[projectaon] Re: Drakkar v. Drakkarim
- From: James Durrant <james.durrant@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <projectaon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:25:15 +0000
It also comes down to who is using the "rules"
In most languages, colloquial speech and dialects makes the application of
rules difficult. Yes, there are rules for the language as a whole, but many of
them are only followed very loosely by the populace, and interpreted
differently all over the place.
Many people will agree that a phrase is "wrong" (To boldly go...?) but like the
sound of it, and hence it sticks as "right" in common usage - leading to many
variations being in use at the same time in the same place.
If speech is completely standardised in books, they loose a lot of their
flavour, and become a little more boring.
The line has to be drawn between flavour and understanding - where it is
absolutely necessary to understand the difference (am I being chased by one or
many?) rules can be enforced - but even that can be done more effectively by
being more descriptive with the surrounding words than by worrying about one
word being "right"
As long as there are no definite errors, which could not be explained by the
speaker in question simply saying it wrong themselves, I would be happy to
leave the inconsistencies as good flavour.
I believe that changes should cover real typing errors, and serious
misunderstandings, rather than trying to standardise absolutely everything.
Just IMHO!
> From: feline1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: projectaon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject:
> [projectaon] Re: Drakkar v. Drakkarim> Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:35:31 +0000>
> > I guess the nub of the whole thing is whether this is a case of singular
> vs. > plural,> and we thus run into that thing of whether or not
> group/collective nouns are> singular or plural, something which is a bit
> different between UK and US > English> and may come down to a case of who is
> wearing the trouser....> > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Simon
> Osborne" <outspaced@xxxxxxxxxxxx>> To: <projectaon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> Sent:
> Monday, October 27, 2008 10:15 AM> Subject: [projectaon] Re: Drakkar v.
> Drakkarim> > > > Hi LeRoy> >> > McSwain LeRoy wrote:> >> I'm curious how
> grandmaster dever himself feels about it but, per the > >> giak language
> rules, i'm guessing that he intended 'drakkar' to be > >> singular and
> 'drakkarim' to be plural but accidentally overused the word > >> 'drakkarim'
> because it is a more interesting word.> >> > Equally, editors without prior
> familiarity of the world of Magnamund may > > not have understood the
> different uses of the words and tried to "fix" it. > > We are in the
> fortunate position where we have the text of all the books > > and can look
> for trends in the usage of the words--a Search in Files will > > quickly show
> where the words are and how they are used.> >> >> according to
> dictionary.reference.com, the adjective 'scots' derives > >> from a
> truncation of 'scottis' an alternate form of 'scottish'. the fact > >> that
> it looks like the plural form of the noun is apparently a > >> coincidence.>
> >> > Well, you learn something new every day! :-)> >> > -- > > Simon Osborne>
> > Project Aon> >> > ~~~~~~> > Manage your subscription at
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