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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004The people at NASA needs more Englishes.
I was skimming through this article (URL below) on the Mars lander and found half of a dozen grammatical mistakes in the first few paragraphs; methinks NASA needs to begin English classes on campus. http://hispeed.rogers.com/news/world/story.jsp?cid=w011537A  SignatureCommander Venus+ "Let's dance." (circa 2003) commandervenus@rogers.com >I was skimming through this article (URL below) on the Mars lander and found >half of a dozen grammatical mistakes in the first few paragraphs; methinks >NASA needs to begin English classes on campus. > >http://hispeed.rogers.com/news/world/story.jsp?cid=w011537A What you have posted is a story with an Associated Press attribution that has been re-printed on a Canadian isp's website. The AP reporter is the guilty party if there are errors. If you wish to critique the grammar of the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, see their press release at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20040115a.html >>I was skimming through this article (URL below) on the Mars lander >>and found half of a dozen grammatical mistakes in the first few >>paragraphs; methinks NASA needs to begin English classes on >>campus. >> >>http://hispeed.rogers.com/news/world/story.jsp?cid=w011537A > What you have posted is a story with an Associated Press > attribution that has been re-printed on a Canadian isp's website. > The AP reporter is the guilty party if there are errors. I wonder if the AP reporter used the spellings "manoeuvre" and "centimetre", or if someone at the Canadian ISP made the changes. > If you wish to critique the grammar of the California Institute > of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, see their press release > at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20040115a.html Or the grammar of JPL's press office, anyway. Another JPL press release, <http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/wheels01.html>, uses a word, or at least a spelling, that's new to me: "flecture". It refers to the curvy things that connect the wheel rims to the hubs. I assume it's just a new spelling of "flexure", analogous to anorexic/anorectic. NASA seems to have a fondness for uncommon spellings; back when I read "NASA Tech Briefs", they always used "aline" instead of "align". There were others as well, but I don't recall what they were. SignatureRay Heindl (remove the Xs to reply) > I was skimming through this article (URL below) on the Mars lander > and found half of a dozen grammatical mistakes in the first few > paragraphs; methinks NASA needs to begin English classes on > campus. Why not "half a dozen" or "six", rather than "half of a dozen"? -- Mike Nitabach >> I was skimming through this article (URL below) on the Mars lander >> and found half of a dozen grammatical mistakes in the first few >> paragraphs; methinks NASA needs to begin English classes on >> campus. > >Why not "half a dozen" or "six", rather than "half of a dozen"? A half-dozen. Google's calculator does not like the hyphen. It translates "half-dozen" into -6. What a shame that we have to share the same symbol for so many things. Best regards, Spehro Pefhany Signature"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com On Fri, 16 Jan 2004, in alt.usage.english, Spehro Pefhany <speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> writes >>> I was skimming through this article (URL below) on the Mars lander >>> and found half of a dozen grammatical mistakes in the first few [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >translates "half-dozen" into -6. What a shame that we have to share >the same symbol for so many things. I would say "Half-a-dozen". However, NASA are not British. SignatureMark Browne If replying by email, please use the "Reply-To" address, as the "From" address will be rejected > On Fri, 16 Jan 2004, in alt.usage.english, Spehro Pefhany > <speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> writes [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > I would say "Half-a-dozen". However, NASA are not British. It sure isn't. -- Mike Nitabach Spehro Pefhany filted: >>Why not "half a dozen" or "six", rather than "half of a dozen"? > >A half-dozen. Google's calculator does not like the hyphen. It >translates "half-dozen" into -6. What a shame that we have to share >the same symbol for so many things. Then it's messing things up..."half minus a dozen" (as I assume it's trying to parse it) would be -11.5.... Whatever...as we say in my family, it's half of one, six dozen of the other....r > Spehro Pefhany filted: >> [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > Whatever...as we say in my family, it's half of one, six dozen of the > other....r It's parsing "half" a "negative dozen" (-12) m. >> I was skimming through this article (URL below) on the Mars lander >> and found half of a dozen grammatical mistakes in the first few >> paragraphs; methinks NASA needs to begin English classes on >> campus. > > Why not "half a dozen" or "six", rather than "half of a dozen"? Maybe he found only half of the mistakes, of which there were a dozen. Anyway, that's what he wrote. SignatureSkitt (in Hayward, California) www.geocities.com/opus731/ >>> I was skimming through this article (URL below) on the Mars lander >>> and found half of a dozen grammatical mistakes in the first few [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Maybe he found only half of the mistakes, of which there were a dozen. > Anyway, that's what he wrote. Or, he found a dozen mistakes, half of which were in the first few paragraphs. m. > I was skimming through this article (URL below) on the Mars lander and found > half of a dozen grammatical mistakes in the first few paragraphs; methinks > NASA needs to begin English classes on campus. I say let the writers write and let the people who stick things on Mars, stick. |
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