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From: ken@ihuxq.UUCP (ken perlow)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: Chris's Major Conniption and Ross's ad hominem
Message-ID: <1281@ihuxq.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 16-Oct-84 20:11:48 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihuxq.1281
Posted: Tue Oct 16 20:11:48 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 17-Oct-84 06:39:18 EDT
References: <826@dual.UUCP>, <8200020@acf4.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 74

--
>> To Ken Perlow:

>> Hey there, ken.  How are you??  Have you ever read a book called
>> _The Elements of Style_, by William Strunk and E.B. White???

Hi, Ross.  Yes, I have.  In fact, I probably thumbed to tatters at
least three copies before you learned the alphabet.  But I'm glad
you've taken it to heart, especially White's paraphrase of Strunk
in the introduction:  "Why compound ignorance with inaudibility?"

>> What a marvelous book!! It puts each and every one of your puny
>> arguments out to lunch.  It too discusses when a rule can be
>> discarded.  It doesn't encourage it, though.  And I'll take even
>> third-grade english-book content as superior to advice you give.
>> Mistakes will happen on the net, and many people will not go to
>> ridiculous length to make sure that their article is proper in
>> every rule. Especially your rules!

It is marvelous.  Of course, the rules it discusses are pretty basic--
things like sentence structure, concise phrasing, proper use of certain
words--nothing about acronyms I remember.  What rules of mine?  I've
only quoted Safire on the use of "'s".  And the only people I've flamed
at are those who themselves flamed--and intolerantly so--about other
people's style.  As for the 3rd grade text, Ross, please *DO* prefer
it--you need it.

As for puny arguments, Strunk and White do not concern themselves
with the petty stylistic differences I claim to be irrelevant to
clear communication.  Indeed, style manuals themselves disagree
on many points of punctuation.  So your manuals disagree and Strunk
abstains--what do you do then, Ross?  Watch out, Ross, if you say
"be consistent", you're following one of my rules!

[Ross quoting me]
>Hey, guy, don't put words in my mouth, even if they're spelled
>right.  Marla Baer flamed long and hard about literacy, yet was
>herself imprecise.  I simply commented, "And boy is your face red."
>Who said anything about relative badness?  I was just probing
>the limits of intolerance, not grammar.

>> Golly ken!  Perhaps you've been staring at your screen too long??  Or
>> perhaps you're not reading your own articles before posting?
>> "..even is they're spelled right."?? Howzabout "...spelled correctly"?
>> Relative "badness"???? What a joke!!! You put these articles on the
>> net to make us laugh, right? Nobody could be as dense as you seem to be.

>> Ken, even if this is net.flame, why not just flame by yourself for
>> a while?? I've had enough of your bullsh=t to last for the next decade!

>> There are four grammatical mistakes in the above.  Can YOU find them,
>> Mr.  Ken "I'll defend my right to be dumb" Perlow??

>> Ross M. Greenberg

About that 3rd grade text...  "Right" is an adverb (among other things).
"Badness" is a noun.  But don't take my word for it, look them up.
So you don't like my style?  Sorry, I thought "evil" was a bit too strong.
I went though the right/correctly argument a year ago, when someone
tried to correct the grammar in my hypothesis, "If you can't write it
right, you can't think it right."  As before, I am right.

Look, I know that having one's prose publicly upbraided is downright
humiliating.  That's why I *NEVER* do it on the net *EXCEPT* to
know-it-alls who could use a taste of their own medicine.  So I don't
want to look for any more of your mistakes, Ross.  I've edited for a living;
the novelty has long since worn off.
-- 
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