Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Username

AnWulf

Member Since

June 19, 2011

Total number of comments

616

Total number of votes received

580

Bio

Native English speaker. Conversant in German, Russian, Spanish, and Anglo-Saxon.

Ferþu Hal!

I hav a pilot's license (SEL certificate); I'm a certified diver (NAUI); I'v skydived and was qualified as a paratrooper in the Army (Airborne!); I was a soldier (MI, Armor, Engineer).

I workt for a corporation, was a law enforcement officer, and a business owner.

Bachelor's in Finance; minor in Economics
Masters of Aeronautical Sciences

Strong backer of English spelling reform.

Browncoat

Now I'v written my first novel [ http://www.lulu.com/shop/lt-wolf/the-world-king-book-i-the-reckoning/ebook/product-22015788.html ] and I'm working on others.

http://lupussolus.typad.com
http://lupussolusluna.blogspot.com
http://anwulf.blogspot.com

Latest Comments

“Anglish”

  • September 27, 2011, 12:36am

@addytag ...
"ç = ch as in beach
ie = ee as in bean

Iç hæv(e) his wlity asien, his þahts ared, and his cwiþs ahiered. Nu iç wil to-brekan his liç for he hæþ forþeved þæt-wiç is min. Iç mote don naht for he dweleþ twó þusend mils afar. O min Lavord, ahiere-þu min inting."

Interesting but hard to read. Indeed, there are some words that I'm not sure of the meaning.

BTW, I'v had long debates about whether "ic" in OE was truly said as "iç" in late OE. At best, iç was a late West Saxon dialect pronunciation and likely even then a minor one.

As for spelling ... that's a long soapbox but you must keep in mind how the words were said. Saxons sometimes used diacritics but often not thus mīl was not said like mil tho oft written as mil. Do not believe the oft said myth that OE only had one way to say letters or that they were always said a this way or that way if before this vowel or that vowel. It anfald isn't true.

“Anglish”

  • September 26, 2011, 11:38pm

@ Stanmund ... hallowed = venerable

hallow |ˈhalō|
verb [ trans. ]
honor as holy : the Ganges is hallowed as a sacred, cleansing river | [as adj. ] ( hallowed) hallowed ground.

• formal make holy; consecrate.
• [as adj. ] ( hallowed) greatly revered or respected : in keeping with a hallowed family tradition.

noun archaic
a saint or holy person.

ORIGIN Old English hālgian (verb), hālga (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German heiligen, also to holy .

“Anglish”

  • September 26, 2011, 11:16pm

@Ængelfolc ... Back to scrutiny ... My question was more about the OHG cródon, scrutón ... Did these come to German from scrutari? Or did scrutari come from the OHG? Or are they even akin?

“Anglish”

  • September 26, 2011, 11:02pm

@Ængelfolc ... I wasn't fraining your knowledge of OE forefasts "to-" and "tô-" for dis-, I was only thinking that develop would have been tovelop and then undeveloped would be untoveloped. Tho I like the German forefasts zer- and ver- better for they are less bewildering than "to" for "dis".

Speaking of German ... I'v found a whole list of German words in the English wordbook.

money - gelt (from Geld)
science - wissenschaft
pleasant, cheerful - gemütlich, gemütlichkeit
community (depending on type) - gemeinschaft, geselleshaft
spirit - geist
speech voice - sprechstimme

... and many others!

Now if I could just find genau and spiegel in the English wordbook! lol

“Anglish”

  • September 26, 2011, 10:22pm

Well guys, I've been offline for a week and I see that not much has changed in the world! lol

@addyatg ... Pashto should certainly be a challenge! I was lucky that the time between Basic and the start of my DLI class was pretty short. I stayed over at Ft. Leonard Wood for about week doing "casuals" there ... amazing the difference in attitudes of the drill sergeants once you've completed Basic and were officially a soldier. Then I took a little leave enroute to visit the folks so I arrived at DLI - Lackland with only a few days before the start of my class. Just enuff time to get settled in.

How long is the course for Pashto? Russian was 48 weeks when I went thru it.

Pled versus pleaded

  • September 18, 2011, 3:37pm

@Marian ... of course pled is a word. But in case you don't believe me:

From M-W:
plead, verb \ˈplēd\
plead·ed\ˈplē-dəd\ or *** pled ***also plead\ˈpled\plead·ing ... ***emphasis mine.

If that isn't enuff ... It's worth seven points in Scrabble http://www.wordnik.com/words/pled

my being vs me being

  • September 18, 2011, 7:51am

Both forms are correct! This is NOT an either/or.

In Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, the byspel and explanation are:

Do you mind me asking a question?

Do you mind my asking a question?

In the first sentence, the queried objection is to 'me', as opposed to other members of the group, asking a question. In the second example, the issue is whether a question may be asked at all.

---

“Can my car be repossessed without me being warned?”

“Can my car be repossessed without my being warned?”

In the first sentence, the frain is to 'me', as opposed to other members of the group, being warned. In the second byspel, the issue is whether any person may be warned at all.

“Anglish”

  • September 18, 2011, 1:12am

@Jayles ... LOL ... a thru-deck cruiser ... and no-one asked? I would have asked just for my own curiosity!

@Ængelfolc ... The OE forefast for 'dis' seems to be 'to' or 'tô' (Ger. zer). I don't mind Latin fore and afterfasts as long as they don't swap out an OE one. The only word that I know of that still has the 'ed-' forefast (re-) is eddy ... and even there it is somewhat hidden. Maybe it would just be eather to brook 'wrap' for 'velop' ... then develop would be unwrap ... still stuck with un-unwrapped for undeveloped tho.

If you have the references for all that about 'velop', I'll pass it along. ... And maybe keep develop in the wordstock.

Here's another odd one: scrutiny/scrutinize. ... The etymology is given as early 15c from Latin ... Yet, it is clearly in OE! It might be an early borrowing from Latin but it was there way before the 15c!

scrûtnian (ûd) to examine, scrutinize, consider
scrûtnung (ûd) f. search, investigation

[Cf. O. H. Ger. scródon, scrutón from L scrutari?]

“Anglish”

  • September 18, 2011, 12:44am

@Jayles ... research ... that's a Latinate tho search does look a lot like seek.

Seek is a great verb ... we don't really need search. One would think that since research is to 'look/search again', that one there would be a re- kind of word for seek ... as in edseek or even reseek but alas, there isn't.

There is 'aseek' in OE: âsêcan to seek out, select: search out, examine, explore: seek for, require. PPs: search thru, penetrate. ['aseek']

±cunnian (w. g. or a.) to search into, try, test, seek for, explore, investigate,
B, Bo, Sol; Æ, CP: experience: have experience of, to make trial of. ['cun'] ... cunning.

þurhsêcan to search through, inquire thoroughly into ['thruseek']

I thought 'beseek' would be one with 'be' as an intensifier ... but that becomes beseech!

And there are lots of other words for search/investigate/test/probe.

“Anglish”

  • September 18, 2011, 12:24am

@jayles ... I must andett (confess) that I chose 'rootless' for evolvable more as a policy remark. I could have chosen 'growable' that would have fit NASA's meaning. Then again, growable would have meant using the Latinate 'able' as a afterfast.

I think if I were picking Latinates to keep, 'able' would be one of them. English has turned it into a good afterfast. In English, -able is used for erd-words (native words), -ible for words of eath-seen Latin origin. The Latin afterfast is not etymologically akin with able, but "it long has been popularly associated with it, and this has contributed to its survival as a living suffix". It is akin to the second sound of rudder and saddle.

I could go thru and find a more anglo afterfast ... but 'able' makes one lazy! lol

betterment >>> development ... putting aside the Latinate afterfast -ment, maybe but here it might be bettermental.

Then you must look at the whole wordset ... evolvable development approach
... growable (plug-in) betterment way? The problem is that the "English" is bad ... It should probably be evolvable developmental approach. Which would make your way ... plug-in bettermental way. That's still bewildering and befuddling!

Truly, the paragraph could be written: We're going to spend money without a plan.

A few of the hardest Latinates to tackle were:
inflation ... there are some good OE choices ... forblow, to blow out, inflate>>> forblowness; inblow, to blow in, inflate, puff up ... and inspire>>> inblowness; to to(e)blow, to blow to pieces, blast, scatter, puff up, extend>>>toeblowness, to(e)thind, swell up, inflate>>> toethindness.

Not so good choices for these ... most of the OE words have changed meanings or have a different shade nowadays. I can see why the onefold (anfeld) Latinates were brought in!
cost - dear± something
price - cheap± something
pay, payment ... yield, ayield, foryield, gild, gyld ± something, ±sceat/sheett/sheatt/skeatt, ±gafol, ±gescot (scot ... tax ... as in "scot-free")
money = fee, shat (Middle Eng - (a) Money, treasure; -- also pl.; (b) goods, property; -- also pl.; on ~, in property; (c) a portion; ~ ful.)

Questions

What can I do besides... October 8, 2011