Using "Then" and "Than" correctly

[Tron]

Not putting two spaces after a period and one after a comma.

I took typing courses in high school, back in the '80s when the course was still called "Typing" and not "Keyboarding". I use two spaces after a period, since I learned to type on an actual, mechanical typewriter. Notice, however, that the forum software edits out the extra space ...

 

[cyberham]

I took Typing for two years in the late '60s. One of the most useful courses ever taken. I got out when the test required 50+ wpm to pass. And errors were subtracted from your speed score: accuracy was important.

 

[Pepper]

you bunch of loosers is disappoint to us whom never maeks mitsaeks.

 

[LoTech]

We all make careless mistakes when talking or writing, but I have been a high school teacher for twenty five years, and I have noticed a decline in overall verbal and mathematical skills for some time now. While I attribute some portion of this problem to society in general, I am in a unique position that allows me to see what others outside the field do not. The main problem, I think, is that basic skills are no longer emphasized.

For the past twenty or so years, politicians have been either directly or indirectly running our schools. They look at the students like products that can be improved by adding more and more things to the curriculum. They want fourth grade students to be able to write coherent essays and solve algebraic equations; and in their haste to "improve" education, they push teachers to neglect the basic skills that students need to function properly in order to teach these new "mandated" skills. The teacher's answer to the problem is to give students calculators and word processors as soon as they are capable of using them to substitute for the basic skills that are no longer being emphasized. All of this, of course, has a snowball effect which compounds the problem as students progress through school.

The politicians' answer to this mess is to "dumb down" state tests until they only test a small set of skills; much of which is not necessary to function in life or to progress to higher education. Has anyone been through a fast food drive through lately? What happens when you give the teenager at the window $10.25 for a meal that costs $5.23? I did this and it took five minutes and two managers to figure out the change.

 

[papabruski]

"Yonder nor sorghum stenches shut ladle gulls stopper torque wet strainers."
Howard L. Chace, 1956

 

[Mr Tony]

moved to chit chat area as it really has nothing to do with FTA

 

[toucan-man]

Hey, LoTech, how is your students' penmanship these days? Is that a basic skill you feel still matters today?

 

[stardust3]

I really got a kick out of PP's posts. The grammar & spelling were terrible but were entertaining to read, trying to figure out what the heck he was saying was part of the fun. Was it real or a joke? I don't know, but it sure seems a person would have to put forth considerable effort to be that dysfunctional.

 

[RT-Cat]

That went out with typewriters. In the modern publishing world, just one space to avoid too much white space on the page. My pet peeve is "add" when talking about an "ad" that advertises things for sale.

I took typing courses in high school, back in the '80s when the course was still called "Typing" and not "Keyboarding". I use two spaces after a period, since I learned to type on an actual, mechanical typewriter. Notice, however, that the forum software edits out the extra space ...

In today's world if it was kept in, the host would have to add a gig or two drive just to store them.
.
Some "white space" is good in any publication. If not, the document will look cluttered, crammed, or squeezed.

RT

 

[LoTech]

Hey, LoTech, how is your students' penmanship these days? Is that a basic skill you feel still matters today?

Penmanship (if you can call it that) is atrocious. I know that they no longer teach cursive writing around here, and what students do scratch on a piece of paper can hardly be called print. I knew we had hit rock bottom when a student asked what language the Declaration of Independence was written in because they couldn't read cursive.

 

[Pepper]

Penmanship (if you can call it that) is atrocious. I know that they no longer teach cursive writing around here, and what students do scratch on a piece of paper can hardly be called print. I knew we had hit rock bottom when a student asked what language the Declaration of Independence was written in because they couldn't read cursive.

The scary part is that this student is, upon reaching age 18, capable of voting or even getting elected to public office.

 

[Strino]

Penmanship (if you can call it that) is atrocious. I know that they no longer teach cursive writing around here, and what students do scratch on a piece of paper can hardly be called print. I knew we had hit rock bottom when a student asked what language the Declaration of Independence was written in because they couldn't read cursive.

That student was just re-affirming to you his career choice was going to be sanitation/janitorial related. The United States wants to see its children have the same calibre education as most European children -- very broad and diverse. Unfortunately, the U.S educational system needs to learn to crawl before it can start running.

A contributing factor to this educational problem is that some of these new teachers are half-wits that barely made it through the education system themselves. They're hoping that they can learn from the students and that nobody will notice their ineptitude, and that the student will receive the blame for the low test scores and poor education. It is a result of the collaborative test taking and group assignments that educators have been using for the last two decades; While grading groups instead of grading individually is faster, it hides the true quality of education a child receives because they are graded as a group effort. How much each student has retained using this method gets washed out in the grading.

Gone are the days where you'd be sitting in math class as a student, and a student raises his/her hand and points out to the instructor that their answer isn't the same as what the instructor has; the student then begins to show/solve the problem in class and the instructor realizes.. "The book is wrong" or... "I made a mistake on the board". They just blindly follow the book these days, because the teachers don't even know the answer or the lesson plan sufficiently to teach without a book.

Of all fields of study... Mathematics and Science are NOT generally open to interpretation. The answer is either right or its wrong. Close enough is another word for incorrect.

We're in sad state of affairs for the most part -- these are the leaders of tomorrow.

 

[digiblur]

I keep loosing my picture ,do you think I might have a lose connection .

That one drives me up the wall... I always tell people they should tighten up that signal if it is loose.

Another one is the duel LNB. Now that would be cool to see two LNBs fight.

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

 

[TNGTony]

I am the world's worst grammarian. But certain words when misused drive me bonkers! The then/than issue actually throws me off! I am dyslexic so when I see then where than should be I think I misread the sentence and go back and reread it to understand what the writer was trying to communicate. There is a difference between misspelling and just plain using the wrong word!

From my Sig. for those that have them blocked:

THERE= a place. not here - THEIR= belongs to them - THEY'RE = short for "They Are".

THEN = a point in time; not now. - THAN = used to compare things. (Better then than now)

If you tried 4 times to move forward, it was the FOURTH time you went FORTH!

Something AFFECTS you. You have an EFFECT on something. You have personal AFFECTS. A movie has special EFFECTS

Some one can win a MEDAL made of a METAL like gold for showing his METTLE (courage)

If something is LOOSE you might LOSE it.

Your=belongs to "you" - You're short for "you are"

You file a suit in court. You wear a suit in court. You stay in a suite at the hotel. You sweat it out. Victory is sweet!

If two sets of twin brothers have a gunfight, you have a Dual Duel

MUTE=Silent, unable to talk. MOOT= No longer relevant or important. "A mute points out a moot point."

 

[TNGTony]

Oh righty than........

Haha! That's "Alrighty then...."

 

[rogerduncan100]

The one I can't stand is when people mean to say they "couldn't care less" and instead they say they "could care less". It makes no sense.

 

[mdonnelly]

... There is a difference between misspelling and just plain using the wrong word!

...

+1

Just because two words sound alike doesn't make them synonymous.

 

[Pepper]

Haha! That's "Alrighty then...."

Actually "All righty then..." - "All right" is always two words, there is no such word "alright."

 

[cyberham]

al·right
? ?[awl-rahyt]
adverb
all right.

Usage note
The form alright as a one-word spelling of the phrase all right in all of its senses probably arose by analogy with such words as already and altogether. Although alright is a common spelling in written dialogue and in other types of informal writing, all right is used in more formal, edited writing.

Example Sentences
If you do not understand a question, it is alright to ask that the question be repeated or clarified.
Alright: anyone who claims that having religious beliefs benefits the brain has got a lot of verification and explaining to do.
Oh, he is being alright a being that looks at people as objects, not people.

 

[Strino]

I've lost count of how many times I've heard people say "irregardless"

"Irregardless of the sun shining today, it is still cold outside." 'Regardless of what you just stated, irregardless is not a word.'