MODERATOR'S NOTE: For the very last time
I felt it necessary to share Kenny Knowles " Final
word on the "bad English" discussion with the group.
Since his was the launching comment prompting the
heated grammar debate within our online community,
his should be the last word on the subject.
Have a great weekend, all!
Sincerely,
Adele Bienvenu
Moderator, Online Ads Discussion Forum
adele_at_o-a.com
KENNY KNOWLES <angeloak_at_sc.rr.cojm> WROTE:
Thank you to everyone who responded to my question of grammar.
The question was not meant as a correction to Denise or anyone
else. It was a legitimate question of how words should be used
in the Internet world. I am, after all, a college student and
am simply trying to understand the best way to communicate in
each realm. To our moderator: it was not meant to be a side
track to advertising issues but a legitimate question
concerning them.
The two most important pieces of information I gleaned from
your answers are:
1) Remember who your audience is and use the words that will
best convey the meaning you want them to understand. This
may seem like freshman material, but I am working with plenty
of brick and mortar businesses in local television and radio
advertising who forget certain phrases mean different things
in other parts of the USA and can be way off base in other
countries. On the web, anyone in the world might log on
and may totally misconstrue your words.
2) The absence of face-to-face and body language can turn a
simple innocent comment into a terrible insult and the use
of emoticons may or may not help. Just look at all the
apparent "understandings" of my initial question. This
makes it apparent that grammar is much less important than
meaning. Over the last two years I have seen many arguments
in this forum over misunderstanding of words. Just as an
offhand verbal remark might be taken the wrong way by someone
standing next to you, a slip of the fingers might lead to
problems online.
BTW ;) my marketing classes have gotten a real eye-opener
out of this whole interchange, too.
Thanks again.
Kenny Knowles
Charleston Southern University
Angeloak_at_sc.rr.com <mailto:Angeloak_at_sc.rr.com>
Received on Fri Jun 08 2001 - 13:32:59 CDT
