[greencomputer]

For me this a good thread to correct all my silly mistakes that I keep on doing while writing..Thanks a lot..

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Ok, what's the proper use for which, what, in, on and at?

Examples:
I live on/in/at #123 Abc St.
My birthday is in/on/at January...
That depends on what/which computer you have...
I want to talk with/to you...

I live at #123 Abc St. If you aren't saying the exact address and just the street: I live on Abc Street
My birthday is in January.
Your third sentence could be changed to "That depends on what type of computer"
I want to speak with you. I need to speak to you.

[MatrixEquilibrium]

Ok, what's the proper use for which, what, in, on and at?

Examples:
I live on/in/at #123 Abc St.
My birthday is in/on/at January...
That depends on what/which computer you have...
I want to talk with/to you...

I live at #123 Abc St. If you aren't saying the exact address and just the street: I live on Abc Street
My birthday is in January.
Your third sentence could be changed to "That depends on what type of computer"
I want to speak with you. I need to speak to you.

[MatrixEquilibrium]

I'm glad that this thread exists, it really bothers me when people misspell words and use lopsided grammar.

It's even funnier when a person tries to save their reputation by saying, "I love spelling and grammer".

Grammar! Get it right!

Edit:
Find a mistake in the following sentence:

The group of boy geniuses created a fool-proof scheme to overthrow the monkey kingdom.

Edited by MatrixEquilibrium, 19 July 2008 - 04:37 PM.

[Ltangelic]

Find a mistake in the following sentence:

The group of boy geniuses created a fool-proof scheme to overthrow the monkey kingdom.

Rawr!

It should have been:

The group of boy geniuses had created a fool-proof scheme to overthrow the monkey kingdom.



LT

Edited by Ltangelic, 19 July 2008 - 11:13 PM.

[TheQuickBrownFox]

The group of genius boys created....

edit:typo

Edited by ditrackster, 20 July 2008 - 06:05 AM.

[Tal]

I think LT got it right.

[MatrixEquilibrium]

Find a mistake in the following sentence:

The group of boy geniuses created a fool-proof scheme to overthrow the monkey kingdom.

Rawr!

It should have been:

The group of boy geniuses had created a fool-proof scheme to overthrow the monkey kingdom.



LT

"Had" is not required there.

There's a dispute on one of the words in the statement.

The group of genius boys created....

You're using genius as an adjective here, I used it as a noun.

[MatrixEquilibrium]

By the way, LT, what you said was not incorrect; however, I could also put "have" instead of "had". Neither are required, but both would be grammatically correct.

[Oblomov]

The often seen, in super-markets, '10 items or less' or 'Fewer than ten items'. But, which is correct?

[Oblomov]

For the ongoing debate:

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
Cool A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
1Cool After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

[Oblomov]

Or the play on words, sorry about the pun.

I saw this bloke chatting up a cheetah, I thought
"he's trying to pull a fast one".

So I said to this train driver "I want to go to Paris". He said "Eurostar?".
I said "I've been on telly but I'm no Dean Martin".

So I said to the Gym instructor "Can you teach me to
do the > splits?".
He said "How flexible are you?". I said "I can't make
Tuesdays".

But I'll tell you what I love doing more than anything: trying to pack
myself in a small suitcase. I can hardly contain myself.

Now you know those trick candles that you blow out and a couple of seconds
later they come alight again, well the other day there was a fire at the factory that makes them.

So I met this gangster who pulls up the back of
people's pants, it was Weggie Kray.

So I said "Do you want a game of Darts?", he said
"OK then", I said "Nearest to bull starts". He said "Baa", I said "Moo", he
said "You're closest".

You see I'm against hunting, in fact I'm a hunt
saboteur. I go out the night before and shoot the fox.

The other day I sent my girlfriend a huge pile of
snow. I rang her up, I said "Do you get my drift?".

So I went down the local supermarket, I said "I want to make a complaint,
this vinegar's got lumps in it", he said "Those are pickled onions".

So I went to the Chinese restaurant and this duck came up to me with a red
rose and says "Your eyes sparkle like diamonds".
I said "Waiter, I asked for aromatic duck".

But I'm in great mood tonight because the other day
I entered a competition and I won a years supply of Marmite... One jar.

Did you know if a stick insect laid it's eggs in a
jar of Bovril it will give birth to a litter of twiglets.

So this bloke says to me, "Can I come in your house
and talk about your carpets?".
I thought "That's all I need, a Je-hoover's witness".

You see my next door neighbour worships exhaust
pipes, he's a catholic converter.

So I rang up British Telecom, I said "I want to
report a nuisance caller", he said "Not you again".

So I was having dinner with Garry Kasporov and there
was a check tablecloth.
It took him two hours to pass me the salt. He said
"You remind me of a pepper-pot", I said "I'll take that as a condiment".

Now did you know all male tennis players are
witches, for example Goran, even he's a witch.

And I've got a friend who's fallen in love with two
school bags, he's bisatchel.

So I was in Tesco's and I saw this man and woman
wrapped in a barcode. I
said "Are you two an item?".

So a lorry-load of tortoises crashed into a
train-load of terrapins, I
thought "That's a turtle disaster".

[Oblomov]

Tortured English

-- Those who jump off a bridge in Paris are in Seine.
-- A backward poet writes inverse.
-- A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.
-- Dijon vu - the same mustard as before.
-- Practice safe eating - always use condiments.
-- Shotgun wedding: A case of wife or death.
-- A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy.
-- A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
-- Dancing cheek-to-cheek is really a form of floor play.
-- Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
-- Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.
-- Reading while sunbathing makes you well red.
-- When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.
-- A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two tired.
-- What's the definition of a will? - It's a dead give away.
-- Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
-- In democracy your vote counts. In feudalism you count votes.
-- She was engaged to a boyfriend with a wooden leg but broke it off.
-- A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
-- If you don't pay your exorcist, you get repossessed.
-- With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.
-- When a clock is hungry, it goes back four seconds.
-- You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
-- Local Area Network in Australia: the LAN down under.
-- He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
-- Every calendar's days are numbered.
-- A lot of money is tainted - It taint yours and it taint mine.
-- A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
-- He had a photographic memory that was never developed.
-- A plateau is a high form of flattery.
-- A midget fortune-teller who escapes from prison is a small medium at large.
-- Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
-- Once you've seen one shopping centre, you've seen a mall.
-- Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead-to-know basis.
-- Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
-- Acupuncture is a jab well done.

[sari]

The often seen, in super-markets, '10 items or less' or 'Fewer than ten items'. But, which is correct?

The second one. Less is a comparative term, not a term that can be applied to specific numbers. The first would be correct if it read "10 items or fewer". Or, it could read "My cart is less full than yours".

Another example: "I have less food than you do". "I have fewer pizzas than you". You wouldn't say "I have fewer food than you do", nor would you say "I have less pizzas than you".

[Oblomov]

The easy way to deal with fewer and less.... fewer refers to number of objects less mean a smaller amount

The care problem, fewer passenger, but less petrol ,, but you are going to say, petrol is measured in gallons... but it's a whole unit. Not separate objects.

[Oblomov]

1. Avoid alliteration. Always.

2. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

3. Employ the vernacular.

4. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.

5. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.

6. Remember to never split an infinitive.

7. Contractions aren't necessary.

8. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.

9. One should never generalize.

10. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."

11. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.

12. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.

13. Be more or less specific.

14. Understatement is always best.

15. One-word sentences? Eliminate.

16. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.

17. The passive voice is to be avoided.

18. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.

19. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.

20. Who needs rhetorical questions?

21. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

22. Don't never use a double negation.

23. capitalize every sentence and remember always end it with point

24. Do not put statements in the negative form.

25. Verbs have to agree with their subjects.

26. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.

27. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.

28. A writer must not shift your point of view.

29. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)

30. Don't overuse exclamation marks!!

31. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to the irantecedents.

32. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.

33. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.

34. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.

35. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.

36. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.

37. Always pick on the correct idiom.

38. The adverb always follows the verb.

39. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; They're old hat; seek viable alternatives.