Flare in Action! (off Topic)

[NorthEast]

Nice looking help indeed...and btw, I'm with Dave. When writing in English use proper English.

Which version, though? UK English, US English, or Canadian (aka "real") English :D

UK English? UK includes Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland - all of which have their own dialects, and not many of them like to be called English.

I vote for English English, from England.

[KevinDAmery]

Canadian is Frog English.

No, that's in Quebec and it's their rendition of French that you're thinking of

(Sorry to all the Quebecois out there...)

[KevinDAmery]

UK English? UK includes Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland - all of which have their own dialects, and not many of them like to be called English.

I vote for English English, from England.

Sheesh, people invent the language and they thing they own it or something...

[LTinker68]

Yeah, well, we (U.S.) have, what, 300 million people? We outnumber the English, even if you add in Wales, Scotland, and the others. So we win.

Sheesh, people invent the language and they thing they own it or something...

Isn't English a Germanic derivative (as opposed to a Latin derivative)? So the U.K. English started from German and we started from U.K. English.

[Andrew]

Isn't English a Germanic derivative (as opposed to a Latin derivative)? So the U.K. English started from German and we started from U.K. English.

It's both, a mix of Latin and germanic...has to do with both the wide expanse of Roman control, and the fact that the Normans won quite a victory in 1066, and they were a romance culture.

[RamonS]

Yeah, well, we (U.S.) have, what, 300 million people? We outnumber the English, even if you add in Wales, Scotland, and the others. So we win.

Well, but a good chunk of those folks don't speak English or anything else that would qualify as language in modern times.

[SteveS]

Nice looking help indeed...and btw, I'm with Dave. When writing in English use proper English.

Which version, though? UK English, US English, or Canadian (aka "real") English

You forgot Australian English.

I'm gonna have to send Crocodile Dundee back over there now....

[LTinker68]

You forgot Australian English.

I thought about pointing that out a few posts back. You guys are totally out there on your slang, though, so I don't think you're going to get anyone on your side in the debate.

[SteveS]

You forgot Australian English.

I thought about pointing that out a few posts back. You guys are totally out there on your slang, though, so I don't think you're going to get anyone on your side in the debate.

Fair dinkum?

[RamonS]

Yor hoffin!

[Richard Ferrell]

Moved to a new post as Off topic.

[KevinDAmery]

Spoil sport...

[Richard Ferrell]

Why yes I am!! And what are you going to do about it??

[LTinker68]

You know, going off on a tangent on a thread isn't nearly as much fun when the tangent becomes its own thread.

[Andrew]

Yeah, it makes the conversation suddenly on-topic...and then it just feels like work.

[KevinDAmery]

Why yes I am!! And what are you going to do about it??

Take my browser and go home, that's what

[SteveS]

Hey Flare users!!


Do you have a Flare WebHelp site that is publicly viewable? Do you want to show off your Skills to your fellow Flare users? Is your WebHelp Site the Envy of your Fellow Techwriters? Show us!

Here is our website.
http://kb.madcapsoftware.com/

[SteveS]

There.

On topic again.

Now we can be happy running off topic

...its a space time continuum thing....

[KevinDAmery]

Ok, cool. So who wants to start an argument about serial comma usage?

[RamonS]

I rather discuss about the need of a comma before "and" or "or". Or about the pointless act of putting two spaces after a period in printed matter. Or the utter nonsense called "APA Format".

[KevinDAmery]

I rather discuss about the need of a comma before "and" or "or".

Yep, that's the one. Dave and other UK users may know it as "the Oxford comma."

Or about the pointless act of putting two spaces after a period in printed matter.

I saw a marketing spiel from Adobe waaayyyy back in the day telling people that they didn't need to do this anymore if they got proportional fonts. The tag line was "If you're old enough to have been taught to do this, you're old enough to know better."

Or the utter nonsense called "APA Format".

Haven't had to deal with it since university, which was... well, let's not worry about how long ago that was...

[LTinker68]

I rather discuss about the need of a comma before "and" or "or".

Yep, that's the one. Dave and other UK users may know it as "the Oxford comma."

Is that the same thing as whether or not to put a comma before the last item in a non-bulleted list when there's an "and" before the last item (e.g., "I hate tomatoes, brussel sprouts, and sauerkraut." versus "I hate tomatoes, brussel sprouts and sauerkraut.")

[SteveS]

Is that the same thing as whether or not to put a comma before the last item in a non-bulleted list when there's an "and" before the last item (e.g., "I hate tomatoes, brussel sprouts, and sauerkraut." versus "I hate tomatoes, brussel sprouts and sauerkraut.")

Anyone who eats a brussel sprouts and sauerkraut dish has more things to worry about than where to place a comma!

[RamonS]

<complain>I prefer the version without the comma, because from all languages that I know only US English tends to add that comma. Why add a comma when there is the "and" or "or"? Following grammar books and style guides both ways are correct (which makes it even more bizarre). That comma also has a special name in linguistics, but I forgot that one. English is so anti-commata to begin with, but in those cases one has to squeezed in where it clearly is not needed? I don't get that although I often add it in to keep the whiners quiet.
And why the heck is it "Niagra Falls" when it is spelled "Niagara Falls". Or Sioux is pronounced the same as Sue. Geez, can't we use a phonetic language that takes the guesswork out of every word? And why is pretty much everything spelled lowercase except for "I"? What egocentric tendencies are that? Oh, and why does the I, the l, and the 1 look exactly the same when people write them?
And why the heck is there no ° on a US kezboard lazout?</complain>

[Andrew]

<complain>I prefer the version without the comma, because from all languages that I know only US English tends to add that comma. Why add a comma when there is the "and" or "or"? Following grammar books and style guides both ways are correct (which makes it even more bizarre). That comma also has a special name in linguistics, but I forgot that one. English is so anti-commata to begin with, but in those cases one has to squeezed in where it clearly is not needed? I don't get that although I often add it in to keep the whiners quiet.
And why the heck is it "Niagra Falls" when it is spelled "Niagara Falls". Or Sioux is pronounced the same as Sue. Geez, can't we use a phonetic language that takes the guesswork out of every word? And why is pretty much everything spelled lowercase except for "I"? What egocentric tendencies are that? Oh, and why does the I, the l, and the 1 look exactly the same when people write them?
And why the heck is there no ° on a US kezboard lazout?</complain>

As SteveS pointed out, the "extra" comma can increase clarity in some situations. For that reason, I prefer to use it, and for that reason, our style guides require it.