On Sep 12, 4:46 pm, "Paul M. Cook" >
wrote:
> "Randy Johnson" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 12-Sep-2007, "Paul M. Cook" > wrote:
>
> > > > Ummmm; seems to me your credibility is undermined by your inability to
> > > spell
> > > > plum. Perhaps your reply would be better accepted if you could cite
> > > > reference material to substantiate.
>
> > > Of course it does. One misspelled word (I'll blame it on the spell
> > > czecker)
> > > and I have NO CREDIBILITY. Look it up on Google, Einstein - or find
> some
> > > other research monkey. But since I misspelled plum, how could you
> > > possibly
> > > trust any source I supplied? Your credibility argument is so old as to
> be
> > > trite.
>
> > > > Not being a rocket scientist, or any kind of scientist, I just assumed
> > > > it
> > > > was the fiber in prunes that provides the laxative effect.
>
> > > Fiber does not give you diarrhea.
>
> > Certainly we all have typo's and occasionally spell a word incorrectly;
> but,
> > when it is such a simple word and spelled incorrectly numerous times, it
> > makes the author appear to be sloppy at best, undereducated at worst.
> When
> > spelled incorrectly in a message whose subject the author is claiming some
> > expertise, it does, indeed, damage credibility.
>
> You really need an editor as you seem to be punctuation challenged. Until
> then, you will continue to display your own lack of "credibility."

Really. I'm someone who believes that commas can be used fairly
flexibly, within certain limits, but it really is funny that people
tend to screw up worse when they are doing the grammar cop thing, than
otherwise.

Years ago, Sears did a study on falls on their floors when wet. They
found that people fell more often on shiny floors, even controlling
for actual slipperiness. Surprisingly, they found that people fell
more often on shiny floors *even if* they were more slip resistant
(and they also controlled for folks seeking damages). The conclusion
was that people walked more carefully on wet floors that looked as if
they would be slippery, and that this would make them less
coordinated, since they'd have a less natural gait.

Perhaps it's the same when people are being unusually vigilant about
their writing.
>
> Paul

--Bryan