Who's English is the best here?

[Hossfly]

I'll second that nomination, since this is not a pure parliamentarian Robert's Rules Of Order process.

Xelor is giving you a hard run for your money though.

He too follows the Oxford comma.

I use the Oxford comma when it adds clarity. When it doesn't, as it does not in simple sequences, I don't use it.

Clarity is the prime test of all writing.

Since reading the writing is offset in space and time and the reader cannot ask the writer for further clarification, clarity is therefore the most crucial test of any word, sentence, punctuation, or rule.

The fact that you know that as proven by your mentioning it makes you one of the best and most knowledgeable writers here.

We try to teach this to kids in college but they don't often get it.

I use punctuation to help convey to the reader EXACTLY the way I want them to read it.

I find posts that do not have punctuation, and do not have capital letters at the beginning of sentences, are very distracting and usually I cannot follow them.

Indeed. One of the most annoying abuses is the misuse of the noble, yet humble, apostrophe.

What,s that?

 

[xotoxi]

I will throw my proverbial hat into the ring. In addition to my discerning perception, impeccable good taste, and extensive vocabulary, I am quite adept at spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Excellent use of the Oxford comma.

It pleases me beyond description that someone recognized the Oxford Comma!

Which means that we both are losers.

View attachment 121359

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

Au contraire, we are the winningest of winning winners!

 

[Billo_Really]

Aint no budys anglish best than me!

 

[Pogo]

Xelor is giving you a hard run for your money though.

He too follows the Oxford comma.

I use the Oxford comma when it adds clarity. When it doesn't, as it does not in simple sequences, I don't use it.

Clarity is the prime test of all writing.

Since reading the writing is offset in space and time and the reader cannot ask the writer for further clarification, clarity is therefore the most crucial test of any word, sentence, punctuation, or rule.

The fact that you know that as proven by your mentioning it makes you one of the best and most knowledgeable writers here.

We try to teach this to kids in college but they don't often get it.

I use punctuation to help convey to the reader EXACTLY the way I want them to read it.

I find posts that do not have punctuation, and do not have capital letters at the beginning of sentences, are very distracting and usually I cannot follow them.

Indeed. One of the most annoying abuses is the misuse of the noble, yet humble, apostrophe.

What,s that?

Gertrude Stein does not approve.

 

[boedicca]

I use the Oxford comma when it adds clarity. When it doesn't, as it does not in simple sequences, I don't use it.

Clarity is the prime test of all writing.

Since reading the writing is offset in space and time and the reader cannot ask the writer for further clarification, clarity is therefore the most crucial test of any word, sentence, punctuation, or rule.

The fact that you know that as proven by your mentioning it makes you one of the best and most knowledgeable writers here.

We try to teach this to kids in college but they don't often get it.

I use punctuation to help convey to the reader EXACTLY the way I want them to read it.

I find posts that do not have punctuation, and do not have capital letters at the beginning of sentences, are very distracting and usually I cannot follow them.

Indeed. One of the most annoying abuses is the misuse of the noble, yet humble, apostrophe.

What,s that?

Gertrude Stein does not approve.

Gertrude Stein does not approve of much at all.

 

[Pogo]

Clarity is the prime test of all writing.

Since reading the writing is offset in space and time and the reader cannot ask the writer for further clarification, clarity is therefore the most crucial test of any word, sentence, punctuation, or rule.

The fact that you know that as proven by your mentioning it makes you one of the best and most knowledgeable writers here.

We try to teach this to kids in college but they don't often get it.

I use punctuation to help convey to the reader EXACTLY the way I want them to read it.

I find posts that do not have punctuation, and do not have capital letters at the beginning of sentences, are very distracting and usually I cannot follow them.

Indeed. One of the most annoying abuses is the misuse of the noble, yet humble, apostrophe.

What,s that?

Gertrude Stein does not approve.

Gertrude Stein does not approve of much at all.

Other than Alice B. But yeah since her demise I notice that approval level dropped precipitously.

 

[yiostheoy]

Well Comrade Johnson can chime-in with his questions on American English and we can all reply and give reasons.

We're ready Comrade Johnson !!!

 

[boedicca]

I use punctuation to help convey to the reader EXACTLY the way I want them to read it.

I find posts that do not have punctuation, and do not have capital letters at the beginning of sentences, are very distracting and usually I cannot follow them.

Indeed. One of the most annoying abuses is the misuse of the noble, yet humble, apostrophe.

What,s that?

Gertrude Stein does not approve.

Gertrude Stein does not approve of much at all.

Other than Alice B. But yeah since her demise I notice that approval level dropped precipitously.

I went to an exhibit of the Stein collection a few years ago. One painting that I committed to memory was by an artist who was quite unhappy with Gertrude's bullying to gain cheap or free art. The painting was a rendition of the gates of Hell, with Gertrude and Alice as the demons on either side of the gate.

Faboo!

 

[xotoxi]

Well Comrade Johnson can chime-in with his questions on American English and we can all reply and give reasons.

We're ready Comrade Johnson !!!

But we didn't determine Who's English is Best?

 

[yiostheoy]

Well Comrade Johnson can chime-in with his questions on American English and we can all reply and give reasons.

We're ready Comrade Johnson !!!

But we didn't determine Who's English is Best?

Well my own nominations were the two X-guys and also koshergrl since each of you is a professional writer of sorts.

I mostly edit. I rarely write formally anymore.

The writing process is best mastered by professional active writers.

It involves making an outline of what you need to say.

Then next organizing your outline.

Then drafting an intro and a conclusion.

Then drafting your body with documentation of facts and citations/links.

Then modifying your intro and conclusion to be consistent with your facts and disclosures.

Then proofreading it yourself.

Then having someone else proofread it.

Then having it peer reviewed.

That's not a job for amateurs.

But there are plenty of amateurs who have chimed in on this thread.

Since I am an editor I will edit the top 3 writers' answers to Comrade Johnson -- sort of like what koshergrl joked about.

We will need a vote afterwards about who thinks who is the best.

 

[yiostheoy]

I went to an exhibit of the Stein collection a few years ago. One painting that I committed to memory was by an artist who was quite unhappy with Gertrude's bullying to gain cheap or free art. The painting was a rendition of the gates of Hell, with Gertrude and Alice as the demons on either side of the gate.

Faboo!

How did we get sidetracked on art ???

(Three question marks in chess notation means a blunder.)

 

[Pogo]

Well Comrade Johnson can chime-in with his questions on American English and we can all reply and give reasons.

We're ready Comrade Johnson !!!

But we didn't determine Who's English is Best?

Well my own nominations were the two X-guys and also koshergrl since each of you is a professional writer of sorts.

I mostly edit. I rarely write formally anymore.

The writing process is best mastered by professional active writers.

It involves making an outline of what you need to say.

Then next organizing your outline.

Then drafting an intro and a conclusion.

Then drafting your body with documentation of facts and citations/links.

Then modifying your intro and conclusion to be consistent with your facts and disclosures.

Then proofreading it yourself.

Then having someone else proofread it.

Then having it peer reviewed.

That's not a job for amateurs.

But there are plenty of amateurs who have chimed in on this thread.

Since I am an editor I will edit the top 3 writers' answers to Comrade Johnson -- sort of like what koshergrl joked about.

We will need a vote afterwards about who thinks who is the best.

Methinks a writer whose every paragraph consists of a single sentence.

Needs an editor.

Space --- the lineal frontier.

 

[Pogo]

I went to an exhibit of the Stein collection a few years ago. One painting that I committed to memory was by an artist who was quite unhappy with Gertrude's bullying to gain cheap or free art. The painting was a rendition of the gates of Hell, with Gertrude and Alice as the demons on either side of the gate.

Faboo!

How did we get sidetracked on art ???

(Three question marks in chess notation means a blunder.)

A woman came in. They have more left-right brain hemisphere bridges than we do.

 

[xotoxi]

Well Comrade Johnson can chime-in with his questions on American English and we can all reply and give reasons.

We're ready Comrade Johnson !!!

But we didn't determine Who's English is Best?

Well my own nominations were the two X-guys and also koshergrl since each of you is a professional writer of sorts.

I mostly edit. I rarely write formally anymore.

The writing process is best mastered by professional active writers.

It involves making an outline of what you need to say.

Then next organizing your outline.

Then drafting an intro and a conclusion.

Then drafting your body with documentation of facts and citations/links.

Then modifying your intro and conclusion to be consistent with your facts and disclosures.

Then proofreading it yourself.

Then having someone else proofread it.

Then having it peer reviewed.

That's not a job for amateurs.

But there are plenty of amateurs who have chimed in on this thread.

Since I am an editor I will edit the top 3 writers' answers to Comrade Johnson -- sort of like what koshergrl joked about.

We will need a vote afterwards about who thinks who is the best.

Methinks a writer whose every paragraph consists of a single sentence.

Needs an editor.

Space --- the lineal frontier.

When it comes to reading posts on a forum, I prefer to have paragraphs broken into single (or very few sentences).

If one paragraph of text is more than 5 lines, I skip it.

 

[Pogo]

Well Comrade Johnson can chime-in with his questions on American English and we can all reply and give reasons.

We're ready Comrade Johnson !!!

But we didn't determine Who's English is Best?

Well my own nominations were the two X-guys and also koshergrl since each of you is a professional writer of sorts.

I mostly edit. I rarely write formally anymore.

The writing process is best mastered by professional active writers.

It involves making an outline of what you need to say.

Then next organizing your outline.

Then drafting an intro and a conclusion.

Then drafting your body with documentation of facts and citations/links.

Then modifying your intro and conclusion to be consistent with your facts and disclosures.

Then proofreading it yourself.

Then having someone else proofread it.

Then having it peer reviewed.

That's not a job for amateurs.

But there are plenty of amateurs who have chimed in on this thread.

Since I am an editor I will edit the top 3 writers' answers to Comrade Johnson -- sort of like what koshergrl joked about.

We will need a vote afterwards about who thinks who is the best.

Methinks a writer whose every paragraph consists of a single sentence.

Needs an editor.

Space --- the lineal frontier.

When it comes to reading posts on a forum, I prefer to have paragraphs broken into single (or very few sentences).

If one paragraph of text is more than 5 lines, I skip it.

Oh I do too, and I note that to those with no paragraph breaks.

But one line per paragraph?

That's a bit much in the other direction.

Kind of implies a scatterbrain.

Or a haiku.

Or some kind of ad copy.

Hard to take seriously.

Burma Shave

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

Anyone who repeatedly violates the list of fallacies goes onto the iggy list.

Ad hom is a fallacy.

Verbosity is a fallacy too.

List of fallacies - Wikipedia

Trump uses each of those fallacies daily in his tweets.

Ad Angelum Is the Greater Fallacy

A fallacy doesn't mean something is false and can't be used, it means that it is not conclusive proof. Ad Hominem is perfectly valid as evidence to build up a case. Otherwise, the accused is allowed to come on as a disembodied spirit with no character flaws or motivation.

 

[yiostheoy]

Well Comrade Johnson can chime-in with his questions on American English and we can all reply and give reasons.

We're ready Comrade Johnson !!!

But we didn't determine Who's English is Best?

Well my own nominations were the two X-guys and also koshergrl since each of you is a professional writer of sorts.

I mostly edit. I rarely write formally anymore.

The writing process is best mastered by professional active writers.

It involves making an outline of what you need to say.

Then next organizing your outline.

Then drafting an intro and a conclusion.

Then drafting your body with documentation of facts and citations/links.

Then modifying your intro and conclusion to be consistent with your facts and disclosures.

Then proofreading it yourself.

Then having someone else proofread it.

Then having it peer reviewed.

That's not a job for amateurs.

But there are plenty of amateurs who have chimed in on this thread.

Since I am an editor I will edit the top 3 writers' answers to Comrade Johnson -- sort of like what koshergrl joked about.

We will need a vote afterwards about who thinks who is the best.

Methinks a writer whose every paragraph consists of a single sentence.

Needs an editor.

Space --- the lineal frontier.

When it comes to reading posts on a forum, I prefer to have paragraphs broken into single (or very few sentences).

If one paragraph of text is more than 5 lines, I skip it.

My threshold of pain is at 1/2 page/screen.

How it is subdivided does not matter. But I do look for complete sentences, a brief intro, a brief conclusion, and substantive material between the intro and conclusion linking the two and supporting them both.

Moses always did long run-on scrolls with occasional "chapter" (a Latin word meaning "head") breaks.

I have found that for public speaking you need single sentence "paragraphs" (a Greek word meaning "written together").

I actually do more public speaking or classwork instruction than writing, so I have tended to list sentences this way -- single sentence paragraphs.

For technical or creative writing neither works, so some sort of comfortable paragraphing is necessary in modern (non-ancient) writing.

 

[boedicca]

Well Comrade Johnson can chime-in with his questions on American English and we can all reply and give reasons.

We're ready Comrade Johnson !!!

But we didn't determine Who's English is Best?

Well my own nominations were the two X-guys and also koshergrl since each of you is a professional writer of sorts.

I mostly edit. I rarely write formally anymore.

The writing process is best mastered by professional active writers.

It involves making an outline of what you need to say.

Then next organizing your outline.

Then drafting an intro and a conclusion.

Then drafting your body with documentation of facts and citations/links.

Then modifying your intro and conclusion to be consistent with your facts and disclosures.

Then proofreading it yourself.

Then having someone else proofread it.

Then having it peer reviewed.

That's not a job for amateurs.

But there are plenty of amateurs who have chimed in on this thread.

Since I am an editor I will edit the top 3 writers' answers to Comrade Johnson -- sort of like what koshergrl joked about.

We will need a vote afterwards about who thinks who is the best.

Methinks a writer whose every paragraph consists of a single sentence.

Needs an editor.

Space --- the lineal frontier.

When it comes to reading posts on a forum, I prefer to have paragraphs broken into single (or very few sentences).

If one paragraph of text is more than 5 lines, I skip it.

Oh I do too, and I note that to those with no paragraph breaks.

But one line per paragraph?

That's a bit much in the other direction.

Kind of implies a scatterbrain.

Or a haiku.

Or some kind of ad copy.

Hard to take seriously.

Burma Shave

One line per paragraph = poetry

 

[koshergrl]

Well Comrade Johnson can chime-in with his questions on American English and we can all reply and give reasons.

We're ready Comrade Johnson !!!

But we didn't determine Who's English is Best?

Well my own nominations were the two X-guys and also koshergrl since each of you is a professional writer of sorts.

I mostly edit. I rarely write formally anymore.

The writing process is best mastered by professional active writers.

It involves making an outline of what you need to say.

Then next organizing your outline.

Then drafting an intro and a conclusion.

Then drafting your body with documentation of facts and citations/links.

Then modifying your intro and conclusion to be consistent with your facts and disclosures.

Then proofreading it yourself.

Then having someone else proofread it.

Then having it peer reviewed.

That's not a job for amateurs.

But there are plenty of amateurs who have chimed in on this thread.

Since I am an editor I will edit the top 3 writers' answers to Comrade Johnson -- sort of like what koshergrl joked about.

We will need a vote afterwards about who thinks who is the best.

Methinks a writer whose every paragraph consists of a single sentence.

Needs an editor.

Space --- the lineal frontier.

When it comes to reading posts on a forum, I prefer to have paragraphs broken into single (or very few sentences).

If one paragraph of text is more than 5 lines, I skip it.

My threshold of pain is at 1/2 page/screen.

How it is subdivided does not matter. But I do look for complete sentences, a brief intro, a brief conclusion, and substantive material between the intro and conclusion linking the two and supporting them both.

Moses always did long run-on scrolls with occasional "chapter" (a Latin word meaning "head") breaks.

I have found that for public speaking you need single sentence "paragraphs" (a Greek word meaning "written together").

I actually do more public speaking or classwork instruction than writing, so I have tended to list sentences this way -- single sentence paragraphs.

For technical or creative writing neither works, so some sort of comfortable paragraphing is necessary in modern (non-ancient) writing.

Content, fluidity, and the ability to advance a thought.

That's what I look for. And it's a pretty good gauge. There are people like my ex who write perfection from a technical viewpoint...but lord god his writing puts me to sleep.

Because no matter how technically proficient you are, if you're shallow and soulless, it will read as vapidity.

 

[koshergrl]

See there were any number of errors in my previous post, but I bet every person who reads it knows EXACTLY what I meant.