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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
The first sentence from the article you linked to: "The learning curve refers to a relationship between the duration of learning or experience and the resulting progress."
This is exactly what I said: duration refers to time ("the length of time something continues or exists"(dictionary.com)) and is always the X, or independent, axis. The Y, or dependent, axis is the amount learned. The 'rate' of learning is the first derivative of this curve, the curve itself is not a rate.
The second definition, the only one you refer to, is the bastardized version that ignorance has created.
The LW got owned. Open mouth, insert foot, LW... lol
As my Dad would always tell me, if that (imprecise language) is the biggest problem you have in your life, then you're doing great.
One of my own pet peeves along this line is an escalation of language, as in news stories. No one commits murders, they commit brutal murders. It's as if the word murder doesn't convey enough evil or tragedy on its own. Butif someone does something even more horrible, they no longer have a way to express that it is more savage than the murders they describe at other times.
That's the most obvious example, but the same thing happens in other ways. And while I imagine this puts me in the running for curmudgeon of the year, I think the way that use of language desensitizes us is important.
I refuse to believe that any reader of Salon is this moronic. I'm almost as moronic for responding to this obvious bait.
The "carbon" vs. carbon dioxide argument goes to the mob. But the abuse and misuse of language is not always simple evolution. Sometimes (not always, or there would be no linguistic evolution to keep pace with the technological revolution) it is just drivel, and anything that is turned into a cliche eventually becomes "the proverbial" whatever. And that is when I reach for my piece, man, so chill, ya'll. Word.
Ya'll can never be singular. It's plural.
Please stop saying "different than." It is different from. Please stop saying, "..and I" when you mean, ...and me.
And PLEASE stop saying, "EK CETERA!" It is et cetera. Et means and in Latin. Ek is not a word in Latin.
If you do not care about this stuff, please just do not talk. If you do not know about this stuff, please learn about it.
I never will say, "carbon" again. Thanks for this letter.
I know I said I was out, but I cannot resist this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/magazine/15wwln-guest-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin
The above is an excellent article on what Patricia T. O'Conner calls the "quotative like." It seems the word actually has some uses. However, I think there may be some truthiness to it. For instance when someone says, "and then I went like" do they mean they actually said it or just wanted to say it but didn't have the guts? We need some rules about the word like.
I felt the same way you do about a very similar problem.
People always taled about being upset about the "ECOLOGY," when that wasn't what they meant at all. -OLOGY means the "study of," whether it's theology or psychology or whatever. Ecology just means the study of eco systems or the environment.
So what these people really meant was they were worried about the ecosstems being out of balance or actions that could damage the environment.
It really burned me up for years and led to all sorts of stress reactions. Then I finally realized I just had to right it off as another case of people not understanding the language they use.
It's not worth it to me to get worked p about it.
How about all the hyperbolically queasy folks -- including those at Salon, who should know better -- who constantly refer to themselves as nauseous instead of nauseated.
Someone please tell the entire United States of America that nauseous refers to INDUCING nausea.
Um, Cary... You do know it is just Gawker not THE Gawker, right? Cuz you know you gonna be smacked down for that.
ps to the LW: Ever notice how everyone is sounding like Andy Rooney these days?
Love and kisses,
I may be just a Northern girl, but I'm pretty sure it's y'all.
I don't believe I've ever caught a Cary column this early, when there are just a handful of letters accumulated... but this has been fun.
I thought the LW had a point of sorts, but the richness and variety of the letters people have written thus far has been lovely. Especially the point re: bandying about the word "green", when it has the same etymological verity as "carbon", in this whole context.
Just to let y'all (plural, of course) know, I'm writing an article about the sweetness of messing up words... it's called "Wallah! I've found my nitch!".
And if you don't know how to pronounce a word, Say It Loud!
Ya'll.
See third explanation in the following link:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ya'll
O! Joyful opportunity!
Please don't say "jive" when you mean "jibe." Please don't place commas and periods outside of quotation marks. Please don't say "Jane and I's dog," or "it belongs to Jane and I."
nitrous oxide. And it's y'all, not ya'll.
"Y'all" is a conjunction of you and all. I'm from Texas so I'm qualified to speak on such matters.
Frankly, these days, I'm just happy when someone speaks in a complete sentence with correct grammar.
It's especially nice when words are pronounced correctly, too.
And when someone uses a word I rarely hear outloud, like "hegemony," I think I could be in love.
i think a valid point was made here but, as it was explained to me, the term 'carbon' not only refers to carbon dioxide but to other carbon-containing gases- like hydrocarbons, such as methane (CH4) which is also a significant green house gas.
so maybe we should be saying 'organic (compound) neutral'?
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
