Petering out but not dead yet

[C M Smith <cmsmith@domain.elided>]

Au contraire mon ami, it ees only zee frenchmen 'oo are obsessed with the 
accurate language, and only L' Academie Francaise at that.

Shakespeare's English was very idiosyncratic, for good reasons, he invented 
half the useage we now enjoy (tongue in cheek on that one) and there was no 
correct English at the time. Chaucer couldn't possibly have used correct 
English as the language didn't really exist at that time. In fact, a good 
case can be made that there still isn't any correct version of the English 
language ( I can make cases because I'm a lawyer, they don't have to be 
correct, just temporarily convincing). And because everyone who has read 
any of my past postings must know by now (poor devils for the time they've 
wasted) that I try to amuse if possible as I write to communicate.

Full responsibility for effective communication rests upon the party to the 
communication for whom accurate understanding is most important ( go with 
the ..er...flow man it does make sense, it is correct useage, just 
tortuous, not torturous ). This is the reason for Huh? in Amurrican Eh? in 
Canadjun, and the Gaullic shrug for that matter. The reply button on the e 
mail program is also handy for clearing up misunderstandings. Usually, the 
poster thinks his or her message is important (I certainly do!!) so full 
responsibility rests on the poster, Ergo, if ya wanna be unnerstood, be as 
clear as you can, if ya don't particularly care, then neither do we.

The best post on this thread was from the fellow who pointed out we use 
different rules for communicating among friends. I've met a lot of very 
interesting people I've never seen, and may never see, on this BB and I 
like to think we all are prepared to communicate on an informal level if 
desired. Frankly, I have to use very exact language in my job and I get 
pretty tired of it. You'd be amazed at how easily it is to be misunderstood 
EVEN WHEN YOUR ENGLISH IS PERFECT!!! (sorry for shouting, got carried away.

Hey, Buon Natale everyone, my 164 and I are dashing through the snow up 
here on a set of Pirelli 210P's with extreme camber wear, and I just love 
teasing the SUV drivers who think 4 wheel drive makes a difference.
Michael Smith
Calgary, Alberta
Canada
91 Alfa 164L, White, original owner

------------------------------