usenet after google

[D]

when downloading newsgroup headers from news servers which haven't yet
universally (*) purged retained articles containing "googlegroups.com"
in their path/message-id headers, googlegroups.com articles may appear
in the downloaded header list unless your newsreader client is already
set to filter them out (reference headers may include googlegroups.com
so be sure to filter those as well); also, when responding to articles
in threads which may contain googlegroups.com in the reference headers,
simply delete the googlegroups.com article reference from such replies
and snip all or most of the quoted text attributed to googlegroups.com

[Tim+]

Anyone remember the days when people knew how to capitalise words,
punctuate and make sentences?

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

[charles]

In article
<634404457.730228417.518144....@news.individual.net>,

Well, I got English Language at O-Level in 1955, so it was probably
sometime later.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England - sent from my RISC OS 4t้ฒ
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

[Pancho]

On 21/02/2024 17:45, charles wrote:

>> Anyone remember the days when people knew how to capitalise words,
>> punctuate and make sentences?
>
> Well, I got English Language at O-Level in 1955, so it was probably
> sometime later.
>

My education was in the 60s and 70s. I've never had a clue about
grammar, but I passed an English Language O-Level. So presumably it went
to crap before my time.

[Joe]

On 21 Feb 2024 17:14:38 GMT

Didn't e e cummings start the rot? A bit before my time.

--
Joe

[The Natural Philosopher]

He may have done, but its was Blair who made being an illiterate cunt
something to be proud of.

--
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere,
diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”
― Groucho Marx

[GB]

I'd have put an Oxford Comma in there, before the 'and', but I gather
that they are going out of fashion.

Yippee, as, that, leaves, more, for, me!

[GB]

Punctuation has always been a bit of a black art. :)

[Animal]

Check out Murray's English Grammar - he died in 1826. 'For the younger class of reader' it says, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone today that could answer a lot of its grammar questions. Or 50 years ago.

[Jeff Layman]

Rather a lot of discussion here:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma>

> Yippee, as, that, leaves, more, for, me!

+, 1.

I've always used it. Why do we use the "and" instead of (or with!) a
final comma? We could just use a list without the and: "Paint is
available in red, blue, green, yellow", rather than "Paint is available
in red, blue, green and yellow" (or "Paint is available in red, blue,
green, and yellow"). It looks and sounds odd because we are not used to
it. Did commas start being used to avoid multiple "ands" - "Paint is
available in red and blue and green and yellow"?

Anyone know if other languages use an "and" instead of or with the final
comma in a list? Or is the "and" not used at all?

--

Jeff

[Paul]

These are coming via Anonymous remailers and mail2news gateways. Handle accordingly!

http://al.howardknight.net/?STYPE=msgid&MSGI=%3Ca27a927694be2e40b96c7d98bd474c63%40dizum.com%3E

http://al.howardknight.net/?STYPE=msgid&MSGI=%3C19d025883b4a53a806dc584e75bc0a1a%40dizum.com%3E

Try to use a News Client that displays the header, to help you identify
flora and fauna.

Paul

[Tim+]

Without an “and” to indicate the end of a list it leaves you hanging
waiting for the end. Using an “and” makes it clear. Even if this is just
because that’s what we’re accustomed to doing away with it would remove a
useful bit of information.

[Andy Burns]

Paul wrote:

> Try to use a News Client that displays the header, to help you identify
> flora and fauna.

At least I understand that "Marco Moock" is trying to spread awareness
across various groups, it's less obvious what "D" is trying to achieve

[Tim Lamb]

In message
<179401444.730292948.856659....@news.individual.n
et>, Tim+ <timdo...@yahoo.co.youkay> writes

My County grammar school tried hard to indoctrinate me in correct
grammar. I lasted 12 months in the Latin class before they decided I was
not going to Oxford or Cambridge:-)

I was an early reader and seem to have found unwritten rules without
actual understanding. The list final *and* seems important to me so I'll
carry on even if you decide to have it changed:-)

--
Tim Lamb

[AnthonyL]

On Thu, 22 Feb 2024 08:58:51 +0000, Jeff Layman <Je...@invalid.invalid>
wrote:

That is my vague recollection; the comma becomes shorthand for "and"
with the last "and" terminating the list.

Maybe it became more useful in the days of early radio communication
or morse code.

Apart from the decline of use in the Oxford Comma there seems to be an
increased use of unnecessary and random commas in many posts and
articles I come across.

eg:

Apart from the decline of use in the Oxford Comma, there seems to be
an increased use of unnecessary, and random, commas in many posts and
articles, I come across.


--
AnthonyL

Why ever wait to finish a job before starting the next?

[Jeff Layman]

I'll buy that. I guess that, just for confirmation, we would use "red,
blue, green, yellow, etc", with the "et" of "et cetera" being the Latin
for "and" - ("and the rest").

It seems that the Oxford Style Guide
(<https://www.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxford/media_wysiwyg/University%20of%20Oxford%20Style%20Guide.pdf>)
now states that the "Oxford comma" should not be used. See near bottom
of LH column on page 13 of the OSG.

--

Jeff

[Tim Streater]

On 22 Feb 2024 at 12:39:06 GMT, "AnthonyL" <AnthonyL> wrote:

> eg:
>
> Apart from the decline of use in the Oxford Comma, there seems to be
> an increased use of unnecessary, and random, commas in many posts and
> articles, I come across.

I'd say you don't need the final one. As for those around "and random", that
is a weak form of parentheses. More or less equivalent to:

... there seems to be an increased use of unnecessary (and random) commas in
many posts and articles ...

There also seems to be an increased use of unnecessary, and random,
apo'strophe's in many po'sts and article's I come acro's's.

Those folks need to learn that it's is short for "it is/has", and who's is
short for "who is/has", and that this is ALWAYS true.

--
"That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted" -- Bill of Rights 1689