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Fun with Homonyms....and the like

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  • #61
    Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

    Originally posted by St. Clown View Post
    Meh, this is as good a place to ask the question as any.

    For my job, I'm a business systems analyst. I write instructions to application developers on how a system should act when certain events occur. In one of my system rules I wrote, "When the system identifies that the...that does not comport to the layout provided..." Is any of this language above the norm? My developer complained about the word "comport" being present. I've never thought it to be a difficult word. Am I wrong with that thought? Another of my BSA coworkers agrees with the developer. I think they're off their rockers and need to pick up a book some time that's not about glittering vampires and the like.
    Why don't they just google the word and learn something? I do it all the time. Sounds to me like they're being lazy.
    **NOTE: The misleading post above was brought to you by Reynold's Wrap and American Steeples, makers of Crosses.

    Originally Posted by dropthatpuck-Scooby's a lost cause.
    Originally Posted by First Time, Long Time-Always knew you were nothing but a troll.

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    • #62
      Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

      Originally posted by St. Clown View Post
      Meh, this is as good a place to ask the question as any.

      For my job, I'm a business systems analyst. I write instructions to application developers on how a system should act when certain events occur. In one of my system rules I wrote, "When the system identifies that the...that does not comport to the layout provided..." Is any of this language above the norm? My developer complained about the word "comport" being present. I've never thought it to be a difficult word. Am I wrong with that thought? Another of my BSA coworkers agrees with the developer. I think they're off their rockers and need to pick up a book some time that's not about glittering vampires and the like.
      Perhaps they merely found the sentence structure awkward? Merely mean to suggest that a more direct subject / verb / object sentence structure might help clarify meaning (unless of course you are only writing for fellow specialists and not generalists, so that you can totally disregard this suggestion entirely!). I serve as intermediary between lawyers' / accountants' language and concise explanations for well-educated laypeople all the time and it is not always easy to translate technical commentary into "how does this affect me in my daily life" language).
      "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

      "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

      "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

      "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

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      • #63
        Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

        Originally posted by FreshFish View Post
        Perhaps they merely found the sentence structure awkward? Merely mean to suggest that a more direct subject / verb / object sentence structure might help clarify meaning (unless of course you are only writing for fellow specialists and not generalists, so that you can totally disregard this suggestion entirely!). I serve as intermediary between lawyers' / accountants' language and concise explanations for well-educated laypeople all the time and it is not always easy to translate technical commentary into "how does this affect me in my daily life" language).
        Nah, I don't think that's it. I reread what I had wrote a few different times after people complained about the word, and it was pretty simply written. The ellipses I used here merely removed the objects/phrases that my employer might consider company secrets in developing our application. You could almost Mad Lib the thing to make I wrote here to get the complete sentence. I was told by the developer and another analyst that had I used a simpler word than "comport" that everything would have been clear.
        "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." George Orwell, 1984

        "One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep, and the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust, the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume." Boromir

        "Good news! We have a delivery." Professor Farnsworth

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        • #64
          Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

          Originally posted by goldy_331 View Post
          What they mean is "should have" and they write "should of" because they have only heard it spoken and don't understand the meaning of what they are now writing. Same with "could of" instead of "could have."
          Shouldda, wouldda, couldda eliminates all confusion And the proper use of the English language.
          GO DU !!!

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          • #65
            Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

            I planted a beet root along route 342.

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            • #66
              Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

              OK, so I won't start a new thread about alliteration, I'll just use this one, since I had the foresight to append "and the like"

              After Cleaning Woman Clara Clifford Discovered the Clean Copper Clappers Kept in a Closet Were Copped by Claude Cooper, the Kleptomaniac From Cleveland, County Cops Cracked the Case and Concluded the Caper




              (credit to James Taranto at Wall St. Journal)
              "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

              "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

              "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

              "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

              Comment


              • #67
                Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                I was told that if you want to give driving directions in French,
                > to go left you say "á gauche"
                > to go right you say "á droite"
                > to go straight ahead you say "droit"

                "droit" and "droite" sound exactly the same except the first ends in a schwa while the second ends in a hard "t". Can you imagine the confusion if it's a noisy ride?



                Something like that almost happened to us, nearly a real-life Abbott & Costello moment:

                "I turn left up ahead?"

                - Right

                "What? I turn right?"

                - no, you turn left.

                "Left?"

                - righ....um...correct.
                "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

                "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

                "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

                "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

                Comment


                • #68
                  Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                  Nair - from bear arms to bare arms all in one sitting.
                  CCT '77 & '78
                  4 kids
                  5 grandsons (BCA 7/09, CJA 5/14, JDL 8/14, JFL 6/16, PJL 7/18)
                  1 granddaughter (EML 4/18)

                  ”Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”
                  - Benjamin Franklin

                  Banned from the St. Lawrence University Facebook page - March 2016 (But I got better).

                  I want to live forever. So far, so good.

                  Comment


                  • #69
                    Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                    so, did the inventor of the Segway really mean to riff on segue?

                    Wikipedia implies "yes", but I'm not sure how trustworthy it is....

                    I thought the answer was "yes" because at the time it was introduced it was touted as a huge revolution in transportation (obviously it could never work in Manhattan, what a mess that would be, I get shoved around enough by the pedestrians as it is ), others thought I was just making it up (which I have done once in a while... )
                    "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

                    "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

                    "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

                    "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

                    Comment


                    • #70
                      Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                      I always knew he was way out there, but...

                      Rover lands on Mars?
                      "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

                      "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

                      "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

                      "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

                      Comment


                      • #71
                        Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                        Not sure if this one had come up before, we noticed it last night when discussing a brain teaser.

                        The brain teaser: which weighs more, an ounce of gold or an ounce of feathers?

                        the answer is not "they are the same" since they are measured in different units! The answer is here: one is measured as a troy ounce, while the other is measured as an avoirdupois ounce.

                        Then we were talking about carats / carets / carrots
                        "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

                        "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

                        "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

                        "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

                        Comment


                        • #72
                          Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                          I feel like I've seen this one before, but I don't want to Google it at work. In any case, at the Best Buy near my house yesterday, the electronic signature pad had a sign on it that said, "Use Finger, Pen is Broken."

                          It's a little funnier if you squish a couple of the words together...
                          If you don't change the world today, how can it be any better tomorrow?

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                          • #73
                            Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                            During the reality show, the group decided to pare the pair of annoying contestants who were always eating a pear.

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                            • #74
                              Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                              Oh yeah? Well, during the tradesmen's organization procedural committee meeting, the wrights decided to write the right rites to avoid any confusion.
                              If you don't change the world today, how can it be any better tomorrow?

                              Comment


                              • #75
                                Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                                Originally posted by LynahFan View Post
                                Oh yeah? Well, during the tradesmen's organization procedural committee meeting, the wrights decided to write the right rites to avoid any confusion.
                                Do you think there is a Miranda Wright anywhere in this great country of ours?

                                I do know that there is a Dorothy Comm....

                                (what is the common nickname for Dorothy? )
                                "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

                                "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

                                "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

                                "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

                                Comment

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