Klarinet Archive - Posting 000105.txt from 1999/05

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] discussions/not rips
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 23:13:19 -0400

Jacque wrote,
>>[snip] ...we all have our individual knowledge and should be free to share
when someone posts a ??........if someone doesnt want a particular answer
then get off the list or dont post.......so what if punctuation gets left out
of messages....or someone abbreviates...as long as its still readable and the
meaning is still there.....there are many ways to send and email......if you
dont like the subject of a particular section dont read it...move on......hit
the trusty little delete key......[snip] >>

I agree with much of what you said. I'd rather see this list include people
with a variety of clarinet- related interests, rather than imperiously
declare what's hot and what's not. I also agree that the main idea is to
communicate. I'm a former English teacher, but this list isn't an English
class. We don't have to grade each other's grammar. Besides, English has
never been "pure". It's been a dynamic language from the beginning, patched
together from bits and pieces of several older languages. Shakespeare
spelled his own name several different ways, as someone humorously pointed
out a day or two ago, in that thread about Chadash. Now the Internet is
changing the language again, creating a new, alternative level of written
English diction that's as informal as telephone English, a much more informal
style than someone would use to write a term paper. I don't think this
process will cause civilization to crumble. I also think 'Netspeak is just
plain fun. For instance, I like your sign-off, "just my 2 sense (no i didnt
mean cents". It's creative while still communicating clearly what you want
to say.

That sign-off phrase includes a built-in explanation that anyone can
understand. I think it's also reasonable to figure that most people will
know the most common Internet conventions, such as "LOL". (People who don't
understand shouldn't be embarrassed to ask for a clarification.) But
sometimes 'Netspeak can get so thick with jargon and stylistic idiosyncracies
that the result is rudeness, if too many people end up left out because they
don't know the latest cool language. Thick jargon and anarchic disregard of
grammar cause special problems for our international list members whose
native language isn't English. I also think some people use 'Netspeak as a
type of "hipper-than-thou" one-upmanship. Sometimes the self-consciousness
of this style looks unintentionally funny, but often it's just unpleasant:
"Nyah, nyah, nyah, I know something you don't know. Nyah, nyah, I'm cooler
than you." I think it's a sign of maturity and respect for readers to write
as clearly as possible. IMHO, the safest way to make sure a message really
communicates is to write in something pretty close to standard English, even
if it's informal.

When informal or incorrect grammar and spelling get in the way of
understanding, then I think it's reasonable for people to ask what someone
means. Sometimes correcting the spelling is just the opposite of rude. For
instance, today someone described trying to find music by a particular
composer, but misspelled the composer's name. IMHO, it was completely
appropriate for someone to point out that this person will have better luck
searching with the correct spelling. Also, I enjoy it when someone calls
attention to a mistake that reads as a good (though accidental) joke. But
seriously criticizing obvious typos in casual writing does strike me as
unnecessarily crabby.

Especially when the typos are mine! ;-)

Lelia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"'Then you should say what you mean,' the March Hare went on.
"'I do,' Alice hastily replied; 'at least--at least I mean what I say--that's
the same thing, you know.'
"'Not the same thing a bit!' said the Hatter."
--Lewis Carroll, _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_, Ch. 7.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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