Dangling Challenge by amiguriken

[amiguriken]

Title: Grammar Rules Apply

Author: amiguriken

Rating: G

Category: Gen

Summary: Kavanaugh is offended.

Notes: The ending feels cut off to me. daughtershade said it was fine, so I'm posting the sucker anyway (but am willing to entertain any recommendations for improvement).

Comments

[eretria]

Blimey! I feel the need to hug Kavanagh. Finally someone adresses this subject.
Oh dear. Can you imagine Kavanagh going over one of Rodney's texts, though? They'd be on each other's throats in no time.

[fenris_wolf0]

Hee, true

[eretria]

Oh, heaven forbid, I wasn't implying that Rodney's sentences would be incorrect. It was referring more to a British spelling vs. American spelling debate.

However, I'd be careful with judging common mistakes as a simple case of the writer being not literate enough to know better. Even if you usually know how to spell a word, you sometimes hit a spot where it'll come out wrong (be it because of fatigue or a simple glitch in a usually well-oiled machinery), despite knowing exactly, upon a second reading, that it's wrong. It happens especially to those of us who know the grammar / spelling rules but don't list English as their native language. Happens in the native language as well, though. But that's where the beta-reader comes in, isn't it?

[fenris_wolf0]

Oh I did not assume you meant anything of the sort, I was just reacting to the story and your reply without thinking, because I am also a spelling/punctuation nazi. Not that I am not capable of making lots of typos myself, but the frequency of such things in some stories really ticks me off.

And isn't the British spelling the correct one anyway? Tee hee. :D

At any rate, it's the one I learned (because I am not a native speaker of English either). You wouldn't believe how silly I looked the first time I spelled out an equation with a z variable in my first stay in the US and had my classmates say:

"Zed? What is that?"

"Er. Z, the letter, the last one in the alphabet, you know?"

"Oh, you mean zee?"

"What? Zee? What is zee? I mean the letter z... "

This went on for several minutes until somebody told me straight out that the letter z was pronounced 'zee' in the US. I am afraid I looked at the rest of the class as if they were mentally retarded or making it up on the spot just to confuse me. :P

Is it any surprise we

[amiguriken]

I bet his handwriting's atrocious either way. :D

[fenris_wolf0]

Hee. I think you are right... but don't we see a sample of it in 'Hot Zone' on the big says that says 'Don't Touch'?

:)

[fenris_wolf0]

Sorry: 'on the big sign that says'

Sheesh! I told you I make lots if typos, right? :)

*now back to your regular programming*

So not taking over the whole thread!

[amiguriken]

Ah, yes, but he would have taken time to write that so that people would be able to read it. :D And print is usually more legible than cursive.

[amiguriken]

*snicker* :D Glad you liked.
I never could decide whether Rodney would have bad grammar (mostly because he always rushes and wouldn't care - "that's what grad assistants are for") or would be even more of a stickler than I made Kavanaugh. But, as fenris_wolf0 pointed out below, I can definitely see them trying to strangle one another over those tricky little matters of personal preference. :D

[amiguriken]

Actually, not below, above. Sheesh. :D