[SOC] OT: Spam for my new site...

[Randall Jouett]

Howdy Claude,

> FLAME ON! :^)
> >>
>
> May I use it too ??...

Sure! Actually, "FLAME ON!" is an old statement, used for many, many
years on the Usenet. :^)

> <<
> The comma goes inside of the quotation mark at the end of this sentence, Sir.
> >>
>
> Qu'est-ce qu'il dit ??... La virgule dans les guillements ?.... Sur quelque
> plan�te ?
> Randall, I need some explanation here : why should the quotation include the
> comma ?

Good question, Claude! :^). Unfortunately, the explanation is a bit long, though!

Here is an example sentence:

"This is a complete sentence, Claude, and this is also a complete sentence."

A complete sentence has a noun/subject and a verb. Complete sentences are
sentences that stand on their own, and they don't require further explanation from
the writer. When two complete sentences are connected to each other, they are
connected together by something we call a "conjunction," and the complete sentences
then become known as "indenpendant clauses." As an example, the "and" after your
name in the example sentence is  known as a conjuntion.


Two complete thoughts/sentences can also be joined together by using a
semi-colon. Here's another example sentence:

My name is Randall Jouett; I live in Louisiana.

"My name is Randall" is a complete thought/sentence, and it does not
depend on the the rest of the sentence (I live in Louisiana) to be a complete
thought. You could have also written the 2nd example sentence like this:


My name is Randall Jouett. I live in Louisiana.

Note that I didn't use a conjunction.


Here's another example:

My name is Randall, and I live in Louisiana.


In this example, I used a conjunction to connect both independant
clauses, forming a new complete sentence made out of two independant
clauses. Once I used the conjunction, the new, complete thought/sentence
is:

My name is Randall, and I live in Louisiana.


Independant clauses can also be joined by conjuntive adverbs.
Yet another example sentence:


I love amateur radio; however, I get a bit of aggravation when reading
e-mail reflectors, especially when people start flaming each other
over grammatical errors.


In this example, the conjunctive adverb "however" is used to join
the two clauses. When using a conjunctive adverb, it is always preceeded
by a semi-colon and followed by a comma. Here's another conjuntive
adverb used to join two independant clauses:


Sometimes I really hate waking up in the morning and going to work;
nevertheless, we all have to work and make a living to provide for
ourselves and our families.

A dependant clause "depends" on the rest of the sentence, and
it becomes a complete thought only when it's connected to rest of
a sentence by a comma. Here's an example:

Once upon a time, there was a TOTAL lid who went by the
name of Randall. His callsign was AB5NI. :^)


"Once upon a time" is something known as an "introductory clause,"
and it isn't a complete thought. BTW, all "dependant clauses" are
incomplete sentences.  Also, dependant clauses have to be joined
to dependant clauses by a comma.


Anywho, to make this lesson short, I'll just say that Lloyd had
a dependant clause (a non-complete thought) tagged onto the
end of his sentence, and, in American English, you put all punctuation
inside of quotation marks. The really, really interesting thing
here is that the UK and other English speaking countries don't
demand this in their grammar! :^). Go figure! :^). Hmmm. Maybe
Lloyd was using Oz or UK grammar, an I just jumped the gun or
something? :^)


> For the most I would have written it without comma at all before and after the
> quotes :


In the UK and Oz, this is totally acceptable! Not really sure about
Kiwi land, though. (Shrug.) As far as American English goes, though,
this is not acceptable under the current MLA style.


> <<
> (..) little apostrophes when making a word possessive, as
>  in "I think the site's background sucked" but when (..)
> >>
>
> But that is French grammar, not English one !
>
> <<
> Also, you used two punctuation marks at the end of this sentence.
> >>
>
> Oui. Bien vu !
>
> <<
>  This is NOT an English classroom!
> >>
>
> Ah pardon ! This is a SOC classroom, which includes all kind of classrooms, even
> the English one.


True! OTOH, a LOT of people here ASKED you to teach us
French and correct our grammar. I might have missed something,
but I don't remember reading anything about American grammar
and it's rules being wanted or needed on this reflector. If you follow
the context and events at hand, Rob asked for the critique of his web
page, fully expecting that someone might give an opinion that they
didn't particularly like this thing or that. Ian responded with his
heart-felt opinion, telling Rob what he really thought about his
page. OTOH, Ian didn't ask for grammatical corections of his English,
and I felt that my good friend Ian was being attacked unnecessarily.
OTOH, Lloyd felt that Ian was being a bit curt with Rob, and he
defended his friend, too! LOL! :^). Overall, I guess we should say
that there are at least some good friends here! :^)

> Maybe you intend to "escape" some study hours ... I will send a note to your
> parents and hope to get it checked and signed for tomorrow.
> Do you mean that when I am sending some corrections about the way some of you
> are speaking/writing French, I am boring you ?...  Snif, snif ...

No! Never! I asked you if you'd help me with my French. I would be
seriously stupid to flame you for writing in French or for corecting
my grammar! :^)

> ==
>
> Guys, Friends, mes Amis ... "Peace and Love" (but w/o smoke ...).

Well, sometimes a little smoke/heat makes things a bit more interesting.
For instance, notice the messages that have been posted on this particular
subject! LOL! :^)

> Ian, before going to bed, asked us to drink/eat/dinner/have fun with him in
> spirit. Let's be good boys and obey  ;o)

I agree! Ian, pass the Coke, hand me a napkin, and where in the
hell is the Loo? :^)

72/73!

Randall
AB5NI