0.5 mile or miles?

jotham · Post by **jotham** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 7:53 am

metal56 wrote: Aren't you happy with the ordinary NES guide?

I'm personally happy with it. I'd feel more certain, on the job, with a more substantial resource that backs it up and that I could show our concerned NNES staff. They sometimes balk at our exclusive and divine sprachgefuhl, since they don't possess it.

lolwhites · Post by **lolwhites** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 7:58 am

It's certainly the case that NNESs often want to see something in print rather than rely on NES intuitions, but I think that's understandable because (a) NESs don't always agree and (b) some people are used to having an "academy" to tell them how to use their own L1 - if they don't trust their own instincts with their own language, how are they going to trust ours?

The trouble is when people go OTT and treat grammar books and style guides like law tomes...

metal56 · Post by **metal56** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:57 am

<I'd feel more certain, on the job, with a more substantial resource that backs it up and that I could show our concerned NNES staff.>

Hope you find it.

JuanTwoThree · Post by **JuanTwoThree** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:18 am

A British style guide? I for one am confident (arrogant) enough to have no use for one, if such a thing dealing with such minutiae exists.

Considering that "three mile away" gets 197,000 hits I wouldn't go a bundle on Google results for everything either: there are 14,300,000 hits for "recieve" after all.

metal56 · Post by **metal56** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:37 am

<A British style guide? I for one am confident (arrogant) enough to have no use for one, if such a thing dealing with such minutiae exists. >

Nothing wrong with style guides per se, but when they are read as style bibles...

Stephen Jones · Post by **Stephen Jones** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:03 am

Considering that "three mile away" gets 197,000 hits I wouldn't go a bundle on Google results for everything either:

Yea, dead right. I mean we all know Mark Twain (first two hits) couldn't write English.

metal56 · Post by **metal56** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:23 am

Stephen Jones wrote:
I mean we all know Mark Twain (first two hits) couldn't write English.
Like most Americans, innit?