Thanks for making the newsgroop alive

[Will Dye]

I can't reach Dallman's address, so I'll post this here.  I don't 
mind a little humiliation :-)

Here's a letter I received...

-------------------begin included file--------------------------

> Your English looks excellent to me, but for the record, it's "arthritis",
> and while it may be caused by a virus, the condition itself is not a
> virus.  We also say "susceptible to viruses", not receptable.  Don't
> worry, you English is still better than many Americans :-)
> 

Sorry to have to do this to you, but you've got three grammatical errors
in that paragraph!  :-)

The first two are simply that in American English, it's standard to put
the commas and periods *inside* the end-quotes.  E.g., "it's 'arthritis,'
and while it may be caused . . . ."

The second error is that "Americans" needs a possessive apostrophe.  (The
poster's English is not better than "Americans," it's better than
"Americans' [English is]."

Always a risk to post publicly about grammar!

"Not a flame, just a mission."

 __D_a l_l m a_n  _ R o_s s _ |dman at netcom.com  
-----------------end of included file---------------------

AAAArrrrrgggghhh! :-)  I knew it!  Grammatical pride goeth before a fall.
I get the Dan Quayle award for public errors in English.  Thanks, Dallman. 

--Will