Path: csiph.com!v102.xanadu-bbs.net!xanadu-bbs.net!feeder.erje.net!eu.feeder.erje.net!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: "Slp" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.misc Subject: Re: ebooks Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 08:12:45 +1100 Lines: 35 Message-ID: References: <5330744D.23831713@bytecraft.com> <20140325054909.075f1927b122401093f1eab9@eircom.net> <5331825C.169EC269@bytecraft.com> <897.233T2243T5595572@kltpzyxm.invalid> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=response Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: individual.net 0wotQbrdbbNtok8f2scIKgfA4wWKqeywDsLnRWIotoShIfTD4= Cancel-Lock: sha1:eMVNE8KDVjps20BSIPNhWT00Bpw= In-Reply-To: X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal Importance: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Windows Live Mail 14.0.8117.416 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V14.0.8117.416 Xref: csiph.com comp.misc:2042 "Peter Flass" wrote in message news:lgv9fo$g0r$1@dont-email.me... > On 03/26/2014 01:19 PM, Charlie Gibbs wrote: >> In article , Peter_Flass@Yahoo.com >> (Peter Flass) writes: >> >>> Punctuation and spelling are still important. An otherwise good book >>> is diminished by mis-spellings that spellcheckers can't catch - reign >>> vs. rein vs. rain, for example. >> >> You hit one of my pet peeves. More and more I'm seeing people talking >> about giving someone "free reign". I try to keep the origins of a >> phrase from vanishing into the mists of time, so I take pains to point >> out that it's "rein" as in horses, not "reign" as in monarch. >> >> As for punctuation, you can't go wrong listening to William Safire: >> "Don't use commas, which aren't necessary." >> > > Actually "reign" fits pretty well, although the /mot/ is otherwise. > Sometimes the language is twisted to fit an idea, not just thru random > error. Yeah, that is particularly true with words like decimate which is now commonly used quite differently to its original meaning. Living languages change over time. I find that the common use of the word whom instead of who jarring, but its not actually wrong. And notice the now common approach of starting a sentence with the word SO, particularly in a question and answer sequence in the serious end of radio programs.