Timewaster's Guide Archive
General => Site News => Topic started by: The Jade Knight on October 25, 2005, 03:21:27 AM
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This is the place where I ask Usage questions and post problems I have, to keep them off of individual threads.
So, for starters:
The Blurb for DS2 has a typo - "sequel's"
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that would be me making an error. I do that. YOu may have noticed that I used an apostrophe in the possessive usage of "its" as well. Both apostrophes have been removed, decontaminated, and burned for good measure.
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I've been changing everyone's en dashes into em dashes according to standard American usage.
If en dashes (I'd give examples, but the forum doesn't have full ANSI support) are okay to separate ideas, tell me, and I'll leave them be or modify single hyphens into en dashes.
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en dashes are not acceptable, please change them.
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The new Page 33 has half a zillion (hyphen-)dashes in various incarnations. Should I go through and convert them ALL to em dashes, or should any of them take other formats, or should they be left, as most of them come from the "press release" (and are, as such, quoted)?
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If we want to be pretty about it, it'd probably be best ot make the list items in a set of <ul> tags. But since I wasn't up to that level of formatting I just copied the text exactly as I got it and added some paragraph and line breaks. I think we can safely leave it as is.
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Very well, I wont touch it.
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So that text was exactly how you got it? That's awful.
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yeah, well, Marvel's publicity agency has always been a bit distant.
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::nudge::
I think you meant Entomology. Unless you meant Etymology.
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Entropology?
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Do D&D races or subraces get capitalization?
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I would say no. I never captialize human, so I wouldn't capitalize elf.
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But we do capitalize Caucasian. Consider that a sort of subrace . . .
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So we can capitalize Drow. But I'm with Fell.
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Okay...
Why did Fell capitalize Human and Dragon in the Nexus Ops article?
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because he deserves a slap.
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Because they're specific unit names in the game.
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yeah, but he does still deserve a slap, don't you think?
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A can capitalize whatever I darn well please, slap-free.
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but it won't change the fact that you deserve one.
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Heck considering the first that happened to Fell after being born was getting slapped I think that proves SE's point that he always deserves one.
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I would change this:
He's a manager, and executive, he controls the events from behind the curtain
to this:
He's a manager and executive; he controls the events from behind the curtain
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Then change it.
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I don't know how to change the front-page blurbs.
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Oh, is that in the front page? I wondered why you were asking about it. I'll do it now.
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You're free to email Tage or me with your request, and we will be happy to make fun of you for sending your email to the wrong place. Then we will promptly forget about it.7
I noticed this on Item I.5 of the TWG FAQ. Someone mind removing the 7 at the end?
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I'll get on it
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"each side projects its warriors further and further in the future."
This is the corrected text. He originally had farther, but I changed it. I'm curious, however, if "farther" might actually be appropriate in this context, since it is being used in the sense of time travel.
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That is an interesting question. I would say no in general, since farther denotes spatial distance rather than temporal, but I think you could make a case for it.
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oo! Let's have a debate!
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Balderdash. Farther and further are really regional variants of the same word. There are some people who never, ever say "farther," and there are some who say "farther" when others would usually say "further." The rules for differentiating their use only exist because someone sat down and decided to write a rule.
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Yay for Descriptivism!
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Ookla's right, Further and Farther both have the same root. Far. The rules for differentiating are apparently not hard and fast either because Dictionary.com lists Futher and Farther as the same adjective like this....
adj. farther, or further farthest or furthest
1. Being at considerable distance; remote: a far country.
2. Going back a considerable extent in time: the far past
Anyhow I look at it like this, his mode of time travel actually requires him to travel huge distances at nearly the speed of light. In a sense he is traveling into the future on heels of billions of real miles.
So even by fells definition Farther would have been better,
as a self respecting southerner I would never stoop to using the Yankee word Further, unless I am Furthering my own cause. :) Now If anyone needs me I'll be over yonder.
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The official word on American usage (taken from Mirriam-Webster):
usage Farther and further have been used more or less interchangeably throughout most of their history, but currently they are showing signs of diverging. As adverbs they continue to be used interchangeably whenever spatial, temporal, or metaphorical distance is involved. But where there is no notion of distance, further is used <our techniques can be further refined>. Further is also used as a sentence modifier <further, the workshop participants were scarcely optimistic -- L. B. Mayhew>, but farther is not. A polarizing process appears to be taking place in their adjective use. Farther is taking over the meaning of distance <the farther shore> and further the meaning of addition <needed no further invitation>.
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Signs of diverging to me means, havent diverged yet.
I guess I find it annoying because it strikes me as evolving because of grammar elitism, ... some person somewhere just decided that he was going to use one word incorrectly and he brow beat enough people into starting a linguistic shift. Using the words to describe two aspects of what is essentially the same concept doesnt serve any real purpose except to eliminate a neat word choice from our language.
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In spite of my posts it doesnt bother that much, even though I guess it looks like it.
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I'm also in favour of Descriptivism. So I don't care that much. I was taught to distinguish the two in usage, however, so that's why I do.
If you oppose this for linguistic or moral reasons, that's fine too.
It still bothers me that we spell "island" with an "s", but I'm not about to start spelling it "iland".
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I just pronounce it IS-land (jk)
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Technically speaking, if the words are interchangeable but are beginning to diverge due to common usage, then the descriptivist route would be to use the diverged versions.
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yeah! What he said.
My only concern is consistency on the site. Since further/farther isn't something noticeably used that much. I don't care how we treat it.
But I'm glad you had a debate like I wanted.
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The last question in the blurb for icons part 1 ends with a period. It should be a question mark.
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And there's this (for the FoW blurb):
"Shell him with the artillary, flank him with the infantry (including ninjas) and prevent him from reaching the objective. Yeah, but, isn't there a Plan B?"
I would add a comma after Ninjas.
Sorry for the delayed proofreading.
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"in Desert Shield, later to become Desert Strom."
Yeah! Now I'm changing my last name to Desertstrom!
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Yeah, I actually hadn't gotten around to proofing the article yet. I'll get on it after I write a little more today.
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"Potential entrants simply place a piece of paper with their name into the Goblet, and the Goblet chooses the three most worthy candidates. But plans hit a bit of a snag when Hogwarts school comes out with not one, but two champions: Cedric Diggory, a handsome and popular boy from Hufflepuff house, and none other than Harry Potter, who is too young to legitimately compete in the tournament."
(From Harry Potter). I'm unsure if I should edit this to specify that the candidates should be one from each school. These sentences could potentially be confusing without any sort of explanation.
In addition, I have NO clue who any of the actors are, and the review frequently fails to pair them with the characters, which is confusing for me, and presumably to others.
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Zathura is in dire need of a prooferoo, when you get the time.
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Time? There is no TIME!
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Zathura is in dire need of a prooferoo, when you get the time.
"Prooferoo." I think that's my new favorite word. ;D
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Proofreading now.
Sorry about my slacking lately. I'm trying to put NaNo first, editing 2nd. I've generally stayed within a couple of days of releases, though I know this is anything but ideal. I'll be back on top of things come December.
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I am willing to forgive all for a fellow Nano-er. At least temporarily.
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Thanks.
I have two questions:
"the film' s relationship to <em>Jumanji</em> actually enhances its liability."
What do they mean by "liability"?
And do we capitalize "sci-fi"?
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we capitalize SF, but not sci-fi, unless this starts dissention in the ranks, in which case I'm flexible.
I'm not sure what he means, but what I understand is that because the movie is so similar in concept and structure to Jumanji, it starts off with a few bad marks against it.
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I think he means "likability."
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Saint E, mind starting using em dashes instead of en dashes?
Thanks.
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You should always encode them as — so they display correctly on other platforms...
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What do you mean by "encode them as"?
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In the html, emdashes should be written as — instead of as (dash character which doesn't display properly on this forum)
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Oh. That makes a difference? That's too bad.
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My typical approach, if I'm paying attention, is just to double dash is -- instead of letting Word take control and assume it knows what I mean better than I do *shakes fist*
but I can be unlazy and use the html for it. I guess. I hope you know what sacrifice I'm making for this.
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Well, when you double-hyphen like that, it involves me going through and editing each individually, but I actually typed in the em-dash via ANSI code. I'll try to remember to actually use an HTML code, but that's so "blech". =þ
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"It's because we're tired from to much festivity-ing and writing bad fiction (the My Little Pony/Watchmen furry slash-fiction didn't generate anywhere near 50,000 words like I thought it would -- though I understand Fellfrosch managed to write something respectable having to do with women's underwear). "
Can someone edit this (to > too, -- > em dash)
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FYI: I'm taking some time off from proofreading; I have some homework I desperately need to try to catch up on.
I'll be back in a week or two. I hope you'll manage without me for the time being.
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The Brothers Gibbs offer their picks here, and your sure to either love them or hate them.
(Ahem. On the front page.)
. . . and you're sure to either . . .
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Okay, I'm going to finally try to stop slacking off. Here's an edit:
"By the time you hear the werewolf organ enhanced, crazed serial killer, it's probably already too late."
Something needs a hyphen, I think, either "werewolf-organ" or "organ-enhanced".
"Woody Allen leaves New York, and his usual frenetic style, to make his best movie in years."
I think "and" should be "in".
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werewolf-organ
cause they are cut out from the werewolf and implanted in a serial killer.
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I think it's supposed to be and, as in he's leaving both New York AND his usual style.
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Oh. Then the first comma needs to die. "He's leaving New York and his usual frenetic style"
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The commas are being used to make a nonrestrictive clause, so the question is, "Is this phrase restrictive or non-restrictive?" Either you keep both or delete both, but not just one.
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"Seriously, all I heard was 'blah blah blah blah blah.'"
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Well, this is a thread for proofreading, isn't it? Sorry if it bores you. I was just trying to contribute to the discussion.
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She has a point. You really shouldn't have either comma.
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I'm saying, in my eloquent manner, that I didn't understnad what she was saying.
and I didn't write the copy for that one. Skar did.
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Well, if you care, I can explain.
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nah, I'm just going to put it on restriction.
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Firewall review:
"who's family" should be "whose family"
( A Knight’s Tale,A Beautiful Mind,
should be
(A Knight’s Tale, A Beautiful Mind,
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I stopped by again. Here's the damage today:
"Don't fence me in Roy" should be "Don't fence me in, Roy"
"coumn" should be "column"
And the in "uhm" should probably be capitalized.
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Weekly report:
"Or is it a moving and important tribute to American heroes." (This should end in a question mark)
"Great now we have start over." (there should be a comma after "great")
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"Or is it a moving and important tribute to American heroes."
This deserves (deserved) a question mark.
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Clean this week, though I did touch up the Nerdery article.
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In the Superman Returns review
He is joined by his moll, Kitty (Parker Posey, of Waiting For Guffman) who icily fills the roles of both Miss Tessmacher and Otis.
The Brothers said in the thread that they did not use the word "icily" in their review. I assume it's supposed to be "easily."
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Found it and fixed it. I changed the typo "icely fills the role" to "icily fills the role" Given the Gibb's comment it probably should have been "nicely" fixed.
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Okay, THAT'S a typo I can understand!
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In the SoaP review, "Sufficeth to say" should be "Suffice it to say."
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FYI: My workload at school is insane right now. Expect me to almost never show up on the site/boards at all until at least Christmas-time. Hopefully next semester will be nicer.
(I'm currently taking 20 credits/8 classes, 3 of which [9 credits] are 400/500-level. And I've got 1½ independent study classes in addition to this, to boot).
The front page looks good except the "--" really bothers me. Someone mind converting this to "—"?
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Yikes. Don't hurt yourself!
Good luck. :)
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Thanks. I'm still not sure I'll make it through this, but I'm not a lost cause quite yet.
Anyway, I think there should be a comma between "resolution but".
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So, expect to start seeing more of me.
Today's report:
"This book by Wizards helps you try something new with a city setting...sort of." Should there be any spacing in "setting...sort of"? I'm inclined to think so ("setting… sort of"), but I don't know the book on that one.
"Walk a thousand miles through the wilderness without food, shoes, and a GPS and see how well you look when you're finished." Comma after GPS.
"First-time novelist Diane Setterfield proves that the Gothic romance genre is alive and well." This is technically correct, but having "Gothic" capitalized and "romance" not really bugs me. I'd prefer "Gothic Romance" or "gothic romance" (the latter is also technically correct).
I'll have to get used to the new forums and all now…
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"Flee the galaxy ravening hordes of the Gbaba and take refuge on a distant star. Find the enemy fleet with your recon droids, sail to him under all the canvas you can hoist and give him a taste of your cannon. Off Armageddon Reef, the new epic novel by David Weber."
This should either say "it" or "them", not "him".
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"Assassins, nobility, swords, crossbows, and demons--the typical heroic fantasy"
Double-hyphening for an em dash is so ASCII. Can we fix this to a real em dash (—)?
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So, I'm feeling pretty ignored . . . but here's another one:
"A fun video game that's also inexpensive, what more could a gamer want?"
The comma feels wrong here. Maybe an em dash (—) would be better?
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I haven't been ignoring you, I've just been busy/distracted, take your pick.
As for the em dash, I've been too lazy to add a real one. ;D I guess you're not going to let me get away with it anymore.
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Caught another one:
"We’re currently working on bringing an all new TWG to our readers and to make sure it’s the best we need your help! We’ve created a short, 8 question, survey that will help us focus on what you, the reader want."
Should be "what you, the reader, want." Also, I think there should be a comma after "readers" and "best".
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The poll:
"Not being bored enough to get on IM an chat with that looser Spriggan " ("and"/"loser")
"That he still makes more money then Mustard does from book sales" ("then" should be "than")
Someone fix this? Please?
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Don't forget changing "pitty" to pity.
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"Too bad the WB...err...I mean CW dropped Aquaman, because the pilot was so promising."
Perhaps commas would be better? "Too bad the WB, err, I mean 'CW' dropped Aquaman…" I would also add the quote marks, or italicize CW.
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I'm pretty sure you don't italicize or quote mark network names
CW is the equivelant of ABC, NBC, CBS, or Fox. quotes and italics both seem wrong.
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To me, it's simply to show emphasis, in this case. Why are we bothering putting in the "I mean X" if we're not going to emphasize it? (I also read in a natural pause, à la "I mean, X", which would be incorrect. I figured the italics would help take care of that.)
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the verbal cue is enough, i think. The idea of getting one wrong for the other.
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http://www.brandonsanderson.com/article.php?id=39
"Yesterday I had diner with Parker,"
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This thread is only for proofing articles on TWG and not anyone's site nor the forum.
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Yes, this is true.
People here ignore me enough as it is. =þ
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This thread is only for proofing articles on TWG and not anyone's site nor the forum.
Sorry! My mistake.
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On the title bar (not in the body of the page itself), there needs to be a comma after "movies,"
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The poll:
"Not being bored enough to get on IM an chat with that looser Spriggan " ("and"/"loser")
"That he still makes more money then Mustard does from book sales" ("then" should be "than")
Someone fix this? Please?
I wish I could. It's been driving me nuts, too, but I can't access that part of the admin's section. At least, not that I know of.
To me, it's simply to show emphasis, in this case. Why are we bothering putting in the "I mean X" if we're not going to emphasize it? (I also read in a natural pause, à la "I mean, X", which would be incorrect. I figured the italics would help take care of that.)
With Aquaman already italicized in the sentence, I worry it would make for too much italics overall, and add to confusion instead of clarifying.
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wow, neither of you realise you just have to go and edit to actuall poll post in the Suggestions Box board to do this? Both of you should have rights to do it.
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This just goes to show how little some of us know about what we can with our admin rights. You're so used to it, Sprig, and you know all the back-end stuff so well, it's obvious to you. Sorry to be a bother.
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Just figured it was obvious since you create polls via the forum and we've had many discussions on the forum about how the polls work in conjunction with the front page.
Plus would it have killed either of you two to ask how to do something instead of assuming I'd fix it? I'd rather teach you to fish then give you one.
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I currently can't do front page stuff; I assumed it was part of that (any clues yet?) Anyway, now I know.
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"Little girls grow up wishing they really are princesses"
I think this should be "really were princesses". I don't think we've lost the subjunctive entirely in English yet, have we?
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"When a book promises 'secrets' and 'adventure' it had better live up to the hype. "
Should there be a comma after 'adventure'?
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"When a book promises 'secrets' and 'adventure' it had better live up to the hype. "
Should there be a comma after 'adventure'?
I think a comma there is a matter of preference more than a real hard and fast rule. I didn't feel like a pause was necessary there so I didn't put one.
However.
The sentence in the review that gives me trouble is (not sure what to do with it):
A surprise filler are some of the interesting minor artifacts that have slipped from the cold, dead fingers of the long-lost titan-giants that used to rule the continent like the ‘Staff of the Magma Falls’.
What's The Almighty Jade's thoughs on that one?
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Firsly, "a surprise filler" shouldn't use "are" as a verb.
Perhaps "Some of the more surprising filler include the interesting minor artifacts that have slipped from the cold, dead fingers of the long-lost titan-giants that used to rule the continent, such as the ‘Staff of the Magma Falls’."
What do you think? Better? Retains the original sense? Am I totally off?
(And shouldn't "Drow" be capitalized? Or no?)
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"When pursuing the Green Lion, don't forget to bring a set of loaded dice, they may just save the day."
2nd comma should be a semicolon.
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Gah!!! Can someone fix the frontpage intro to the Nerdery column so the noun and verb agree??
Instead of: "Does the couples that games together stay together?"
Please choose:
"Does the couple that games together stay together?"
or
"Do the couples that game together stay together?"
Thank you.
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"The boy Tavi has no magic to call his own, which among the people of Alera makes him something of a cripple. He cant call a fury of the earth or of wood, like his Uncle Bernard; the fury of water like his Aunt Isana; and neither can he use a fire, metal, or air fury like his friends. To make up for his lack of magic he has to be brave and clever: characteristics which become crucial to the events happening in the Calderon Valley where he lives."
This should be:
"The boy Tavi has no magic to call his own, which, among the people of Alera, makes him something of a cripple. He cant call a fury of the earth or of wood like his Uncle Bernard; the fury of water like his Aunt Isana; and neither can he use a fire, metal, or air fury like his friends. To make up for his lack of magic, he has to be brave and clevercharacteristics which become crucial to the events happening in the Calderon Valley where he lives."
That's just in the punctuation department. Could use some editing in general, though.