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Post by Verbivore on Apr 10, 2020 11:40:23 GMT
I trust you all understood that; I shall be setting a short exam . LOL Twod, I'm still trying to figure out how to use the digital automotive multimeter I bought two years ago! I find things with analog dials are far easier to grasp than are their digital replacements, and as for computer code – beyond very basic HTML markup I'm a dunce. I'd fail your exam.
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Post by Dave Miller on Apr 10, 2020 11:53:34 GMT
I trust you all understood that; I shall be setting a short exam . Well, I did get that the problem wasn't actually a hyphen; it was a missing overline (or vinculum). The craft was being steered by a computerised system (crude as it will have been in those days) which involved some numerical value "R". R would keep varying, so they wanted the steering to take into account the average value of R, denoted as R-with-a-line-over-it (I've no idea how to type that!). Somebody got that wrong, so as R wildly varied, the steering did, too. End of mission!
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Post by Verbivore on Apr 10, 2020 20:41:52 GMT
I trust you all understood that; I shall be setting a short exam . Well, I did get that the problem wasn't actually a hyphen; it was a missing overline (or vinculum). [...] I'd missed that, Dave.
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Post by Verbivore on Apr 10, 2020 20:42:35 GMT
It's rarely that I encounter the word bloviate – very appropriate for the Trump-et blower (and other self-inflating politicians). This might be only the third time I've seen it used. See late in the second paragraph.
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Post by Twoddle on Apr 10, 2020 21:05:26 GMT
I trust you all understood that; I shall be setting a short exam . Well, I did get that the problem wasn't actually a hyphen; it was a missing overline (or vinculum). The craft was being steered by a computerised system (crude as it will have been in those days) which involved some numerical value "R". R would keep varying, so they wanted the steering to take into account the average value of R, denoted as R-with-a-line-over-it (I've no idea how to type that!). Somebody got that wrong, so as R wildly varied, the steering did, too. End of mission! I knew you'd spot it, Dave. (What?!)
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Apr 11, 2020 0:27:33 GMT
I have absolutely no idea what I am supposed to understand from the posts about numerical value of R with or without a vinculum (sorry folks – my failing) so may I revert to a query about language?
The current world land speed record for a four-wheel car driven by its wheels was set by Donald Campbell at 403.1 mph on 17th July 1964. But Campbell died in 1967. So should one say he “holds” the record or he “held” the record? and, if the latter, who is that one can say holds the record? Does no-one hold it? How can that be?
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Post by Dave Miller on Apr 11, 2020 4:43:44 GMT
I have absolutely no idea what I am supposed to understand from the posts about numerical value of R with or without a vinculum (sorry folks – my failing) so may I revert to a query about language? The current world land speed record for a four-wheel car driven by its wheels was set by Donald Campbell at 403.1 mph on 17th July 1964. But Campbell died in 1967. So should one say he “holds” the record or he “held” the record? and, if the latter, who is that one can say holds the record? Does no-one hold it? How can that be? I reckon he “held” the record. He can’t “hold” - or do anything in the present tense - as he no longer exists. The existential problem disappears, though, if you express the situation as “he set the record, which still stands”. I often stumble over an analogous problem, such as Sir Winston Churchill, born 30 November 1874 ...Sir Winston didn’t exist until he was knighted.
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Post by Verbivore on Apr 11, 2020 5:20:47 GMT
I reckon he “held” the record. He can’t “hold” - or do anything in the present tense - as he no longer exists. The existential problem disappears, though, if you express the situation as “he set the record, which still stands”. Dave, I buy that. I often stumble over an analogous problem, such as Sir Winston Churchill, born 30 November 1874 ...Sir Winston didn’t exist until he was knighted. I have a similar issue with Lieutenant James Cook, that guy falsely credited with "discovering" Australia and generally referred to as Captain Cook. He wasn't formally promoted to Captain till on a subsequent venture to the Americas.
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Post by Verbivore on Apr 11, 2020 22:50:41 GMT
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Post by Verbivore on Apr 11, 2020 23:07:49 GMT
And now, from BBC Travel: “An American couple pours over the menu”. Do they pour sauce? gravy? coffee? wine? Perhaps they pour a drink while they pore over the menu and paw each other under the table. Poor dears. (Of course, this only works well with non-rhotic speakers, such as Aussies.)
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Post by Verbivore on Apr 12, 2020 1:54:19 GMT
One of my major gripes is poorly written / illustrated user manuals for tools (real and virtual), appliances, vehicles … . Having designed / written / compiled / edited usage (and style) manuals in the past – part of my university employment in the ’90s – I’m quickly unimpressed by the third-rate “instructions” that come with even the most expensive purchases. Leaving aside the poorly translated Asian offerings – which can be a source of amusement at times, are often beyond useless, and potentially fatal at others! – “comprehensive” user manuals are so densely written, even though in sound enough English, as to be beyond common comprehension. They seem to be written by specialist nerds who don't understand their subject well enough to explain it in plain language. Or just like to lord their superiority over peasant-consumers' ignorance. Anyhoo … Over this past week I’ve been experimenting with a new application – Hemingway Editor. I went to the app's Help page, which gave simple, clear explanations of how the app worked. How refreshing! It read as though written by a professional wordsmith who knows his faeces. In following (most of) Hemingway’s suggestions I not only trimmed flab and frou-frou but achieved a readability grading * 4.57 – a 2.0 point improvement over the original versions’ average of 6.57. * On reading age – I've read that the “average American” reads at a tenth-grade level (age 15–16?) – Hemingway’s work is scored “low 5th grade” despite his writing for an adult readership. How these American reading grades might match up with UK or AU metrics I've not yet learned, despite some desultory searching. That US low 5th grade is probably at around 8–9 years of age. Years ago I was told by its editor that his major daily capital-city tabloid (now owned by Faux Gnus / Murdoch) wrote for a reading age of eight years and that it was a common tabloid standard across the industry. (I'm not sure how page 3 tits-and-arse "journalism" might rate with 8-year-olds.)I particularly like the following offering under the Help page's Words That Can Be Simpler. It’s advice I needed in revising my bloated MS of memoirs: they are life vignettes, not university textbooks. I need to deformalise their / my style. I’ve run seven stories through Hemingway and am, so far, impressed with its apparent “intelligence” and its (mostly) acceptable, not to mention constructive, suggestions. My scores on the seven trial stories: Combined: Average readability R0 6.57 / R+ 4.57 (R improvement +2.0) Word count W0 4754 / W+ 4421 (333 words / 7.5% leaner)
KEY: R = readability grade R0 = original’s RG R+ = RG post Hemingway W = word count W0 = original’s WC W+ = WC post Hemingway
I think I’ll persevere with the app. Bonus: It doesn’t feel unduly biased toward American English – certainly nowhere near as much as e.g. MS Word, which, regardless of localised (AU) and very controlled settings and preferences, still manages to sound/feel American; it certainly misses a lot of grammatical difference, and on idiom it's as dumb as dogshit. Not ideal for an Aussie writing in, of, and largely for AU.Here’s the Help excerpt:One of the best ways to make your writing easier on readers is by eliminating words that are too complicated. While many people “utilize” big words to sound more educated, you should “use” more common synonyms if they exist. If you don't believe me, just take Papa's word for it:
“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don't know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.”
If your “objective” is to make your writing less verbose, you can reach your “goal” by checking our purple highlights. Mouse over those little bits of pomposity and we'll give you a better alternative.Source: Hemingway Editor NotesA lot of that advice parallels Churchill's: where there are two or more words, use the shorter.Okay. Back to playing with Hemingway. PS: I have found some very good user / maintenance manuals in my day, though they harked from an era that valued quality and longevity of goods over throwaway chinoiserie. * (* usage hinting back to 19th-century French chinois, not today's usage = frou-frou dust accumulators) The first such to impress me was a workshop manual for Rover cars – proper, pre-BMC/pre-Leyland days, which are better forgotten. At the time I had an accumulation of P4 and P5 Rovers (75, 90, 3-litre …) and was keeping those old Aunties alive with little outside or specialist help. And with few tools other than the standard offerings in every Rover's included toolkit. The w/s manuals (two different for the two series) were each about 500 large pages. It was beautifully illustrated in ways both comprehensive yet easily deciphered; well written in clear, comprehensive language without being unduly verbose; and followed the pattern: 1. Tools required for job / 2. Removal / 3. Treatment / 4. Reassembly – usually "in reverse order except for xxx" with the changes clearly explained. Those tomes succeeded in keeping Rovers going whether one was an owner/tinkerer or a working service mechanic. Another good example, also car related, was the 3-volume 700-page manual for early '60s Studebakers (mine were a '64 Cruiser ex-police detectives' "racer" and a '63 Gran Turismo – last of the Golden Hawk series of enormous 2-door hardtop coupes). Those books were possibly even clearer / simpler (while comprehensive) in their arrangement and text than the Rovers'. Their illustrations were at least as good. If anything those manuals seemed to favour the complete enthusiast while maybe telling professional mechanics how to suck eggs. On the other side of manual style would have to be those for Mercedes-Benz. I have in total some 7,000 pages of MB workshop manuals, all in hard copy, many also digitally stored (coverage is from 1954 till 1994). From the get-go it's patent that these are written and illustrated by engineers for engineers. There are few (any?) concessions to the backyard tinkerer. Many of the procedures I have had to read / reread numerous times to get the point. They are written in perfect (US) English yet are an intellectual challenge to interpret. Even their section / page-numbering system is over-engineered like a Panzer tank (or a Benz). There is an assumption that only other engineers will read such manuals. (Admission: Officially MB workshop manuals are not available to anyone other than Benz-certified and -approved dealerships / service centres / mechanics; not even to independent operators such as I've usually engaged with. However, thanks to model obsolescence and the wonders of eBay … . They consume a metre of bookshelf space so I've offered them to my best mechanic mate – who probably won't read them; he effectively grew up in the Stuttgart MB factory and has pure Benz oil for blood. Well that was a load! LOL
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Post by Verbivore on Apr 12, 2020 23:25:14 GMT
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Post by Verbivore on Apr 12, 2020 23:54:50 GMT
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Post by Verbivore on Apr 13, 2020 4:07:18 GMT
Another new word today for me! (Is this a manifestation of COVID-19?) dissectologist – hereA person who enjoys jigsaw puzzle assembly. The BCD, or Benevolent Confraternity of Dissectologists to give it its expanded title, is a subscription-based club for followers of jigsaw puzzles, whether for pure enjoyment or from a more research-based interest. Based in the United Kingdom, but with a worldwide membership, the club was founded in 1985 when a small group of jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts met for a most enjoyable evening, assembling puzzles together and sharing information about them. As a result, they decided to create a club for like-minded enthusiasts, calling themselves “Dissectologists” after John Spilsbury, who invented the original puzzles in England in the 1760s and called them “Dissected Maps”.
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Apr 13, 2020 23:31:30 GMT
Hmm‼️ I had never heard of dissectologist either. I think it is unlikely to become part of my normal vocabulary.
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