Yes! Totally!
Fred: So you don't worry that it's possible for someone to send out a biological or electronic trigger that effectively overrides your own sense of ideals and values and replaces them with an alternative coercive agenda that reduces you to a mindless meat puppet? Shopkeeper: Wow. People used to think that I was paranoid.
'Time Bomb'
Delurking 1: Because we don't always check our e-mail.
Pix - Oct 05, 2009 6:58:44 pm PDT #614 of 3094
We're all getting played with, babe. -Weird Barbie
meara - Oct 05, 2009 6:59:05 pm PDT #615 of 3094
Hee. Sleep cave and my mutant arm!
SailAweigh - Oct 05, 2009 7:00:26 pm PDT #616 of 3094
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
billytea, I was taught not to use it and, in general, am opposed to it. I do take it on a case-by-case basis, though, and if I think it's required to prevent ambiguity I will use it. But I try not to get myself all wound up in a sentence of such complex construction that I honestly need to use it.
Hil R. - Oct 05, 2009 7:06:08 pm PDT #617 of 3094
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
I've stayed with Kristin and DebetEsse. Nilly has stayed with me. I think that's it.
beth b - Oct 05, 2009 7:07:03 pm PDT #618 of 3094
oh joy! Oh Rapture ! I have a brain!
The strongest argument I heard for using the serial comma is that it gives items in a series equal weight. It is the reason I use it even when clarity is not a major concern.
I can't believe I even have an opinion. Pre- buffista it was an arbitrary rule.
DavidS - Oct 05, 2009 7:07:06 pm PDT #619 of 3094
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
As a matter of interest, are there any Americans here opposed to the serial comma?
I'm against it, and it's fussiness will be properly weeded out by the English language's incessant drive towards expedience.
By the same taken I don't use the possessive "s" on a word that ends in "s." Like: Waits' instead of Waits's
Cilantro: No. Yuck. Soapy.
Olives: Yes, Greek, Italian, black, green, fancy, in a can, on a pizza yep.
Muffaletta: If it doesn't have olives it's not a muffaletta!
Pix - Oct 05, 2009 7:17:29 pm PDT #620 of 3094
We're all getting played with, babe. -Weird Barbie
I've stayed with Kristin
D'oh! See, this is exactly what I meant. Of course you have!
t runs off to edit
And, weighing on on Delurking questions:
Cilantro=YUM
Olives I can take or leave (unsurprisingly, same with muffalettas)
Serial comma= yes, though I will reluctantly abandon it if I must
I learned two spaces after the period and had a very hard time letting go of it in grad school but was finally persuaded to do so. Now I always use one and get annoyed with more.
I go back and forth with the extra possessive s.
Una - Oct 05, 2009 7:18:53 pm PDT #621 of 3094
when i die, please bake my ashes into a brick and use me to hit fascists.
Did that many Buffistas live in PDX before last year when I moved out of Oregon? *kicks self* I may have played kickball against one of you and not even realised it.
I met my first Buffistas this year at Comic-Con: Polter-Cow, and EpicTangent. ET was totally random; we pulled her out of a crowd to take a picture of our group in costume, and I commented on her Gothic Charm School shirt.
To address billytea's question, this American is firmly pro-serial comma. I'm a bit of a freak, though, because I also like British spelling. Extra u's, whee! I draw the line, however, at spelling "tire" with a y. That just ain't right. Though I don't know if that's British or just Australian.
Burrell - Oct 05, 2009 7:21:48 pm PDT #622 of 3094
Why did Darth Vader cross the road? To get to the Dark Side!
By the same taken I don't use the possessive "s" on a word that ends in "s." Like: Waits' instead of Waits's
I was taught to only use the "s" if it is pronounced, so Waits' is fine, but it's Frances's not Frances'. I'm pretty sure I picked that up back in when I was writing my dissertation and had to follow MLA to the letter.
billytea - Oct 05, 2009 7:27:23 pm PDT #623 of 3094
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
billytea, I was taught not to use it and, in general, am opposed to it.
See, now I want to know your policy on the metric system.
I will probably miss someone out here, but I have stayed with: Trudy, Kristin, Anne W, Steph, NoiseDesign & Kristin, Hec & JZ, Perkins and Cass. I've also visited the homes of MiracleMan & Aims, Plei and Pete & Jilli. (I've met free-range Buffistas too numerous to mention, of course, having attended a F2F.)
To address billytea's question, this American is firmly pro-serial comma. I'm a bit of a freak, though, because I also like British spelling. Extra u's, whee! I draw the line, however, at spelling "tire" with a y. That just ain't right. Though I don't know if that's British or just Australian.
Hee. Allow me to interest you in a couple of others. I flew here today in my own private aeroplane. The judge sentenced him to a 3-year gaol term. Daynjah daynjah daynjah.
When I was in Philly, my office was in the office building at Centre Square. I still have no answer as to why it features the British spelling.