sayitwell

For example: I bought tofu, spinach, onions and crackers at the store.

Do you put a comma after the word "onions" in the above sentence?  Or do you leave it as I put it, without the comma?  I've never understood what the proper answer is to this dilemma.

I would love for the entire world to speak one language.  Imagine how much easier that would make communication both in person and on the Internet.  I respect the beauty and intricacies of all languages but I value efficiency more.  Do you anticipate English becoming the world's language?  I wouldn't even mind if it was another language that became the world language.  I really think that everyone would benefit in the long run from speaking the same language.

John Steinbeck and J.D. Salinger are my favorite American authors.  I think Catcher In The Rye is the best novel.  His short stories are also excellent.  Raise High The Roof Beam Carpenters was a fantastic read too.  Steinbeck has a lot of underrated books including The Red Pony, Tortilla Flat and The Winer Of Our Discontent.

I've had friends from my French class that went to France for various school programs.  Most of them were in the school's MBA program and they took a trip to Europe, including France.  The ones from my classes said it was very helpful to go there and hear the locals speak as well as interact with them.  I would love to go to Spain or Mexico to help me learn Spanish.  I've only been to Canada (the non-French speaking part) and a few tropical islands where English was spoken.

Yes.  I was embarrassed when I moved to Texas and couldn't speak a word of Spanish.  That was kind of awkward at times.  I was pronounced the restaurant El Gallo with the l's in the word Gallo, like a moron.  So, I started to learn Spanish little by little.  I'm still working on it .

Can anyone come up with any examples of people using cursive writing?  The only one that I can think of is using cursive for our signatures.  It would be sad if the only cursive that these young kids knew was the letters to their own names.

In India such people are mostly called as "Dogs" or "Donkeys" 

But I sometimes wonder why should we be referring those bad humans to those poor animals. I did rather scold them as "humans" because there isn't anything worse than that! 

That is funny that you call slow pokes “dogs”.  In the United States, people who are considered dogs are looked upon as raunchy or crass, especially in a sexual manner.  These intricacies between language slang are really interesting.

It most certainly is a language.  I learned some sign language while I was training for my scuba diving license and I used much of it while under water.  I love the post about accents in sign language.  That is so true!  I am glad to see that nobody is knocking it as “not being a language”.  It deserves the respect that it is getting.

it is odd that they are taking it out of the curriculum.  what's next to go, spelling?  after all, computers have spell checkers so why bother to learn spelling, right?  i'm being sarcastic.  i also learned cursive in elementary school and i thought it was interesting.  i doesn't have much utility though.

i have never heard anyone use the term buffalo to describe someone who is slow and lazy.  that is kind of a cool word to use instead of "bum", "slug" or "sloth".  the word that i personally use to describe someone who is slow is "sloth".  or i will say "he's as slow as molasses".

My favorite quote ever (and don't get at me for being cliche) is:

"I took the road less traveled by, and that made all the difference" by Robert Frost.

I think it just sums up everything that I in my personal life tries to accomplish. I'm not trying to follow the conventional route and be the same as everybody else. I want to be different and be bigger and better.

that is also one of the best quotes i've ever read.  i love the moral of the quote.  it also speaks to me, personally.  i think anyone that has made a sacrifice or marched to the beat of their own drummer can relate to Frost's quote. 

I think the last two sentences actually need commas for them to be correct:

Two boys, along with a girl, are going to school.

A boy, along with two girls, is going to school.

yes, but that was not the point of the original poster.  i agree with his point which is that most people choose between "is" and "are" as they see fit without considering which of the two is grammatically correct.  i do it myself sometimes.

bell hooks is a woman, actually. And not surprisingly for someone who writes her name in lower case, she's known for being an outspoken social critic and activist as well as an author.  I don't have any book recommendations per se but she has written numerous nonfiction books  on issues of race, class, feminism, culture, etc.  So it's a matter of checking out a bibliography and finding a title that sounds appealing.

well it is a beautiful name for a woman.  bell hooks.  if she was from the south, she should have changed the spelling to "belle" like a true southern belle.  i have noticed that more women write in lower case than men.  why do you think that is? this bell hooks reminds me of me so far.  i am also an outspoken social critic.

i read song lyrics.  that counts as poetry!  i love zack de la rocha's lyrics.  he is the singer for one day as a lion and formerly sang for rage against the machine.  i also appreciate trent reznor's lyrics.  some other lyricists that come to mind for their poetry are fiona apple, ani difranco, john frusciante, mos def, talib kwali, james maynard keenan and bob marley.

i also say "yeah" all the time.  that is kind of my standard response to everything.  i rarely talk so i usually provide concise answers as i don't enjoy the act of talking.  for me, less is always more.  it's funny how i really enjoy reading and writing but have a distaste for talking.  i'm like holden caulfield in J.D. salinger's catcher in the rye.

i'd like to know how many people who admit to overusing "lol" are women.  i find that my male friends rarely write or stay "lol".  do you find the same in your social circles?  i have a feeling that you do. 

my teachers never taught me to use the word "shall" at all.  though i did attend public school until university.  i have always thought it proper to use "will" instead of "shall".  to me, "shall" sounds like old english.  it's just too formal my my taste.

well, credit to bell hooks then.  he is an inspiration.  i dedicate this thread to him.  i'll have to read some of his work.  i've heard of him but never actually picked up one of his books.  do you have any recommendations? 

i'll watch movies in that language, go to foreign language web sites, read the news in the language, have imaginary conversations in my head using the language and i'll even speak the language when i am by myself and feel like i could benefit from enunciating the words in the language.  it's kind of weird but i am a really weird person!

i've noticed that people born in the 70's and earlier tend to not use "lol" and other text speak.  people born in the 80's and later use lol in speech and in written text all the time.  i find that generational style gap to be interesting.

I can't help but feel that you're trolling at this point. Are you really that much of a contrarian? Are you going to stick to your protest when you write a letter of intent or resume?

i obey all other rules of grammar and punctuation.  so i am not a strict contrarian at all.  i would conform to society's capitalization standards when writing a cover letter.  outside of the workplace i am spearheading the lower case movement. 

join the movement, brothers and sisters.

ghanashyam,

in your example of "I have had this watch for 10 years" i certainly can see why you word it the way that you did.  i would probably say "i've had this watch for 10 years".  i wouldn't say "i have had...".  it just does not sound right and i've never heard anyone say it that way.  everyone correctly abbreviates "i have had" to "i've" because it is the proper way to say it.

"Have had" is the perfect tense of the verb "have." 

The meaning conveyed with "have had" is something that once happened continually no longer happens.  In other words, "have had" implies an ongoing situation from the past. 

I'm not sure I have seen or heard a sentence like that.  If you add "at that time" it's a specific time period rather than an ongoing situation, so that seems to me to be an incorrect usage of the perfect tense. 

It seems to me that there is already enough emphasis in just saying "I had a pen at that time in my pocket."

that's exactly how i think.  i would state "i had a pen at the time in my pocket" as well.  i don't see why anyone would include the "have".  it is totally unnecessary.  i think most people will agree with us.

i keep noticing people on the internet confuse "they're", "their" and "there".  i can't believe that people mess those words up.  i often wonder if today's youth paid any attention in class.  it's like they didn't even try to learn grammar at all.  the future is bleak.

i do use the phrase in my writings.  i don't see why we shouldn't use it.  so what if it isn't proper english.  this is 2013.  people and things have changed a lot.  there are certain language trends that have made their way into our communications and will be here to stay for a while.