show Signs

[Mountain_Man_79]

Both good, but that bottom one has a certain something!

Thanks!

 

[Sawdust]

Saw this on a sharp right-turn in rural Clinton, Missouri. Interesting...

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[Crdome]

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[Brownie]

View attachment 870959

"This is your park, it's here for your enjoyment..."

 

[Ghostbuggy]

Three nature preserve signs. First a standard one...

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...next one has been modified by humans...

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...while the third has been modified by the birds.

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[Mountain_Man_79]

Also modified by birds...

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[Mountain_Man_79]

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[John King]

Chris, is that "Slow, seniors at play" or "Slow seniors, at play"?

Good catch.

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

Chris, is that "Slow, seniors at play" or "Slow seniors, at play"?

Good catch.

Commas are important. We have ‘slow children at play’ signs out here in the US, and I wonder where the comma is at in those signs all the time!

 

[John King]

So are apostrophes ...

I have a little book (about A6 size) called "F***ing Apostrophes". It's 59 pages of sage advice by Simon Griffin.

Absolutely fantastic little book, right up there with "The ABC of English Usage" (Treble and Vallins), Quirk's "The Use of English" and Wrenn's "The English Language".

 

[Erich_H]

So are apostrophes ...

I have a little book (about A6 size) called "F***ing Apostrophes". It's 59 pages of sage advice by Simon Griffin.

Absolutely fantastic little book, right up there with "The ABC of English Usage" (Treble and Vallins), Quirk's "The Use of English" and Wrenn's "The English Language".

Quirk got it right! English IS a quirky language!
And I gotta wonder whether Quirk is a taken name, or not...
(hope comma's in the right spot, here)

 

[John King]

Quirk got it right! English IS a quirky language!
And I gotta wonder whether Quirk is a taken name, or not...
(hope comma's in the right spot, here)

I went to school with a fellow called Quirk, a very long time ago!

 

[RichardC]

So are apostrophes ...

I have a little book (about A6 size) called "F***ing Apostrophes". It's 59 pages of sage advice by Simon Griffin.

Absolutely fantastic little book, right up there with "The ABC of English Usage" (Treble and Vallins), Quirk's "The Use of English" and Wrenn's "The English Language".

You'll appreciate this guy from Bristol.

He's known locally as The Apostrophiser and undertakes a very valuable public service.

 

[John King]

@Erich_H Erik, English is not just quirky, but a real mongrel too.

When there isn't a word for something already, we just adopt one - unlike 'pure' languages such as German. In the latter, hydrogen becomes 'wasserstuff', or something similar.

In English, we happily incorporate words such as 'chutzpah' and 'schmuck'. I'm particularly fond of 'schmuck' - beautiful word.

Over many centuries, English has become the lingua franca of the world, which seems to piss off some French speakers for some reason ... .

I really feel for anyone learning English as a second language! Unlike French, where irregular verbs are mainly a form of contraction over time (e.g. je allerai becomes j'irai etc), English irregular verbs are a real nightmare. Young children characteristically regularise verbs until they learn the proper irregular form as they get older.

In American English, they have tried to regularise all spellings, double letters, etc, and have only achieved making the language even more irregular!

Maybe we shouldn't even contemplate "nuculer", but "aluminum" is actually the original name for "aluminium", which was regularised by the rest of the English speaking world.

Was it Wilde or Shaw who described the English and the Americans as "One people, separated by a common language." I love it!

It is a commonplace in Australia for people to refer to "Ann_tartica", because it is too difficult for them to pronounce "Ant_arctica", or the antipodean Arctic ...

 

[John King]

You'll appreciate this guy from Bristol.

He's known locally as The Apostrophiser and undertakes a very valuable public service.

Love it, Erik. I've seen it before, but never weary of it.
I correct books while reading them ...

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

@Erich_H Erik, English is not just quirky, but a real mongrel too.

When there isn't a word for something already, we just adopt one - unlike 'pure' languages such as German. In the latter, hydrogen becomes 'wasserstuff', or something similar.

In English, we happily incorporate words such as 'chutzpah' and 'schmuck'. I'm particularly fond of 'schmuck' - beautiful word.

Over many centuries, English has become the lingua franca of the world, which seems to piss off some French speakers for some reason ... .

I really feel for anyone learning English as a second language! Unlike French, where irregular verbs are mainly a form of contraction over time (e.g. je allerai becomes j'irai etc), English irregular verbs are a real nightmare. Young children characteristically regularise verbs until they learn the proper irregular form as they get older.

In American English, they have tried to regularise all spellings, double letters, etc, and have only achieved making the language even more irregular!

Maybe we shouldn't even contemplate "nuculer", but "aluminum" is actually the original name for "aluminium", which was regularised by the rest of the English speaking world.

Was it Wilde or Shaw who described the English and the Americans as "One people, separated by a common language." I love it!

It is a commonplace in Australia for people to refer to "Ann_tartica", because it is too difficult for them to pronounce "Ant_arctica", or the antipodean Arctic ...

English sure is quirky. Damn near surprised anyone can learn it. I was teaching a Russian girl English a few years ago. We were covering contractions, and she was getting them all right; until ’will not’. She replied with ‘willn’t’. I had no good reason as to why she was wrong. I swear there are more exceptions than there are rules...and there are a lot of rules!

 

[Erich_H]

Personally I just love the English language!
It has all the words you'll ever need. And if not, it's ok to invent the needed word!
I'm really finding it easier to put my thoughts into words in English then in my native languages. Maybe not grammatically correct all the time, as I don't know any grammar. I'm just going by what sounds right. But I call that poetic licence.

 

[John King]

English sure is quirky. Damn near surprised anyone can learn it. I was teaching a Russian girl English a few years ago. We were covering contractions, and she was getting them all right; until ’will not’. She replied with ‘willn’t’. I had no good reason as to why she was wrong. I swear there are more exceptions than there are rules...and there are a lot of rules!

Well, she used the regularised version of an irregular verb.
There ain't a more irregular verb than the verb 'to be' AFAIK.

I know that internet use has made me less certain than I was about English usage, including spelling.

USA usage and spelling (speling? ) is very prevalent. Microsoft defaults to American 'English', even after being told that one is in Australia ...

The USA is almost unbelievably parochial from the point of view of the rest of us.

 

[ata3001]

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Pen F, Oly 40-150/4-5.6R

 

[Erich_H]

And there you go again! Parochial! What a wonderful word!