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Post by Paul Doherty on Jul 22, 2008 18:43:27 GMT
Have you ever used msn, Twod? Or shud that b "hav u ever used msn, twod"??
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Post by Paul Doherty on Jul 22, 2008 18:44:05 GMT
Someone sells T-shirts with the logo "667, the neighbour of the beast". I want one!
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Post by Alan Palmer on Jul 22, 2008 19:12:53 GMT
If I remember rightly, it was a topic in QI. Stephen Fry asserted (I can't remember why, now) that the true Number of the Beast was 616. He also remarked that a bus company in Moscow had recently changed one of the bus routes from 666 to ... 616! EDIT: I've found a long topic on it in the QI Forum.
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Post by Pete on Jul 22, 2008 20:03:04 GMT
If I was writing a novel, Were, Paul??
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Post by Paul Doherty on Jul 22, 2008 20:38:08 GMT
I long ago abandoned the subjunctive, Pete. It's a class tool with which the running-dog capitalists oppress the masses.
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Post by Twoddle on Jul 22, 2008 21:10:10 GMT
I long ago abandoned the subjunctive, Pete. It's a class tool with which the running-dog capitalists oppress the masses. I'd watch out for paper tigers, if I were you.
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Post by Twoddle on Jul 22, 2008 21:14:33 GMT
Have you ever used msn, Twod? Or shud that b "hav u ever used msn, twod"?? MSN Messenger? Yes, I have. What trap is the devious devil setting for me now?
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Post by Paul Doherty on Jul 22, 2008 22:56:23 GMT
And were all your msn messages spelled and punctuated in accordance with standard writing conventions?
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Post by Verbivore on Jul 22, 2008 23:43:43 GMT
And were all your msn messages spelled and punctuated in accordance with standard writing conventions? I have an 18-year-old friend who uses msn-style chat and sms quite a lot, and he refuses to use the "normal" registers for those media; he spells everything fully (and is very fast on the keyboard!). Is he a genius? Well, he gained his matriculation last year, and is now an apprentice chef with no great intellectual ambition - but he is probably in the upper percentiles of his generation's literacy levels. Curiously, his mother - who texts me quite a lot - uses txtspk (and she's a secondary-school teacher of English). Her mobile phone is identical to her sons', with the same predictive text feature. His father - also a school teacher (primary) - similarly employs txtspk for sms. [But then I suppose the son must be particularly intelligent: his first car - entirely by his own choice - is a secondhand Benz. Before he bought it, it had been lowered (chopped springs); his first expenditure on it was to have original-specification springs and shock absorbers fitted.]
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Post by Twoddle on Jul 23, 2008 6:40:32 GMT
And were all your msn messages spelled and punctuated in accordance with standard writing conventions? Aha! I knew it! The chat-room/SMS red-herring! There are specific reasons why it's acceptable - though far from ideal - to use forms of shorthand under those circumstances, namely the need for speed and (in the case of SMS) the limitations of the keyboard and the cost of each text. Those considerations don't apply to e-mails, forums, letters or books, where there's no reason to use anything other than standard spelling and punctuation.
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Post by Vadim on Jul 23, 2008 7:13:59 GMT
And were all your msn messages spelled and punctuated in accordance with standard writing conventions? Aha! I knew it! The chat-room/SMS red-herring! There are specific reasons why it's acceptable - though far from ideal - to use forms of shorthand under those circumstances, namely the need for speed and (in the case of SMS) the limitations of the keyboard and the cost of each text. Those considerations don't apply to e-mails, forums, letters or books, where there's no reason to use anything other than standard spelling and punctuation. I'm a prolific user of the aforementioned media and I have to agree with Twod. There is a time and a place for everything, no? Do you use predictive text, Vv? I find txtspk intensely annoying however I understand why people use it. I rarely text, but when I do, I use the predictive "t9" dictionary (with many additional words added by me). However, I find it almost impossible to punctuate the sentences properly if I'm wanting to get the sms out in under 30 minutes! Is this OK? - because I do it all the time. I would use "was" in that instance. I use MSN Messenger a lot! I have started to punctuate my sentences more since joining this message board. The spelling is taken care of via a little on-the-fly checker. However, as most of my conversations are "deep and meaningful" I would rather a persons feelings were, typed to me, flowing, without the need for correction and time to think. I want it almost like a conversation.
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Post by Verbivore on Jul 23, 2008 8:23:11 GMT
[...] Do you use predictive text, Vv? I find txtspk intensely annoying however I understand why people use it. I rarely text, but when I do, I use the predictive "t9" dictionary (with many additional words added by me). However, I find it almost impossible to punctuate the sentences properly if I'm wanting to get the sms out in under 30 minutes![...] Yes, Vadim, I use T9 predictive (on my seven-year-old Ericsson). I must have taught it a lot, because it rarely complains of unknown words any more. Punctuation is, I'll admit, a pain in the bum because it requires so much to-ing and fro-ing through the non-alpha menu, but I do it anyway. I admit to using sms mainly in response to those received rather than initiating such messages. Mobile phones give me the diarrhoeas, but I'd lose too much business without one.
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Post by Barry on Jul 23, 2008 11:33:06 GMT
Oh I wish I could use text more than I do. Every time I get a text, I have to put my glasses on to read it - somewhat of a barrier. On the whole, I prefer speaking, as it seems a more efficient way of information-transfer.
My old phone used to have a very good predictive text facility, but the new one is so rubbish at it that I just use the straightforward entry system. And, yes, I get annoyed that some punctuation (including the apostrophe) is on a separate menu.
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Post by Twoddle on Jul 23, 2008 11:33:11 GMT
Often, when I send an SMS, I type the message using predictive text only to discover that it's about thirty characters too long for a single message. Being too tight to spend the extra ten pence, I'll then take a further ten minutes using txt to shorten it. I seem to look upon it as some silly kind of challenge to fit the message into 160 characters by whatever means are necessary.
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Post by SusanB on Jul 23, 2008 12:06:10 GMT
Am I the only person left who doesn't have a mobile phone?
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