Step by step walkthrough
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What is the correct English form, a couple of words, a few words? What will suit this situation?
Yes, you can say, "I'd like to say a couple of words on this subject." It doesn't mean exactly two words in this situation. It is basically synonymous with "a few words". If you say "I'd like to say 2 words on this subject, people might expect 2 words. [I grew up in an Italian household here in the States. My grandparents and mother would continue to make errors like this, and I swear my construction of English is based on learning it from them, though they never grasped it to begin with!]
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
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What is the correct English form, a couple of words, a few words? What will suit this situation?
A few words would be the proper term. "A couple" implies two, although many people don't realize this and use it freely to mean a few, but that's actually incorrect.
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What is the correct English form, a couple of words, a few words? What will suit this situation?
Step 0: Do this. Step 1: Do that. Step 2: STOP THAT!
It was broke, so I fixed it.
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Yes, you can say, "I'd like to say a couple of words on this subject." It doesn't mean exactly two words in this situation. It is basically synonymous with "a few words". If you say "I'd like to say 2 words on this subject, people might expect 2 words. [I grew up in an Italian household here in the States. My grandparents and mother would continue to make errors like this, and I swear my construction of English is based on learning it from them, though they never grasped it to begin with!]
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
"a couple" has actually been bastardized over time... it does literally mean two though... so I wouldn't recommend people to say that if that's not what they mean.
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"a couple" has actually been bastardized over time... it does literally mean two though... so I wouldn't recommend people to say that if that's not what they mean.
Great to know! Check it now, freshly edited! :)
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"a couple" has actually been bastardized over time... it does literally mean two though... so I wouldn't recommend people to say that if that's not what they mean.
the term "a couple of words" is almost a Colloquialism with its own meaning. I told him he can use it because nobody on this planet would expect him to say exactly two words if he started a sentence, "Let me add a couple of words on this matter" If he said, "Let me add 2 words on this matter" people might expect 2 words. Call it bastardization, but it's silly to fight what is commonly used and understood. Do we still speak the same English as Shakespeare on either side of the pond? [Actually, seeing his correction, it may still be unclear with "couple of" It is better to be specific, especially when written.]
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
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Great to know! Check it now, freshly edited! :)
:laugh:
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Great to know! Check it now, freshly edited! :)
Yeah, in this case, I'd go with "just a few words".
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
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the term "a couple of words" is almost a Colloquialism with its own meaning. I told him he can use it because nobody on this planet would expect him to say exactly two words if he started a sentence, "Let me add a couple of words on this matter" If he said, "Let me add 2 words on this matter" people might expect 2 words. Call it bastardization, but it's silly to fight what is commonly used and understood. Do we still speak the same English as Shakespeare on either side of the pond? [Actually, seeing his correction, it may still be unclear with "couple of" It is better to be specific, especially when written.]
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
Oh I'm not fighting about it... but I don't know how many times I've been up to a bar and ordered "a couple of [insert favorite beer]" and been asked "how many?"... its sort of a shame people don't know literal meanings of common words.
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Oh I'm not fighting about it... but I don't know how many times I've been up to a bar and ordered "a couple of [insert favorite beer]" and been asked "how many?"... its sort of a shame people don't know literal meanings of common words.
Now that is fucked up! Definitely a shame. I quite dislike when people forget the original meanings of words myself. I'm trying to think of another example, but it will just make me seem like I hate service industry people.
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
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Now that is fucked up! Definitely a shame. I quite dislike when people forget the original meanings of words myself. I'm trying to think of another example, but it will just make me seem like I hate service industry people.
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
I do hate the service industry... :laugh: ...just kidding, one of my best friends is a bartender... but of course I've known him since we were kids...
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Now that is fucked up! Definitely a shame. I quite dislike when people forget the original meanings of words myself. I'm trying to think of another example, but it will just make me seem like I hate service industry people.
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
wizardzz wrote:
it will just make me seem like I hate service industry people.
You say that like you think it is a bad thing.
Panic, Chaos, Destruction. My work here is done. Drink. Get drunk. Fall over - P O'H OK, I will win to day or my name isn't Ethel Crudacre! - DD Ethel Crudacre I cannot live by bread alone. Bacon and ketchup are needed as well. - Trollslayer Have a bit more patience with newbies. Of course some of them act dumb - they're often *students*, for heaven's sake - Terry Pratchett
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I do hate the service industry... :laugh: ...just kidding, one of my best friends is a bartender... but of course I've known him since we were kids...
Boy Albert, you started drinking early!
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
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wizardzz wrote:
it will just make me seem like I hate service industry people.
You say that like you think it is a bad thing.
Panic, Chaos, Destruction. My work here is done. Drink. Get drunk. Fall over - P O'H OK, I will win to day or my name isn't Ethel Crudacre! - DD Ethel Crudacre I cannot live by bread alone. Bacon and ketchup are needed as well. - Trollslayer Have a bit more patience with newbies. Of course some of them act dumb - they're often *students*, for heaven's sake - Terry Pratchett
Well, I've learned that you have to appreciate them after performing out a few times. They can make or break a room. It still doesn't change my general sentiment.
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
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Boy Albert, you started drinking early!
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
8am. No different from any other day. :laugh:
Panic, Chaos, Destruction. My work here is done. Drink. Get drunk. Fall over - P O'H OK, I will win to day or my name isn't Ethel Crudacre! - DD Ethel Crudacre I cannot live by bread alone. Bacon and ketchup are needed as well. - Trollslayer Have a bit more patience with newbies. Of course some of them act dumb - they're often *students*, for heaven's sake - Terry Pratchett
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I peeled your article and I liked it. Intro, plain of explanations, discussing the background, describing the situations. However it is not at this type of articles that I'm referring. But on articles like this Learning jQuery using jQuery Lab[^] Cheers
I agree on both points. There are far too many of these step-by-step posts appearing which have very little useful technical content. Just compare Pete's version of a step by step article with some of the others.
Unrequited desire is character building. OriginalGriff
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It depends what the step by step is setting out to achieve. I recently wrote an article that held the developers hand while they created a Windows Phone application. The key thing with it was not detailing how to create the application - that was a by product - but to have a detailed explanation of what code was produced, and what it does. So yes, walk-throughs can be articles, if they end up teaching something.
Forgive your enemies - it messes with their heads
"Mind bleach! Send me mind bleach!" - Nagy Vilmos
My blog | My articles | MoXAML PowerToys | Mole 2010 - debugging made easier - my favourite utility
The difference between your step-by-steps and the ones being submitted are huge. You actually discussed the concepts behind what is being done and why. Most of the "articles" being submitted don't do that at all. I can't remember the last time I clicked on the "Approve" button. I think I've clicked on it maybe 4 or 5 times the entire year. Its very depressing to see the quality of work coming out of people who are "university graduates", but can't write a simple paper on a topic.
A guide to posting questions on CodeProject[^]
Dave Kreskowiak -
Boy Albert, you started drinking early!
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
:laugh: :laugh:
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Hi all Are the step by step walk-through's actually articles? An article should, IMHO, discuss in a detail a technique and reasons of that approach, put in evidence pros and cons, analyze different situations. Lately I'm seeing a bunch of new articles that have two
couple ofword's per picture, on a banal arguments, and I just will not click on approve! What's yours on this? CheersI don't agree with such broad generalizations. Yes, a Step-by-Step article can be superficial and not helpful, but there are some great Step-by-Step articles here, like Dunn's series on Shell Extensions. As you say, if see a poor article, then report it. Problem solved!
Best wishes, Hans
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Oh I'm not fighting about it... but I don't know how many times I've been up to a bar and ordered "a couple of [insert favorite beer]" and been asked "how many?"... its sort of a shame people don't know literal meanings of common words.
Be merciful. English is not my mother tongue, beside I never actually studied English (except at the high school, yeah, hihi, again high school! :) ) and also I have never been in England or any other English speaking country. If you consider that, I'm better than Shakespeare! :)