Bill Franke

18,892 reputation

1834

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I'm a contentious, confrontational old coot with strong opinions about (American) English usage: They're all my own and I don't care whether you adopt them or disagree with them, but if the latter, I'd like reasons and references -- I sometimes change my mind. Taught writing & ESL at two universities in the US (11 years) and writing & EFL at 10 universities & high schools in Japan (10 years) & Taiwan (16 years). Have an old MA in theoretical linguistics (I'm a lapsed amateur linguist). Technical writer & biomedical editor for the past 16 years. Most usage questions are about style (aesthetics & personal preferences, both of which require subjective judgments), idiomaticity, & clarity, not about grammar. What's best is what works best in any given context. Ambiguity, lack of clarity, verbosity, & outlandishness are all bad. Good = "what I like"; bad = "what I don't like": in most cases & for most native speakers. No one has all the answers; no one's always right. English has a basic grammar that all but the addled have acquired: Grammar is trivial in most instances, unless it confuses the listener/reader. English has few hard & fast rules: The old ones were mostly wrong & silly; the new ones are mostly wrong & silly -- almost nobody follows the rules because there are no enforcers (language police), so why should they? Culture is primarily language-based; everyone makes judgments about the language that speakers and writers use and about how they use it; ergo, social commentary is sometimes necessary to explain the sociolinguistic value of some usages. If you don't like my commentary, ignore it -- you don't have to agree with me: don't try to silence me, or patronize me, and we'll get along even if we disagree. If I'm persuaded that I'm wrong, I'll admit it: we all make mistakes, so why shouldn't I? Words matter: How you say it is usually more important than what you say. My chief concern is formal written English: I edit technical articles every day. Native Anglophones will say anything. Why not? Human language is natural language. Programming languages are artificial & irrelevant to English usage. I don't use the chat room; I don't social network, but I'm guilty of long discussions -- I try not to be, but I think things should be open.

	18,892 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	1 year
1834 badges		location	Taiwan		seen	1 hour ago

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2h	comment	“Make easy” vs. “make it easy” @TrevorD: Same in the USA, but nice is just so faux-vanilla bland that it's beyond the pale of simple cliché: it's mummified when it's not necrotic.
3h	comment	“Make easy” vs. “make it easy” @TrevorD: That's less tepid. I'd say "tasty & inexpensive". Those are my two top criteria.
3h	answered	“Make easy” vs. “make it easy”
3h	revised	“Make easy” vs. “make it easy” Deleted forbidden TIA & pointless repetition of user name
5h	answered	A pejorative term for “unreasonably gregarious”
5h	revised	A pejorative term for “unreasonably gregarious” deleted incorrect hyphen after adverb of manner in title
6h	comment	A summer house, a cottage or a cabin? If what Americans call them isn't relevant, then you shouldn't have mentioned it in your question. After all, what you're looking for is how BrE speakers refer to the entities you're asking about.
8h	comment	A summer house, a cottage or a cabin? Your notion of what American English words are used for a rural vacation home comes from what sources? People who have "cabins" call them cabins, but that's rare. They would be more likely to say "my country house". A "camp" is something entirely different from a rural vacation home. Why summer home or cottage? Do you think that people in the UK don't go their country houses in the winter?
8h	comment	Avoiding Ambiguous in combining “Really” and “Always” This is not a real question. What are you asking? You have to provide an example sentence at the very least. Nobody can read your mind.
11h	comment	Is there any word for people who are strongly against artificial intelligence? @user867: I don't know such a term, but you may be right about that. I think the complaint about technophobe is somewhat of a cavil rather than a legitimate complaint.
11h	comment	Is there any word for people who are strongly against artificial intelligence? @user867: My comment isn't ironic. The link I gave to technophobia specifically says "fear of technology, especially computers". The only other option is to coin a word like "hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, which is fear of long words](en.wiktionary.org/wiki/…;, eg: artificialisintelligensophobe. I'm sure that guys like this have other technophobia problems.
12h	comment	Is there any word for people who are strongly against artificial intelligence? The irony of that philosophical position, of course, is that even animals create & use technology -- very primitive, but technology nonetheless: some birds use rocks to break open shellfish, chimps use thin sticks to "fish" for termites, etc.
12h	comment	Is there any word for people who are strongly against artificial intelligence? -1 for asking the same question twice. This one has already been answered very well by Carl Smith in your previous question. Technophobe and Luddite are the right words. Which word you choose to use depends on the reasons advanced for the opposition. In this case, I'd choose technophobe. This feeling is typical of many ideological zealots who unquestioningly believe that the only way to live in the world is the way primitive humans did at the dawn of humanity.
12h	comment	Is it correct to use the term paranoia when expressing overrated reaction due to fear of something? @Mohit: It contradicts Carl's answer. The first sentence is incorrect. Carl does not agree with this. Nor do I. Paranoia is a psychiatric disorder on a par with bipolar, schizophrenia, & agoraphobia. It's rather insulting to call someone insane for being irrationally fearful of something that they don't understand. If that were true, most of the world would be certifiably "mad" (OK, most of the world is certifiably "mad", I agree, but that's a different issue). Technophobe is the correct choice here, IMHO.
12h	reviewed	Approve suggested edit on Is it correct to use the term paranoia when expressing overrated reaction due to fear of something?
15h	answered	Polemic/controversial in noun form
1d	comment	Pluralizing shortened words @mplungjan: Proper nouns are names, like "Bill", "Rita", "Sally", & "Barack". And Makin Island, & the Division of Makin. Common nouns are the names of things, like "tire", "wheelbarrow", "hose", & "nose". Makin is also an unincorporated community in the US state of Indiana. You won't find many instances of "makin's of". It's strictly dialogue. People will say it, but not many will write it, I'm sure.
1d	answered	Pluralizing shortened words
1d	answered	Singular or plural usage for ellipsis in direct object
1d	comment	“Ten times fewer the number,” versus “one-tenth the number”? @TrevorD: Etymonline says this (& more) about left-handedness: "sinister (adj.) early 15c., 'prompted by malice or ill-will,' from Old French sinistre 'contrary, unfavorable, to the left,' from Latin sinister 'left, on the left side' (opposite of dexter), perhaps from root sen- and meaning properly "the slower or weaker hand" [Tucker], but Buck suggests it's a euphemism (see left (adj.)), connected with the root of Sanskrit saniyan* 'more useful, more advantageous.'"