More Stuff and Things: Rules

Parents rule, at least for a brief period of time. (Above: my parents in 1935)

NCAA basketball rules. Jack Butcher's alma mater, Memphis State, made it to the sweet 16, as did our neighbors, Southern Illinois and Butler. Ohio State, too. Just watched a little bit yesterday - Purdue giving Florida more than it wanted before going the way of other major schools here in Indiana, the basketball capital of the world. Thanks to Butler for hanging in there.

A golf rule: don't three putt from 15 feet. Watched Tiger do just that on his way to a dismal finish after what he considered one of his best ever rounds last Thursday.

Another golf rule: one's best round is followed by one's worst.

Rules of grammar: Every household needs someone to be the bug killer; around here that means Diane. Not every household has a grammarian, but this one does, and that too is Diane. She goes bananas (wonder where that saying came from? I googled it- "...The phrase 'going bananas' was first recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary, and is linked to the fruit's 'comic' connections with monkeys..."; go to the link for other need-to-know stuff about bananas - here).

Where was I? Oh... When coming across errors in printed matter, she often takes the time to correct a misspelling with a handy pencil. And make some comment about the ability of the writer and editor. She'll remind me, gently, of a word or two that slips 'neath the radar in my writing. Bless her. While Diane looks for good writing with emphasis on the form, I could care less about spelling and rules of construction (not entirely true as bad construction can greatly inhibit understanding and meaning). So, I was a little surprised to get this from Diane in an email the other day:

"...fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wr od are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsa t ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it..."

something which has everything to do with context and understanding and absolutely nothing to do with spelling. So, what's my point? Hmmm.

Which reminds me, or maybe brings me back to a forgotten point: we have been checking our web site and making corrections as we catch them. The email link on the "contact us" page has been corrected - Rita Butcher, through Jack, brought that to our attention. (Thanks, Rita, who also knows a thing or two about editing.) Though closer to perfection, we know that we aren't there yet. Guess what - we need your help in doing better. So, if you see something amiss, let us know and we'll try and make amends. (John Foddrill also provided help a few weeks ago - thanks, John.)

More on rules: As a general rule, be short and precise. That way you won't lose your audience. Are you still there? (smile)

p.s. On bug killing, I like to think that Diane has laid down a chemical barrier around our house which loudly and often announces to all little critters that danger lies ahead - turn back - go elsewhere. And that makes it bug deterrence rather than bug killing.