahatma_Gandhi\>
Human intellect is incurably abstract C.S. Lewis





________________________________

From: Mica [mailto:]
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 9:40 AM
To: DiGiovanni, Jim
Subject: [Query/Import/Export-t-2873] RE: Uppercase/Lowercase Fix?



I can't stand when people stop writing in proper English the second they
leave the office. I never understood this idea that just because we are
not at work or in school, we can bastartize a language that people spend
quite sime time perfecting.

And don't even get me started on that 'u' and '2' nonsense. I refuse to
talk to anyone that uses letters or numbers instead of words.

Is it really that difficult to use the shift key?



Quote:

Originally Posted by haferkamp View
Post<http://www.blackbus.org/forum/images.../viewpost.gif>

As a young whipper-snapper who stops using her shift key the moment she
leaves the office, I resemble that remark!
<http://www.blackbus.org/forum/images...es/teehee.gif>

. . . I'm actually quite a stickler for clarity, by temperament and by
education. It's just that I find clarity doesn't always require
traditional capitalization (and often doesn't require punctuation--do we
really need a period if there's no sentence immediately following?).
Words and syntax are much more important, in my mind.

However, I do know correct form, and I'm not afraid to use it. I always
deploy correct form in less-casual contexts like work emails, or forms
that are going into someone else's database. Especially forms. I've been
the person who cleans up that stuff, so I try to not be an annoyance.

It's all about context! It drives me nuts when people are insensitive
about their audience.
<http://www.blackbus.org/forum/images...eyetwitch.gif>

[Mica]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vinojd1

That would be 'bastardize' a language

It would also be the difference between a typo and deliberately spelling words wrong.

[ida]

Or bastardise... depending on where you're writing from

On the other hand, isn't language being updated all the time and changed as it goes from country to country. I know that the English spoken in Ireland has differences to the English spoken in England and the English spoken in America... so we are all bastardising all the time! ;-)

[haferkamp]

If it's any consolation, Mica, I do type in whole words (some big ones, at that) and make an effort to spell them correctly . . . even after I leave the office and cut down on my capitalization. In fact, I often share your frustration with those who think "b4" and "l8r" and "u" are reasonable spelling.

My point is that it's important to be aware of one's intended audience, even (especially?) online, and use appropriate tone. Just like one presumably wouldn't greet an important client or a head of state with "Hey there, what's shaking?" one shouldn't send written messages like "wen u wan 2 met 4 lnch?" except in an appropriately informal context (e.g., to a buddy who also uses that mode of writing).

Natural languages are evolving organisms, and I dare say that internet/text message speak is a brand new level of tone, beyond the plain old-fashioned "informal" we all identified in high school English class. Even if I don't personally like some of the stylistic options, I think it's exciting that a new level of tone has developed right under our noses! And I'm fascinated by the idea that this has expanded our concept of tone to include features like capitalizing and spelling out whole words--things that most of us simply never thought about as options.

[andrea.bbbs]

I too am fascinated by new uses of coding. I recall when pagers were the rage (was that really so long ago?) and a co-worker used to get "143" pages from her boyfriend. I also volunteer for my agency and often touch base with my Littles by texting -" c u 2day? " "r we ok 4 2moro?".

Thumbs up, thumbs down, the V-sign, the Peace Sign, codes, abbreviations, sign language, language is evolving. Just like we went from Assembler and Cobol and Fortran to Basic in the computer old days, we are going from "very funny!" to LOL.

It's just another new technology. We can choose to accept it or reject it, but in spite of what we do it will persist and evolve. My first cell phone was the size of a cordless handset, the one I have now is not much bigger than a credit card. Assuming the carriers can still support it, I could go on using my first phone, but I kind of like the new phone I have too. Of course, whenever I get a new phone I go find a teenager, hand it to him/her, and ask them to figure it out, set it up, and teach me.

I like these changes. I just hope that I have the energy and the fortitude to keep up, and enough patient teenagers to teach me.

[Tcassi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jas.

Doesn't the =proper function capitalize letters after non-letters? So you'd end up with:

JOE.EXAMPLE@AOL.COM

turning into

Joe.Example@Aol.Com

which, considering the fact that email addresses aren't case-sensitive, isn't a big deal, but it does look kind of weird.

James - You are correct. I believe you'd want to use the function =lower, instead of =proper.

[Simon Stacey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ida

Why do people write their details all in CAPS? I don't get it...

Some addresses databases (at least in the UK) have the city/town in uppercase, following a post office guideline which may no longer exist ...

At least, thanks to this thread, I now know how to clean that quickly ...

[Allison L.]

Quote:

I can't stand when people stop writing in proper English the second they leave the office. I never understood this idea that just because we are not at work or in school, we can bastartize a language that people spend quite sime time perfecting.

Languages aren't perfected--they are constantly evolving. For example, your sentence above contains many Latin-derived words that came into English via French (language, office, bastardize, perfect, people). Since English is a Germanic language, not a Romance language, you could consider all those Latin-derived words bastardizations! Old English already had a perfectly fine vocabulary before all these Latin words started invading English. You should use "tongue" instead of "language" and "folk" instead of "people." ("Tongue" and "folk" having good old Germanic roots.)

I agree that people who want to be taken seriously are better off using Standard Written English, just as someone going to a job interview would be better off wearing heels rather than flip flops. That doesn't mean other forms of written and verbal expression are bastardizations, any more than flip flops are bastardizations of the "perfect" shoe.

[Simon Stacey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allison L.

just as someone going to a job interview would be better off wearing heels rather than flip flops

[grin] Don't think heels would be the best move for me in an interview! (Although not sure that flip-flops would be any better!)

Simon

[Allison L.]

Ha, good point!

[AprilArchambault]

I'd just like to say that this was a very interesting series of comments to read. Tee Hee.

p.s. I am now somehow extremely nervous as to how I will come across by typing/not typing in a certain way! eek! ;-)

[n1ugu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AprilArchambault

p.s. I am now somehow extremely nervous as to how I will come across by typing/not typing in a certain way! eek! ;-)

Not to worry, April. You have an excuse.....
Barbara