Welcome, Paul...Glad to have another person rock in the garden.

Bonjour, Paul -- ça va bien?

Welcome Paul.....another bloke in the kitchen!

Hi everyone, I'm an English teacher, originally from Wales and currently living and working in France. I love all things language and so I'm looking forward to some interesting discussions here.

Thank-you Debbie, Carol and NE for your warm welcome.
*shyness diminishing by the second*

Right. No one's shy in this joint. At least not for long....

Oh Windfall Apple I did not mean to ignore you. I was too busy laughing at myself. Just enjoy yourself here, as you can see there is no need for shyness here.

Kia ora Henk, Cecily and Windfall....nice to see you (and don't be shy Windfall....no need here).

LOL (hysterically laughing.) I need to edit better. I was still asleep. Sorry Henk and Cecily, I don't even know you much less shoot you. chortle, snicker, snort. No more posting for me, into the corner I go.

Hello from Windfall,
*peeps out shyly from behind her profile*
nice to meet you all:-)

Please, Carol. Shout out. We don't want to shoot the newcomers.

A big shot out to Henk and Cecily. Welcome to the Forum.

Hey Cecily. You seem like a fit for the group! As for Reading, MA, I chose the town for that reason exactly (it's not as if I live there or anything).

Hi. I'm Cecily and I'm keen reader, a lover of words and grammar (though not a hardline prescriptivist) and also a writer by trade, albeit a technical one.

I like the fact that the group's location is given as Reading, MA, partly because that can be pronounces as in "reading a book" and partly because I grew up very near Reading (pronounced Redding) in England.

Welcome, Henk. I teach literature, reading, and writing as well, only 8th graders (age 13/14, to translate). This is a good place to amuse others and, if you're like me, yourself.

You might enjoy this Shakespeare thread and resurrect it while you're at it:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2252...

Hi and hello, my name is Henk. I am a primary school teacher from the UK with a degreein English and Drama. I find Shakespeare fascinating and also how language has changed.

I've read some of the posts and have found them both intriguing and amusing.

I just posted the first chapter of my book on my blog under my profile. I'd like to invite you all to come read it. I hope you like it.

Newengland wrote: ""Language Peeves" is here:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1930...

Like Lazarus and the South, it's just waiting to rise again."

Rearing its' ugly head for me.

Well, howdy from the far north.

"Language Peeves" is here:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1930...

Like Lazarus and the South, it's just waiting to rise again.

Thank you - as a followup, is there any sort of a "pet peeve" thread?

2 of us don't mind the occasional lapse. No sirens will go off in THIS joint, that's for sure.

Welcome, John.

Hello - is it okay to join here if one starts sentences with a numeral? 1 of us thinks it's okay (if not overused).

Ruth2 -- In fact, a malapropism, word mess-up in general thread DOES exist. It's here:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1457...

Hey Tracy, welcome! I'm pretty new here myself.

I'm a poet & editor. I have a special love for malapropisms & dangling modifiers. I'll have to start a thread for people to post some of those, unless one exists already.

G'day Tracey....sounds like you'll fit right in...have fun!

Tracy look over all the threads we have been active tonight. Everyone came out from the woodwork.

Greetings, Tracy. It's scary. You sound tailor-made and custom-fit for L&G. Go ahead and have a look around. Start new threads (the tailor theme again) if you want. I'm going to bed (but I get up with the cows, so if you leave tracks, I'll see 'em in the morn).

Hi. I'm Tracy. I just recently discovered Goodreads, and after an apoplectic where-have-you-been-all-my-life kinda fit, I decided that I had discovered heaven, or, at the very least, a subsidiary thereof. It goes, I hope, without saying, that I'm an avid reader of the books )with no prejudices towards any speficic genre). Other than that, I'm currently unemployed and trying on the Recreational Linguist hat. I've been a lover of language, grammar,etymology and, well, words for as long as I can remember. I have a particular fondness for obsolete and obscure words (agathokakological, anyone..?), as well as a special place in my heart for words pluralized with -ii a la Latin. Just thought I'd introduce myself. I look forward to languaging and grammaring with you all.

RuthG, I wish I had you in my back pocket. Or maybe as and English teacher back when it would have made a difference.

It really tickled me when my boss told me she wanted me to edit chapter 5 "because you're the only one of us who likes grammar." (In childhood I was nerdy & loved diagramming sentences; it was wonderfully exciting to find out that there was a hidden structure underneath the way we had all learned to talk since infancy.)

Editing those chapters--ESPECIALLY the grammar one--I was focusing harder, day after day, than I ever had in my life! I actually caught several dangling modifiers & other infelicities that had been missed in previous editions, so it was very rewarding. Nice to feel needed. :-)

But yeah, I have learned to wear my crown lightly. People DO go all "reflexive" when someone starts correcting them--unless they've specifically asked for it, I keep my peace. Heh.

When folks criticize my grammar, I get all reflexive myself.

16th Edition? Migawd, I'm two editions out of date! Seriously tho, editing the grammar and punctuation gospel in that thing must have been a heck of a job. Does the idea of being the Grammar Goddess weigh heavily on your shoulders?

Great. Now, in the Grammar thread, we can argue between the Chicago rules and the NY Time rules and the Warriner's rules and the Diana Hacker rules and the Hoyle rules. If there's one thing I love, it's a horse race.

And darn, RuthG., I was hoping you'd be the editor of a literary magazine because I'm waiting for someone with the chutzpah to discover my poems and stories. Everyone else? Like lemmings, they just want to follow the tried (over and over) and true (well, mostly).

Thanks for the welcomes! I'm an editor at the University of Chicago Press & just finished editing the grammar & punctuation chapters in the upcoming 16th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. I get a major buzz from words & love grammar/structure as well, so I will keep my eyes peeled for discussions of such things.

Do call me RuthG. I believe I initially signed up that way at Goodreads, but when I was identified as an author with my full last name, Goodreads dropped the G. At least what I seem to recall.

Funny how many people introduce themselves here and then disappear for good. Think it's my onion dip, Debs?

Hi Ruth G. Kick back and find your way around.

Welcome, Ruth Two (Too?)! Yeah, it's supposed to be a Introduction thread, but newbies only walk in every once in a while. In the mean time, general chat breaks out. Not a biggie.

Hope you can add some good words to our threads. Le mot juste is always welcome.

I just realized - 2 Ruths We definitely need the initial, don't we.

That's one way to describe this thread - Hello Ruth.

Hi Ruth G,
Welcome. You're in the right place. Threads occasionally take on a life of their own.

Ruth B

Hello! I just joined this group. Is this still the introductions thread? It seems to have morphed in a general chat.

Here you go, Baran. Just follow the yellow brick road...

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2296...

Thanks alot.
That would be really kind of you.

I'll make one for you.

Hi,
I searched most of the old and of course new topics for one related to vocabulary teaching (in EFL situation) and I found nothing! So I decided to ask in order to become sure whether there is any or is it possible to have one?

Toodles - we'll miss you. Tell us all about it when you get back.

Wow, you guys need live chat!

Well it's 11.05 pm on Tuesday here and I haven't packed yet for my trip tomorrow - so I'd better hike it - jsut popped in to say toodles, I'll be away for a week or so... back 8th or 9th October.

Think of me in Paradise :) (Shangrila)

time out.

no.