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I'm sorry, can't refrain from correcting you. It's Gandhi not Ghandi. And I see this mistake very prevalent.
by sankara 14y ago
I'm sorry, can't refrain from correcting you. It's Gandhi not Ghandi. And I see this mistake very prevalent.
- unimpressive 14y ago> And I see this mistake very prevalent. Oh the irony.
- Monkeyget 14y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphrys_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphrys_law
- ctdonath 14y agoMurphy was misquoted.
- superchink 14y agoFrom the linked article on wikipedia: “Not to be confused with Murphy's law.” Muphry's Law is something different (yet related).
- thinkingisfun 14y agoNo need to apologize, thanks actually. I wish people would correct grammar more often, certainly mine, and doubly so when it comes to names.. why get used to writing stuff wrong, when I can get used to writing them right :)
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- nl 14y agowhy get used to writing stuff wrong, when I can get used to writing them right In that case.... "wrong" and "right" are adjectives, while "writing" is a verb which you are using the words "wrong" and "right" to modify. However, adjectives should only be used to modify nouns and pronouns, not verbs. In this case you should use an adverb: why get used to writing stuff incorrectly, when I can get used to writing them correctly If you prefer, you can use "writing" as a noun and continue to use "right" and "wrong": why get used to the wrong way of writing when I can get used to the right way I hate people who correct grammar on the internet, but you did make the mistake of asking. Sorry.
- thinkingisfun 14y agoWhy, I thank you! But I will also have you know that "Sorry." is a sentence fragment. When correcting others, you should always try to correct them rightly, not wrongly, even if it may sound odd sometimes. (tee-hee :)
- eavc 14y agoIn case you intended to take that advice to heart, you can use 'right' and 'wrong' as adverbs in all but the most formal contexts, and possibly even then too. They're called 'flat adverbs,' and there's a great video post from MW that you can find if you Google the term.
- eavc 14y agoThose are flat adverbs, actually. :p
- SoftwareMaven 14y agoI wish people would correct grammar more often Please, no. I avoid taking part in grammar threads, but a plea for more has drawn me out. There are few things that derail conversations more than pedantic quibbling about "do" or "make". Take a look at this subthread: a bunch of people who feel better about how they've shown themselves able to one-up others but zero interesting discussion. </rant> My biggest feature request for HN: private comments. Let me reply to a poster privately. Then if I see somebody who looks like a non-English speaker who has made a mistake or somebody who has misspelled a name, I can correct them without causing this kind of useless thread. Not to mention private conversations (where you could say more than you are willing to say publicly) started around interesting comments could turn epic.
- thebigshane 14y agoPlease pursue your private comment idea further than this comment. I think it's a fantastic idea. Would you be able to (or know someone who could) make that change? http://ycombinator.com/arc/arc3.tar http://ycombinator.com/arc/arc3.tar
- thinkingisfun 14y agoWay to quote me out of context.. I specifically said I wish they'd correct me more often. I never mind, and wish people could flag themselves as language learners or forgetful ^^ That said, I still agree with your complaint. Marking a reply as off-topic (voluntarily, though of course admins should be able to override this), with each comment potentially having a sub-thread with off-topic replies, is something I'd like to see here, and have planned for my own CMS. Best of both worlds, and with unlimited nesting of that, you could even go off-off-topic, or off-off-off-topic.
- dasil003 14y agoThe mistake is prevalent. or You see this mistake frequently. I don't normally do these corrections, but I can't help myself in this case.