Comments on: Three Alternatives? http://www.dailywritingtips.com/three-alternatives/ Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:41:25 +0000 hourly 1 By: mand http://www.dailywritingtips.com/three-alternatives/comment-page-1/#comment-281995 mand Thu, 20 May 2010 15:33:29 +0000 http://www.dailywritingtips.com/?p=3708#comment-281995 Fun? You want fun? Fun? You want fun?

]]> By: Chris Hobbs http://www.dailywritingtips.com/three-alternatives/comment-page-1/#comment-281965 Chris Hobbs Thu, 20 May 2010 14:25:38 +0000 http://www.dailywritingtips.com/?p=3708#comment-281965 Mand: But that would mean writing "cell' 'phone" as "cell phone" without the two apostrophes. Where's the fun in that? Mand: But that would mean writing

“cell’ ‘phone”

as

“cell phone”

without the two apostrophes. Where’s the fun in that?

]]> By: mand http://www.dailywritingtips.com/three-alternatives/comment-page-1/#comment-281935 mand Thu, 20 May 2010 13:26:06 +0000 http://www.dailywritingtips.com/?p=3708#comment-281935 Chris, i would say that 'photo' is a clipped form rather than an abbreviation, thus a word in its own right, and so using the apostrophe is still incorrect... sorry! Guess where i have found an explanation of this: <a href="http://www.dailywritingtips.com/word-subtraction/" rel="nofollow">here</a> on Daily Writing Tips. Chris, i would say that ‘photo’ is a clipped form rather than an abbreviation, thus a word in its own right, and so using the apostrophe is still incorrect… sorry!

Guess where i have found an explanation of this: here on Daily Writing Tips.

]]> By: Chris Hobbs http://www.dailywritingtips.com/three-alternatives/comment-page-1/#comment-281504 Chris Hobbs Wed, 19 May 2010 02:31:50 +0000 http://www.dailywritingtips.com/?p=3708#comment-281504 On the subject of "my mother and I" being too formal although correct, I have an even worse tale. A little while back, I made a CD of photographs to be taken to a local shop for printing. I labelled the CD "photo's" (with the apostrophe). My wife remonstrated (something she does keenly) and asked why there was an apostrophe. I said that the word was an abbreviation for "photographs" and the apostrophe indicated missing letters. She said that ignorant people might see the CD and conclude that I didn't know how to write a simple plural. So, I was being told to make a deliberate grammatical mistake (and not use the apostrophe) so that ignorant people would not think that I was (also) ignorant. On the subject of “my mother and I” being too formal although correct, I have an even worse tale.

A little while back, I made a CD of photographs to be taken to a local shop for printing. I labelled the CD “photo’s” (with the apostrophe). My wife remonstrated (something she does keenly) and asked why there was an apostrophe. I said that the word was an abbreviation for “photographs” and the apostrophe indicated missing letters. She said that ignorant people might see the CD and conclude that I didn’t know how to write a simple plural.

So, I was being told to make a deliberate grammatical mistake (and not use the apostrophe) so that ignorant people would not think that I was (also) ignorant.

]]> By: commonsense.... http://www.dailywritingtips.com/three-alternatives/comment-page-1/#comment-219646 commonsense.... Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:31:11 +0000 http://www.dailywritingtips.com/?p=3708#comment-219646 I prefer to use alternate and alternative to mean different things (much like infer and imply). An alternate is a different method of accomplishing the same goal. The alternative is not to pursue that goal. An option is something that can be, but doesn't have to be done while implementing one of the alternates. To me, this is quite clear, and adds a certain rigor to the usage, in that by using one word or another, one can imply different things, without having to go to greater lengths to explain what is meant. In other words, an ALTERNATE juror would be used in place of a different juror, while the ALTERNATIVE to a juror might be a trial heard only by a judge, or a formal mediation or arbitration hearing without a jury involved. A company that wanted to build a fertilizer plant might consider one alternate based on chemical process A, and competing alternates based on other chemical processes. An option might be to build a warehouse along with the fertilizer plant, no matter which alternate was selected. The alternative is not to build a fertilizer plant (in which case one might buy an existing fertilizer plant, instead). I prefer to use alternate and alternative to mean different things (much like infer and imply). An alternate is a different method of accomplishing the same goal. The alternative is not to pursue that goal. An option is something that can be, but doesn’t have to be done while implementing one of the alternates. To me, this is quite clear, and adds a certain rigor to the usage, in that by using one word or another, one can imply different things, without having to go to greater lengths to explain what is meant.
In other words, an ALTERNATE juror would be used in place of a different juror, while the ALTERNATIVE to a juror might be a trial heard only by a judge, or a formal mediation or arbitration hearing without a jury involved.

A company that wanted to build a fertilizer plant might consider one alternate based on chemical process A, and competing alternates based on other chemical processes. An option might be to build a warehouse along with the fertilizer plant, no matter which alternate was selected. The alternative is not to build a fertilizer plant (in which case one might buy an existing fertilizer plant, instead).

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