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  3. Somebody teach MS English

Somebody teach MS English

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  • R Roger Wright

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Is this the new Ebonics?

    "A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"

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    Tim Schwallie
    wrote on last edited by
    #11

    yes MS is being insulting your'uh intelligence.

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    • T Tim Schwallie

      ProgramX installing. Joe Smith types a message.

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      RaviBee
      wrote on last edited by
      #12

      Tim Schwallie wrote:

      ProgramX installing.

      And that, in your opinion, is a grammatically correct sentence? /ravi

      My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

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      • M MarkB777

        Tim Schwallie wrote:

        "Program X is being installed."

        Umm theres nothing wrong with that phrase...

        Mark Brock "We're definitely not going to make a G or a PG version of this. It's not PillowfightCraft." -- Chris Metzen Click here to view my blog

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        Tim Schwallie
        wrote on last edited by
        #13

        correct, nothing wrong with it..."to-be" verbs didn't sit well with me. and so staying in context of installation: Program X installer currently installing Program X seemed like a pain so I could handle: ProgramX installing... and so on....so goes the rant.

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        • T Tim Schwallie

          Let's see....the MS Installer displays the following during installation, "Program X is being installed." Sorry folks, in my English classes, all my teachers would have put a big red mark around that one. MS Communicator tells us politely, "Joe Smith is typing a message." Not a chance. Whomever writes these programs, please learn English above the second grade level.

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          martin_hughes
          wrote on last edited by
          #14

          There's nothing wrong with either, they're both answers to questions in the present tense: Q. "What is ProgramX doing?" A. "ProgramX is installing." Q. "What is Joe Smith doing?" A. "Joe Smith is typing a message."

          Top Secret Plan for World Domination

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          • M martin_hughes

            There's nothing wrong with either, they're both answers to questions in the present tense: Q. "What is ProgramX doing?" A. "ProgramX is installing." Q. "What is Joe Smith doing?" A. "Joe Smith is typing a message."

            Top Secret Plan for World Domination

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            Tim Schwallie
            wrote on last edited by
            #15

            yep nothing wrong. Here's the rant: What is Joe Smith doing outside? MS would write the answer as: Joe Smith is running. I had teachers who would drill not to use 'to-be' verbs. Hence, they would say to write: Joe Smith runs. Of course this would prepare us for writing more complex sentences like: Joe Smith runs with the dog. Instead of the MS way: Joe Smith is running with the dog. And now I is growing tired of this rant. :zzz:

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            • T Tim Schwallie

              yep nothing wrong. Here's the rant: What is Joe Smith doing outside? MS would write the answer as: Joe Smith is running. I had teachers who would drill not to use 'to-be' verbs. Hence, they would say to write: Joe Smith runs. Of course this would prepare us for writing more complex sentences like: Joe Smith runs with the dog. Instead of the MS way: Joe Smith is running with the dog. And now I is growing tired of this rant. :zzz:

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              Marcus_Idle
              wrote on last edited by
              #16

              Tim You're from the United States, right? Native speaker? Two tenses Joe Smith runs = he usually runs, running is his thing. He may not be running right now. Joe Smith is running = yep, there he goes. Cheers -Marcus

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              • T Tim Schwallie

                Let's see....the MS Installer displays the following during installation, "Program X is being installed." Sorry folks, in my English classes, all my teachers would have put a big red mark around that one. MS Communicator tells us politely, "Joe Smith is typing a message." Not a chance. Whomever writes these programs, please learn English above the second grade level.

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                El Corazon
                wrote on last edited by
                #17

                I hate to burst your bubble, shake your faith, or what have you.... English is a living language and especially in respect to the digital age. It is also not correct to xerox a paper, or google a phrase. xerox and google are nouns not verbs. My 2nd wife gave me hell over "re-entrantcy" but it is a valid property for parallel code. We also Mc-ify our words. Common usage matters more than perfect English. My English teacher hated "won't" -- but because it is used, it is correct, because all of our language is drifting. I speak a basterdized version of American English which is 90 some percent "pure" and less than 10 percent localized common usage. Some of that common usage is southwest US with Texan and Mexican influences and some of that is technobabble geek-speak. Common usage language is aimed at the 7th grade or lower English level. What do you expect? the majority of your user base of most software has a McJob and probably finished school and promptly forgot everything. That is the purrpose of school right? now back to making re-entrant code. :) :)

                _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."

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                • M Marcus_Idle

                  Tim You're from the United States, right? Native speaker? Two tenses Joe Smith runs = he usually runs, running is his thing. He may not be running right now. Joe Smith is running = yep, there he goes. Cheers -Marcus

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                  martin_hughes
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #18

                  Marcus Idle? Idle is right! Member since: Tuesday, October 15, 2002 (5 years, 11 months) Article count: 0 Post count: 1 I call shenanigans! And Cylon!

                  Top Secret Plan for World Domination

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                  • T Tim Schwallie

                    yep nothing wrong. Here's the rant: What is Joe Smith doing outside? MS would write the answer as: Joe Smith is running. I had teachers who would drill not to use 'to-be' verbs. Hence, they would say to write: Joe Smith runs. Of course this would prepare us for writing more complex sentences like: Joe Smith runs with the dog. Instead of the MS way: Joe Smith is running with the dog. And now I is growing tired of this rant. :zzz:

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                    Steve Thresher
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #19

                    What colour is the dog?

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                    • M martin_hughes

                      Marcus Idle? Idle is right! Member since: Tuesday, October 15, 2002 (5 years, 11 months) Article count: 0 Post count: 1 I call shenanigans! And Cylon!

                      Top Secret Plan for World Domination

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                      Marcus_Idle
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #20

                      OK, so I dip into codeproject now and then, and I don't post a lot (at all). If that's against the law, OK, sue me! Life's busy! But hey, this is my second post today! OK, I'll put an article up before Christmas! I promise!

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                      • T Tim Schwallie

                        correct, nothing wrong with it..."to-be" verbs didn't sit well with me. and so staying in context of installation: Program X installer currently installing Program X seemed like a pain so I could handle: ProgramX installing... and so on....so goes the rant.

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                        peterchen
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #21

                        Which means something entirely different.

                        Burning Chrome ^ | Linkify!| FoldWithUs! | sighist

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                        • M martin_hughes

                          Marcus Idle? Idle is right! Member since: Tuesday, October 15, 2002 (5 years, 11 months) Article count: 0 Post count: 1 I call shenanigans! And Cylon!

                          Top Secret Plan for World Domination

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                          Marcus_Idle
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #22

                          And I'm a real person, honest!

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                          • M Marcus_Idle

                            And I'm a real person, honest!

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                            martin_hughes
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #23

                            That what you were bound to say ;)

                            Top Secret Plan for World Domination

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                            • T Tim Schwallie

                              Let's see....the MS Installer displays the following during installation, "Program X is being installed." Sorry folks, in my English classes, all my teachers would have put a big red mark around that one. MS Communicator tells us politely, "Joe Smith is typing a message." Not a chance. Whomever writes these programs, please learn English above the second grade level.

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                              Gary R Wheeler
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #24

                              Is Microsoft's grammar above a second grade level? Maybe, maybe not. Is their grammar appropriate to the target audience? Probably. Which is more important? Show me the money, baby.

                              Software Zen: delete this;
                              Fold With Us![^]

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                              • T Tim Schwallie

                                Let's see....the MS Installer displays the following during installation, "Program X is being installed." Sorry folks, in my English classes, all my teachers would have put a big red mark around that one. MS Communicator tells us politely, "Joe Smith is typing a message." Not a chance. Whomever writes these programs, please learn English above the second grade level.

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                                Fernando A Gomez F
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #25

                                Tim Schwallie wrote:

                                "Program X is being installed."

                                :confused: Isn't that "passive voice"? What's wrong with that?

                                Tim Schwallie wrote:

                                "Joe Smith is typing a message."

                                :confused: Isn't that a gerund? What's wrong with that?

                                Stupidity is an International Association - Enrique Jardiel Poncela Die deutsche Sprache sollte sanft und ehrfurchtsvoll zu den toten Sprachen abgelegt werden, denn nur die Toten haben die Zeit, diese Sprache zu lernen. - Mark Twain

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                                • F Fernando A Gomez F

                                  Tim Schwallie wrote:

                                  "Program X is being installed."

                                  :confused: Isn't that "passive voice"? What's wrong with that?

                                  Tim Schwallie wrote:

                                  "Joe Smith is typing a message."

                                  :confused: Isn't that a gerund? What's wrong with that?

                                  Stupidity is an International Association - Enrique Jardiel Poncela Die deutsche Sprache sollte sanft und ehrfurchtsvoll zu den toten Sprachen abgelegt werden, denn nur die Toten haben die Zeit, diese Sprache zu lernen. - Mark Twain

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                                  Monark
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #26

                                  Fernando A. Gomez F. wrote:

                                  Isn't that "passive voice"? What's wrong with that?

                                  Yes it is.. :)

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                                  • M Marcus_Idle

                                    Tim You're from the United States, right? Native speaker? Two tenses Joe Smith runs = he usually runs, running is his thing. He may not be running right now. Joe Smith is running = yep, there he goes. Cheers -Marcus

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                                    Tim Schwallie
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #27

                                    yep give this guy a cookie. the screwy 'run' verb. he runs today -> he is running today he currently runs -> he is currently running what does he like to do? he runs. How does he run? he runs well. I is living in the US. ..bugga... I live in Chicago. Go Cubs! Go Soxs!

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                                    • T Tim Schwallie

                                      ProgramX installing. Joe Smith types a message.

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                                      Lost User
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #28

                                      Tim Schwallie wrote:

                                      ProgramX installing.

                                      This isn't a sentence. You wouldn't say "Dog Farting" you would say (the) dog is farting.

                                      Tim Schwallie wrote:

                                      Joe Smith types a message.

                                      This provides less information than "Joe Smith is typing a message". The latter tells you that Joe is typing right now - the former merely that Joe types a message at some point in time. Somebody teach you English bad, dude. All your base are belong to us.

                                      Take a chill pill, Daddy-o .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

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                                      • T Tim Schwallie

                                        and I take it you still write Joey is running like a moron. Yes, the sentence is technically correct. Though, I learned in the age where 'to-be' verb usage faced a docking in points on papers. And so the usage of 'to-be' verbs became instilled as an indicator for a lack of intelligence in the minds of many. Since you like baseball, I just moved to first base cause the first base umpire called a balk.

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                                        jesarg
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #29

                                        To-be verbs are discouraged for instruction manuals. For instance: "You should be installing the program now" should be re-written as "Install the program now". For informational messages, it's not as big a deal.

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                                        • T Tim Schwallie

                                          Let's see....the MS Installer displays the following during installation, "Program X is being installed." Sorry folks, in my English classes, all my teachers would have put a big red mark around that one. MS Communicator tells us politely, "Joe Smith is typing a message." Not a chance. Whomever writes these programs, please learn English above the second grade level.

                                          Steve EcholsS Offline
                                          Steve EcholsS Offline
                                          Steve Echols
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #30

                                          Replace ProgramX with another noun such as a person's name: Little Johny is being chased Little Johny chasing Well that's different. Now what?


                                          - S 50 cups of coffee and you know it's on! A post a day, keeps the white coats away!

                                          • S
                                            50 cups of coffee and you know it's on!
                                            Code, follow, or get out of the way.
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