I’m just reading for review a book called Being Virtual by Davey Winder.
It’s about online worlds like Second Life. In the chapter on those who choose an avatar of the opposite sex, there’s the comment that one way to tell is that men tend to use punctuation in chat, while women don’t.
Hmm. I’m starting to look through those Nature Network blog entries. Is everyone out there what they seem?
Hello ducky do you fancy a good time
What if you pretend to be a male but are actually a chicken?
A male chicken would be a rooster.
One of the world’s leading experts on the word ‘the’ (he’s written several definitive articles) is a translation specialist, and he impressed a lot of people when he looked at two translations, and identified (correctly) one as being done by a man and the other by a woman. Apparently people tend to use ‘the’ less often when discussing items they are familiar with, and this text was set in the kitchen.
That’s rather ambiguous, Bob.
‘the’ (he’s written several definitive articles)
ba-boom tish
Bob—but were either of the translators Japanese? As the language does not have the definite or indefinite article, this can cause a lot of subeditor headscratching. It is easier to edit a manuscript where the author has left them all out, but the ones where the author has had a stab at choosing whether a definite or indefinite article is appropriate, though a laudable thing to try to do, are a nightmare to decipher.
Is that right, Miss Moneypenny?
I’ve edited or reviewed a few manuscripts from various people in India, and find that use of the (especially definite) article is invariably exactly wrong. That is, it’s there when it should not be and missing when called for.
Maxine – I think that’s why this guy became interested in the problem. Finnish also doesn’t have articles, so expresses definiteness in other ways. You’re right that it can be really difficult to sort out the language when they’re guessing – I’ve had to do it quite a lot when language-checking manuscripts. I get through a lot of red pens…
What if you pretend to be a male but are actually a chicken?
What the Cluck!!
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