Language & Grammar discussion
The L&G Kitchen Party
>
Welcomes! Introductions! Party Tricks!
There are other comparisons between CO and most of rural New England.
I've lived in each of NM, CO and MT. Overall, the people were very friendly and willing to accept a newcomer as a functioning member of the local community. In part this was true because so many of the residents were themselves transplants from elsewhere.
By contrast, if you don't have a parent (at least) or grandparent buried in the local graveyard in rural New England towns you are not a local.
I'll take friendly people, excellent weather, blue sky and miles and miles of views over rocky seashores and dour Maine (VT, MA, NH) natives every time. IMHO. Jon
I've lived in each of NM, CO and MT. Overall, the people were very friendly and willing to accept a newcomer as a functioning member of the local community. In part this was true because so many of the residents were themselves transplants from elsewhere.
By contrast, if you don't have a parent (at least) or grandparent buried in the local graveyard in rural New England towns you are not a local.
I'll take friendly people, excellent weather, blue sky and miles and miles of views over rocky seashores and dour Maine (VT, MA, NH) natives every time. IMHO. Jon
I love both states and disliked the Midwest where I lived for many years. My mother's family has roots going back to the 1700s in Maine, and most of her relatives still live there. We spent part of every summer there when I was growing up, so it's where I consider home to be. However, Colorado is a fabulous place to live, weather-wise and most every other way, and there's no lack of jobs or things to do. It's true about many residents being from elsewhere. The leading question when meeting someone new in our neighborhood is where are you from? Few are natives and we have more friends here than we've had anywhere we lived, excepting that we'd be surrounded by relatives if we moved to Maine. Lucky for me, one of my sisters still lives in Maine so we visit every other year. I still love the smells of pine and ocean and clam flats. The rhythm of tides seems to course through my veins. As a kid, I always knew when high and low tide were, mostly to keep me from getting trapped somewhere at high tide. Maybe I'll move back one day, but there aren't enough good jobs on the islands or even off them unless one lives in a city, I suppose. That doesn't matter when one is retired, thank goodness.
Mod
http://cooking.nytimes.com/68861692-n...
When will you retire? I highly recommend it but you won't have enough time then for things you like to do.
Not so far. Are you looking forward to it?
Mod
Mod
Hi! I am an ESL reader/writer and find myself occasionally lost with grammar questions, especially punctuation questions.So, for instance, would you put the "occasionally" in the above sentence between commas (as some grammar websites I read suggest), and should there be a comma after the "especially" in the above sentence?
One of my problems: I just recently turned 76, and my memory capacity is no longer as it used to be. When I have finally dug up the answer to a grammar or punctuation question, I might have forgotten what it was three weeks later, or possibly, only 3 days later. :-)
Mod
I would NOT put occasionally between commas in your sentence. I would not put a comma after especially, either. So sic the grammar sites on me, because the way you wrote it sure looks fine to me!
Can anybody help me? How can I edit my settings? I am getting too many e-mails. So I changed my mind. I no longer want any e-mails or notifications of comments at all. I would just like to visit the group when I have a special question.
Mod
Click EDIT PROFILE.
Click EMAIL tab (3rd one).
Turn everything OFF.
Click SAVE SETTINGS at the bottom.
Voila.
@ Newengland:Thank you so much for the instructions. They not only helped me to change the settings for this group but also for a few other groups.
I am a 105% computer-idiot. Without occasional help I would be totally lost on Goodreads, even though I have joined already in April 2012.
(I have never been able to figure out how Facebook works, but this doesn't matter; I have no time for it anyway.)
Newengland wrote: "Happy to help."Thank you again, Newengland. You really helped.
Btw, I just compared books with you and found that you and I have a lot of books in common.
Mod
Hello, Lilo. Newengland's answer is spot on, IMHO.
You probably know both of these:
A site for comma answers your students might like is: http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuatio...
Another site, designed for ESL use, is: http://www.englishpage.com/index.html
I struggle with commas. The example I love best is from the book: Eats, Shoots and Leaves 2007
Eats, shoots, and leaves
Eats shoots, and leaves
Eats shoots and leaves.
What's not to like about them apples?
Jon, who uses numbers in the 60's when pressed and ironed.
You probably know both of these:
A site for comma answers your students might like is: http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuatio...
Another site, designed for ESL use, is: http://www.englishpage.com/index.html
I struggle with commas. The example I love best is from the book: Eats, Shoots and Leaves 2007
Eats, shoots, and leaves
Eats shoots, and leaves
Eats shoots and leaves.
What's not to like about them apples?
Jon, who uses numbers in the 60's when pressed and ironed.
Newengland wrote: "You know what they say about great minds!"No, I don't. What do they say?
Jonmontanavega wrote: "Hello, Lilo. Newengland's answer is spot on, IMHO.You probably know both of these:
A site for comma answers your students might like is: http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuatio...
Another..."
Thank you for the links to the comma/grammar sites. I'll look at them and bookmark them. (The problem: I have, so far, not achieved to retrieve any pages I have bookmarked. :-))
I bought the book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves", and it arrived in the mail, a few days ago. I haven't had time yet to unpack it and look at it.
I had bought "The Chicago Manual of Style", last year. But I have trouble finding anything in it. Maybe I am just too impatient.
Presently, I am only writing reviews and comments on Goodreads. I don't think anyone will shoot me if there are some mistakes in those. But when (or if) I'll start writing again, I better do my homework and study some more grammar and punctuation.
I won't start writing again before my existing three books (in English language) are on the market. My husband had talked me into self-publishing and had promised to take care of all the digital and technical part. Yet every time he gets started, some disaster happens (wildfire, flooding, destructive tenants, health problems--you name it, we have had it), and by the time he can return to this chore, he has forgotten everything and has to start again from zero.
Mod
Lilo: I have the impression that Newengland teaches English. I would look to him for style manual suggestions.
One I have used is Strunk and E.B White's
. E. B White wrote Charlotte's Web. The current edition has a forward by Roger Angell, a longtime author at The New Yorker. No single style book has clear explanations for every topic, IMHO.
I am not a writer. I read and like to write a GR review if I find an delightful tale. Despite not being a creative writer, I find Jami Gold's blog for writers very useful and enjoyable. It comes out, on average, once a week. By happy coincidence, the most recent post is on the subject of using grammar to advantage in telling a story: http://jamigold.com/blog/ The blog is free.
Ms. Gold's column is the only blog on any subject I read regularly. Well, not exactly true. I recently began to get Newengland's postings, too, which are equally good in an entirely different way.
One I have used is Strunk and E.B White's
. E. B White wrote Charlotte's Web. The current edition has a forward by Roger Angell, a longtime author at The New Yorker. No single style book has clear explanations for every topic, IMHO.I am not a writer. I read and like to write a GR review if I find an delightful tale. Despite not being a creative writer, I find Jami Gold's blog for writers very useful and enjoyable. It comes out, on average, once a week. By happy coincidence, the most recent post is on the subject of using grammar to advantage in telling a story: http://jamigold.com/blog/ The blog is free.
Ms. Gold's column is the only blog on any subject I read regularly. Well, not exactly true. I recently began to get Newengland's postings, too, which are equally good in an entirely different way.
Mod
Mod
Goodness, a group that loves grammar and language, I'm in! I'm Dave, 65, retired, live in Texas. I read mostly literature, some history, popular fiction, poetry, essays, popular science, biography, exploration. I have recently joined some other new groups and begun doing challenges. Not sure you are still doing the two truths and a lie but It seems like a good icebreaker:A. I worked in the Nixon White House
B. I have accumulated over 2 million frequent flyer miles
C. I read In Search of Lost Time twice, consecutively.
Welcome Dave! OK, you don't have 2 million frequent flyer miles?
Mod
Not sure how this works, I'll respond to your answers by message for a day? And then move on. Does that work for the group?
Mod
Newengland wrote: "You just post here in the comment box. As often as you want. If I posted only once a day, I'd be... OK, more popular."Ok, Sharon was correct. I hate to fly. I enlisted in the Navy in 1972, was trained as a communicator, and was stationed at the White House from May '72-Dec - '76.
Mod
The WH made me very cynical at a young age. I went back to college got my degree, reenlisted in the Navy, sailed around, went to OCS, sailed around another 18 years and hung up my watchcap.
Did you go to many countries then? My dad was Coast Guard.
Yes Sharon quite a few countries. My oldest son is career Coast Guard.
My father was too, until he died at 44.
A belated welcome Dave, my heartfelt congratulations about your son's career, and my sympathy for anyone who has or had to brave the traffic around D.C.
Hello everyone, I am Ellie and I am from Bulgaria.
I apologize for the mistakes I will do. English is not my native language but I though I might learn something here.:)
And yes, I love words.
Welcome Ellie. Most folks who I've met that learned English as a second language are better at the grammar bits than native speakers. Of course that's a Henry Higgens thing... (My Fair Lady)
Hi Stephen and thanks.Oh, how I wish I was one of those folks:)
I usually don't apologize, but this is a group for Grammar... :)
Mod
Welcome!
Thank you.When I was a child I had a teachers who always said that when they did a mistake - "I wanted to see if you will notice the mistake":))
Mod
Yes, I guess so:) And it seems to be "an international" trick, I though it is typical for the local schools:)
I don't know if this is the proper introduction thread but I thought that, as I joined this group yesterday, I might just say Hello to all of you word lovers.I am from Germany and teach English and History, and yes! this is a universal teacher's trick. One might also say to one's students that as also teachers make mistakes they themselves shouldn't be too worried about making them because whoever talks makes mistakes, but whoever doesn't talk will not learn.
I joined this group because I think English one of the most fascinating and richest languages but definitely also one of the most difficult ones, and I hope that I will discover more of its fine nuances here.
Mod
Welcome Ellie. I've been making a spate of silly errors, such 'an' for 'and', recently and lots of typos. I have not yet found a brickbat thrower in the group's members, but she or he must be out there somewhere. So ... please comment.
Tristram, my friend to be, hello. When I saw the title on a book you are reading, an An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, I knew I had to read it, so a free copy is now downloaded. Thank you.
Tristram, my friend to be, hello. When I saw the title on a book you are reading, an An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, I knew I had to read it, so a free copy is now downloaded. Thank you.
Language & Grammar
Books mentioned in this topic
Masters of the Word: How Media Shaped History (other topics)An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (other topics)
In Search of Lost Time (other topics)
The Elements of Style (other topics)
Eats, Shoots and Leaves: 2007 Calendar (other topics)
More...
I said how I'd observed, over the years, that many young native Maine kids grow up only to abandon their beautiful state. The youth move out and the retiring oldsters move in, making Maine a northeast, mini-echo of Florida. She nodded and agreed. "No jobs up here," she said. "And it's boring."
Sigh...