Comments on: English Comp 101 – Cliff Notes Version

By: Kestrel

Kestrel — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:42:53 +0000

Oops…I thought I replied to this earlier, Maz. “It’s” and “its” are everyone’s favorite oops to point to, so I included it in this week’s Friday Five post. Thanks also for the nice compliments–always great to hear! And glad to see you’re enjoying your trip to England!

By: Friday Five: Typos and How To Avoid Them — Kestrel's Aerie

Friday Five: Typos and How To Avoid Them — Kestrel's Aerie — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:02:00 +0000

[...] Friday Five, Writing As a follow-on to my post from earlier in the week, I want to respond to further acknowledge some of the comments you made. Let us do that by [...]

By: Mazil

Mazil — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:51:36 +0000

Hey, just wanted to say I loved this post! I really like the mix of WoW and real world and “internet/blog world” posts on your blog

One thing that bugs me is “its” versus “it’s”… and apostrophes are so abused in general! I’ve also only recently cottoned on to the whole “that” thing. I’m so paranoid about my “that”s now, but it’s good to be a bit more critical about my writing.

Australians do follow British grammar, I believe. We definitely keep our apostrophes out of quotation marks (it looks so funny seeing them in there)!
Mazil´s latest blog post is These are a few of my travelling things.

By: Kestrel

Kestrel — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:17:42 +0000

Thanks! Glad you decided to stop by “in person,” as it were. (Now there’s an idiom I should explore…)

By: Kestrel

Kestrel — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:16:54 +0000

Thanks for the correction, Kriyet And once again I have proved the old adage about what happens when you assume.

I suspect Canadian English owes a lot to British usage, but has also shared with their southern neighbors. And of course, don’t forget that it isn’t really spelled, “aboot.”

By: Kriyet

Kriyet — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:14:19 +0000

BTW, I wanted to add how much I’m enjoying the look of your site these days. I normally read you through my Google Reader, and miss the great graphics and layout, so when I click through on an item, I marvel.

Great job!

By: Kriyet

Kriyet — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:09:05 +0000

Hey Kestrel,

A greatly appreciated post. You reminded me of some niceties I’ve gotten lazy about in my own writing.

But, as a patriotic Canadian, I have to protest: “If you’re British or Canadian, write British English.”

Umm, no. Canadian English has evolved its’ own style, and doesn’t adhere to either British or American rules. Just to twist the knife a bit, in the example where you gave the above advice, Canadian usage actually puts the comma INSIDE the quotation marks – the opposite of British.

But no worries. If Canadian readers really want to show their Canadian style, there are handbooks of Canadian English, eh, and our own copy of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary that will steer them safely past the shoals of “too American, too British,” safe home to “Canadjin.”

Cheers,
Kriyet

By: Kestrel

Kestrel — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:02:19 +0000

Thank you for the German lesson! I always thought the -lich suffix was probably something like our -ly but I never really explored it much. I really regret I was working so hard when I was in Germany that I didn’t take advantage of opportunities to better learn the language.

And so glad I was among those able to introduce you to the wonders of a killing diet. :p

By: Kestrel

Kestrel — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:59:53 +0000

What Tami said! It was a long time before I realized English is NOT your first language! Considering how badly we native-speakers brutalize our own language, I never criticize non-natives who are at least making a serious effort.

Don’t change a thing, Larisa! <3

By: Tami

Tami — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:16:35 +0000

I constantly have to remind myself that english isn’t your first language – all of your posts are so easy to read and entertaining.

<3
Tami´s latest blog post is New Short Story – Murder