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Tue 29 Jan, 2008 08:55 am
Hi
Could someone please edit this short story for me. Thank you very much.
There was a miser who had worked all of his life, and saved most of his money.
One day, when he was very sick, he said to his wife, "When I die, I want all my money to be put it in the coffin and be buried with me."
A few days later, he died and was placed in the coffin. His wife was sitting near the coffin, and her friend was sitting next to her.
When the ceremony was over, just before the undertakers got ready to close the coffin, the wife said, "Wait just a minute!"
She put the box she was carrying in the coffin. Then the undertakers locked the coffin and they rolled it away.
Her friend who knew the man's wish asked, "Margaret, did you put all the money in the box as your husband instructed before he passed away."
The wife replied, "I promised him that I was going to put his money in his coffin."
"You mean to tell me you put his money in his coffin?"
The wife said, "I withdrew all the money in our account and wrote him a cheque. If he can cash it, he can spend it in the next world."
Not only is that a very amusing story, Yoong Liat, but I do not really think it needs any editing.
Thanks, Contrex.
I believe my progress in English is due very much to your guidance. Of course, I must not forget the other members who have helped me too.
Best regards
You flatter me, Yoong Liat. Your progress in English is due to your intelligence and hard work. I am glad therefore to help in my poor way whenever I can.
Just one thing... I would replace the full stop with a question mark here:
Quote:"Margaret, did you put all the money in the box as your husband instructed before he passed away?"
One more minor note:
Quote:"When I die, I want all my money to be put it in the coffin and be buried with me."
should be
Quote:"When I die, I want all my money to be put in my coffin and be buried with me."
(The second "be" is also optional, I left it though.)
A more content-based criticism -- why did the widow withdraw all of their money? It makes more sense/ is funnier if she just plain writes a check.
Great story
I have a question though. Why do you call a period a "full stop"?
contrex wrote:Not only is that a very amusing story, Yoong Liat, but I do not really think it needs any editing.
Hi Contrex
Another careless mistake of mine. I don't why I've the tendency to be careless although I'm a careful person.
TTH wrote:Great story
I have a question though. Why do you call a period a "full stop"?
"Period' is AmE. 'Full stop' is the BrE version.
Thanks, Sozobe
Another careless mistake of mine.
TTH wrote:Yoong Liat wrote:TTH wrote:Great story
I have a question though. Why do you call a period a "full stop"?
"Period' is AmE. 'Full stop' is the BrE version.
Thank you
Is that not widely known outside the BrE zone? I mean, every Brit kid knows that "period" means "full stop" in American English. And many know that some Yanks call exclamation marks "exclamation points" and brackets "parentheses". (There is no need to tell me about the latter being the proper name for them). Incidentally, does everybody call this ("#") a "hash sign"? (That is what I call it)
Hi Contrex
Incidentally, does everybody call this ("#") a "hash sign"? (That is what I call it)
I know it is a 'hash' sign, but most Singaporeans call it 'hex'.
By the way, have you any idea how the Americans call this sign? If i'm not wrong, they just call it 'number'.
I'd call it a "pound sign" probably. A telephone key that has that symbol is called the "pound key."
sozobe wrote:I'd call it a "pound sign" probably. A telephone key that has that symbol is called the "pound key."
That is interesting, and a little curious, because on a UK layout keyboard, the pound currency sign is obtained by holding shift and pressing the 3 key (the one on the main key layout, not the one on the keypad) whereas I believe that the US layout has the hash sign as I call it in that position.
However, Wikipedia makes it all clear.
To answer your question contrex, I don't know anyone that calls a period a full stop. The # sign is either called the pound sign or number sign where I live.
Hi JTT
Conrex uses BrE. So do I. In Briitish English the dot at the end of the sentence is called a full stop. You use AmE and those you talk to are Americans, I presume. Ask a British friend of yours and s/he will tell you that it is a 'full stop'.
By the way #1 is 'number 1' when spoken in AmE. Just to confirm that I get it right.
Many thanks.
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