Path: utzoo!hoptoad!cpsc6a!rtech!mtxinu!unisoft!gethen!farren
From: farren@gethen.UUCP (Michael J. Farren)
Newsgroups: alt.flame
Subject: Re: Theological Debates
Message-ID: <529@gethen.UUCP>
Date: 6 Jan 88 10:17:40 GMT
References: <4032@uwmcsd1.UUCP> <14193@oddjob.UChicago.EDU> <4062@uwmcsd1.UUCP> <514@gethen.UUCP> <4080@uwmcsd1.UUCP>
Reply-To: farren@gethen.UUCP (Michael J. Farren)
Distribution: alt
Organization: There's Unix there in Oakland
Lines: 40
Keywords: Comma

markh@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (Mark William Hopkins) writes:
>>>     Maybe, I ought to clarify myself, as there seem to be those who haven't
>            ^
>       This is correct usage, given my intentions.  A comma denotes a pause, it
>was a pause that was intended here.  Are you sure YOU do not need a remedial 
>course?  You've probably been listening to proscriptivists too long.

My, my, we've learned some big words lately, haven't we?  A better question,
then, is this:  just WHY did you intend a pause there?  'Maybe I ought
to clarify myself' is a single clause, and does not require a pause.  
If you intended to imply that you didn't really believe that you should
clarify yourself, then why didn't you state as much?  What possible purpose
could a pause in that sentence have?  Read it out loud - if you insert
a pause at that point, it sounds WRONG, which means that the comma does
not belong there, even from an anti-proscriptivist viewpoint.

>But I ain't going to ever use something that sounds as inane as "aren't" 
>for "am not".

Well, to be honest, I aren't going to do that, either.  As a matter of
fact, I'm not going to use contractions in the first person at all, 
unless I can get them right.  Or is the idea of 'person' a proscriptivist
one, as well?

Where are you taking English courses, Bulgaria?  I can't think of any
school in the U.S., Canada (excepting Quebec :-), or Britain that would
sanction your usage.

Oh, yeah - one other thing.  Would you PLEASE ask someone at your
site who understands, even vaguely, how to deal with the headers
in a Usenet message why it is that one doesn't put a subject in
the Followup: line, or newsgroup names in Distribution: ?  It's
incredibly annoying, and doesn't do your credibility any good,
either.

-- 
Michael J. Farren             | "INVESTIGATE your point of view, don't just 
{ucbvax, uunet, hoptoad}!     | dogmatize it!  Reflect on it and re-evaluate
        unisoft!gethen!farren | it.  You may want to change your mind someday."
gethen!farren@lll-winken.llnl.gov ----- Tom Reingold, from alt.flame