SIGIA-L Mail Archives: RE: SIGIA-L: Style Issues
RE: SIGIA-L: Style Issues
From: Deb.Reiser_at_nuedgesystems.com
Date: Fri Mar 01 2002 - 10:11:00 EST
Just so I'm clear, my initial comment to Heather was in regard to pointing
out that in/into are prepositions that are not interchangeable. So when you
state that "I log in to the site" seems good to you, it would be if "log
in" is indeed being viewed as a full verb (which seems to be the case
based on what others have posted so I stand corrected). However, if we
change "log" to "crawled", we again have a different animal. In that case
"into" would be the proper preposition to use (unless "crawled in" has been
accepted as complete verb when I wasn't looking ;).
I agree that there are exceptions to everything and accepted usage and
context plays a role in how our language evolves. However, there are
instances when something is outright wrong and the books I referenced in my
original email are two resources that can help us identify those things. I
realize that's a tough statement, but if you've ever been in the position
where you've had to implement a new corporate style guide or methodology, I
think you'll get my drift. Sometimes you have to play logo cop or
methodology cop or grammar cop to get things off on solid footing. I guess
I'm the type who says 'yes, rules can be broken or changed, but only after
you know and respect the original rules.'
deb
dave heller wrote:
>What if you don't have a noun to complete your preposition?
>"Time to log In."
>
>Or even w/ the noun ... "I log in to the site" seems good to me.
>
>One of the things that great grammarians fail to remember is that there
are exceptions to everything. Many verbs carry and absolute prepositional
following. Often these >prepositions only make sense to native speakers as
they don't carry the exact meaning of the preposition, but instead work
directly with the verb and really don't make sense >to anyone who is
learning the language. Anyone who's taken a foreign language at some point
always learns that prepositions is one of the worst parts of the process.
>-- dave
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