The Chamax Plague. The classic Traveller adventure returns in a brand-new fiction release!

[JustEastOfTheEdge]

"Are you a native English speaker or are you American?" . That made me smile. I am English.

But I find this response a bit rude: "I think you need to go and learn how English doesn't always stick to its "rules".

I said above that this stuff is my job. So it should be obvious that I would be aware of all kinds of contexts and variations. But in some cases, you need rules to avoid ambiguities. Simple as that. Where is the line drawn? By the reader and the editor. The hardest writing to check is your own.

should or ? perhaps wee awl the rules ignore just.

As an author, you need to take criticism with grace, as I had to, and still do when I have submitted papers with glaring errors or small things that only a professional pedant would even notice. I only pointed out 2 trivial things. It is not like I went to town on you. I will leave that for later (I jest).

You might like to know I have already recommended it to 2 friends who bought it yesterday.

"and forget Grammarly." I have heard of it, but never used it. And yes, definitely ignore Word underlining stuff.

 

[Sigtrygg]

I'm glad you got the joke. I'm sorry if my posts have come across as a bit snarky.

There are many books of colloquial English sayings that do not obey the rules of formal grammar, and I agree that in the vast majority of cases grammar should be corrected, just not colloquial sayings; there is something I find culturally enriching in them.
Here is an interesting dream analysis,

Rats in a cage in a Dream, What Does It Mean?

Discover the significance and symbolism behind dreaming of rats in a cage, and how it may relate to your subconscious desires and emotions.

mysleepadvisor.com

 

[Micky]

"Are you a native English speaker or are you American?" . That made me smile. I am English.

But I find this response a bit rude: "I think you need to go and learn how English doesn't always stick to its "rules".

I said above that this stuff is my job. So it should be obvious that I would be aware of all kinds of contexts and variations. But in some cases, you need rules to avoid ambiguities. Simple as that. Where is the line drawn? By the reader and the editor. The hardest writing to check is your own.

should or ? perhaps wee awl the rules ignore just.

As an author, you need to take criticism with grace, as I had to, and still do when I have submitted papers with glaring errors or small things that only a professional pedant would even notice. I only pointed out 2 trivial things. It is not like I went to town on you. I will leave that for later (I jest).

You might like to know I have already recommended it to 2 friends who bought it yesterday.

"and forget Grammarly." I have heard of it, but never used it. And yes, definitely ignore Word underlining stuff.

amen to that. Before jumping over to Traveller (finally) I had been doing writing for D&D for the last 15-20 years and let's say.. to be kind... I am more of an ideas guy but had some great editors to help me with my bungling of the proper written word. None better than my wife who is a published author and translator.. ie probably knows the English language better than most native speakers as it was her job to be precise as a non native speaker. Funny.. with Mongoose and its Engish centric nature.. been more than a few times I've turned to her as a idiot American and asked her what the hell this or that I've read is supposed to mean. Nothing hotter than an Italian woman who learned the proper way of English while attending college in England. To say nothing of how inspiration it is hearing the proper Queen's English spoken in a sultry Italian accent..

*sigh*

 

[Seffix]

Just tell her, "Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol rait?"
(pre-sen coal in en seen ayn chew zoal. All right?)

 

[Micky]

Just tell her, "Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol rait?"
(pre-sen coal in en seen ayn chew zoal. All right?)

hahah thanks.. my wife is now dancing (and singing) in the kitchen wielding a spatula.... thanks buddy. I owe you one. Now that is hot...

 

[laughdad]

You cannot go wrong with this style guide:

Amazon.com

 

[jpiccone]

My first point stands, I am afraid. And that example is not a matter of style vs grammar. Style debates are things like split infinitives, Oxford/Harvard commas, and how best to use certain types of punctuation, spacing, or even double negatives. And yes, these change based on time and context.

However, grammar rules exist for a reason—for consistency of understanding. As someone rightly raised, they are not laws, as they can be disregarded if your intention is something like a piece of poetry with open-ended meanings.

On proverbs and sayings not conforming to normal English rules: this is wrong. Even direct quotations should be amended (with notes or techniques like additions in square brackets or ellipsis).

In any case, “rat trapped in a cage” is neither a proverb nor a famous saying, but a bog-standard figure of speech. “Caught like a rat in a trap” is probably what you are thinking of. I will use that to illustrate my original point.

Which feels better?

1. Bill, Bob, and Ben had nowhere to run. They were caught like a rat in a trap.

2. Bill, Bob, and Ben had nowhere to run. They were caught like rats in a trap.

The first should produce a sort of mental jarring as you have to equate the subject of 3 men with the subject of 1 rat. It is possible to equate 3 men with the plight of a single rat. But the second case is not only grammatically correct but also easier to mentally digest. If in doubt, following the standard grammar rules will give you more chance of avoiding misunderstanding. I tried to make that last sentence sound less patronising but failed, sorry.

(Remember also that a lot of English is read by non-native speakers, who do learn grammar and so expect things to match or it might throw them. It will also throw off translation software too.)

Incidentally, I teach this stuff and edit for a living, so apologies if this sounds like a bloody lecture.

I think the better example for #1 would be "they were caught like rats in traps", which is even worse.

Rules and style both change all the time. I had to give up my precious semicolons because they've become stuffy and pretentious...

 

[Sigtrygg]

I weep for the misuse of the possessive apostrophe; the loss of the semicolon is a similar dumbing down.

Tip, you can often use a semicolon where you are tempted to use the words and or but; not a hard and fast rule, I am afraid to say.

 

[Condottiere]

Semi colon is when you need to take a breath, but don't want to stop.

 

[Sigtrygg]

How is that different to the pause a comma requires?

 

[Condottiere]

Those would be voluntary.

Three full stops could be pausing for effect.

 

[Sigtrygg]

You don't mean...
ellipsis

 

[Condottiere]

The Star Wars theory that they aren't literate, but can recognize pictograms.

I would be very careful when full stops explode, and have faces.

 

[JustEastOfTheEdge]

Tip, you can often use a semicolon where you are tempted to use the words and or but; not a hard and fast rule, I am afraid to say.

Quite right. It was originally created as a shorthand for the word 'and' (well, Latin's que).

 

[Jongar]

Wow! Stay on target people.