Out of Respect for Kevin and Forum Members

cigrmaster · May 13, 2013

There is a rule somewhere on the site that asks members to use caps,and proper spelling which makes it easier for members to read the posts. Also using paragraphs makes things easier to read, seeing a 400 word post with no paragraphs makes it more difficult to read. I am no English major and my sentence structure probably is not the best, but I do take the time to spell check, use caps when appropriate and use paragraphs when applicable. Kevin likes the place looking professional and neat and I for one agree with him. It only takes a few seconds to make sure your posts are properly formatted and legible. I think out of respect to Kevin and the other members here we should all make a conscience effort to take the time to make our posts look proper.

drwatson · May 13, 2013

To some point I agree. However, sometimes it feels alittle school-ish. I personally don't like all the abbreviations! TAD,PAD,C&D....I hate looking all those up.
However I try to comply, cause I like to play nice

brewshooter · May 13, 2013

str8 kickin' YO!!!

drwatson · May 13, 2013

TRU DAT!

cortezattic · May 13, 2013

Where is Simon The Grammarian, (aka Classicgeek) when you need him?

mso489 · May 13, 2013

Most people have at least a glimmer of resentment about writing rules they learned in school. The sad thing is, the purpose of all that wasn't to tyrannize children

(as some of the less kindly teachers clearly thought it was) but to provide the guidelines of standard English so we can be intelligible to one another. I like

to put creativity in high gear, sometimes, and see what I can make the language do when I don't follow all these rules. But I only hope readers will

understand me when I take that liberty. Actually, it is even more difficult to write so as to be understood when you abandon the rules -- infinitely harder.

James Joyce, one of Irelands eternal novelists, wrote a novel, Finnegan's Wake, which is an incredible exercise in stretching the language to its limits, not

at book length but in every paragraph and sentence. It's all word play, images, convoluted ideas, and word music detached from meaning. Few can read

it in more than brief stretches. None of us are James Joyce, and if he couldn't make himself understood in that style, neither can we. I sometimes wonder

if it was his Irish revenge against the English and their language.

tjameson · May 13, 2013

Harris, capitalize your title, number 9, number 9, number 9 lol just messing!

cigrmaster · May 13, 2013

tjameson, you are right, I forgot the F and M. I never said I was perfect, but I do make an effort. If you knew how much time I spend spell checking you would be amazed. I used to be a really good speller but the older I get the worse my spelling is. I used to be able to see the words and figure out how to spell them, but now I really have to rely on the spell checker. My brain is turning to mush I think. lol

drwatson · May 13, 2013

So in titles we are supposed to have every word capitalized?

oklansas · May 13, 2013

Newspapers - AP style - have three main types of headlines (the ultimate titles):
1) Upcase - First word of every word cap, ex. "Look, Up In The Sky!" (however, many newspapers would say its not necessary to cap 'in' and 'the' in that example)
2) First letter - Cap first word of headline, ex. "Look, up in the sky!"
3) All caps - Every letter is cap, ex. "LOOK, UP IN THE SKY!"
However, AP style is hardly the definative, as Chicago/Turabian reigns in most academia, MLA reigns in English and high schools, and APA is supreme in science writting (there are exceptions to be sure, but that is typically the case)

lumberjakpipester · May 13, 2013

To some point I agree. However, sometimes it feels alittle school-ish. I personally don't like all the abbreviations! TAD,PAD,C&D....I hate looking all those up.
However I try to comply, cause I like to play nice

I usually bow to public pressure rather than argue as well, but to be honest, I feel that strict linguistic rules only restricts the mind by dictating exactly how one should express himself. For example, I speak French and Spanish(not perfectly yet) as well as English, and with a few friends, we started expressing ourselves in all three languages at once. We always use the most appropriate word for the idea we are expressing, no matter the language, and it has improved our communication tremendously. It may not follow the "rules" but it works. Not to mention that many people(present company excluded), are too weak to argue the subject at hand, and choose to use semantics and grammatical nonsense to reduce the debate to a mockery. I understand that the rules here are not for that at all, and I can appreciate the effort to make this forum accommodating to everyone, but I can't help but cringe every time someone waves grammar around.

igloo · May 13, 2013

I suck at the written English language and my handwriting has declined to something akin to shorthand only messier .There are several members here that type all Cap's so they can see it . Everyone does their best .

pstlpkr · May 13, 2013

I was weened on the APA style of title capitalization.

The way I think about capitalization is a follows:
* If a word is 4 letters long or longer it is to be capitalized.

* Words such as "and, for, and nor" are not to be capitalized.

* If the word is verb, noun, or pronoun it is to be capitalized.

* The first and last words are always to be capitalized no matter how many letters they contain.

* If a word is important to the meaning of the title it is to be capitalized.

* And all Hyphenated words are to be capitalized e.g. What-So-Ever (I know not a great example.)

* If emphasis is desired. Words like "WOW!" can be all caps but the entire title cannot be all caps. (It's considered shouting and therefore rude and inconsiderate of those reading it.)

drwatson · May 13, 2013

I can't help but cringe every time someone waves grammar around

AMEN! I am always trying to correct my sons to speak the queens english. And can't stand the urban lingo that seems to be taking over.

jndyer · May 13, 2013

Nice reminder.

lumberjakpipester · May 13, 2013

AMEM! I am always trying to correct my sons to speak the queens english. And can't stand the urban lingo that seems to be taking over.

In my opinion, urban lingo is a whole other ball game, it is used out of laziness, certainly not to enrich or accelerate human interaction. It just makes me sad.

peckinpahhombre · May 13, 2013

THANKS EVERYONE, I REALLY APPRECIATE THIS WONDERFUL THREAD.

mso489 · May 13, 2013

... and I should have said, "...none of us is James Joyce," but you guessed what I meant anyway.

tjameson · May 13, 2013

Peck that is how my Dad wrote, Caps lock was always on haha

bentmike · May 13, 2013

Great thread Harris thanks for bringing this up! I love writing and reading and have run an active blog of my own for three years now. My blog is mainly about my other interests; bikes, ham radio and other stuff. When I joined this forum I decided to post my pipe related stuff here as opposed over at my personal website. I just figured you all would appreciate my pipe related musings much more than my regular readers who are cyclists for the most part. I'm not perfect and the run on sentence is my arch-nemesis but when I post a thread I try to make as close to proper english as I can.
On the whole PM forum members do a great job following the rules and protocols and it makes the forum a wonderful place to spend time reading as well as contributing. Keep up the good work everyone!
The link to my blog is on my profile page if interested.

Out of Respect for Kevin and Forum Members

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