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@MontereyJack,

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JTT, you're a tiresome and irrelevant pedant,

A quick check of the facts illustrates who the pedant is, MJ.

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and as usual you totally miss the point.

I've missed the point, MJ. Really?

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It had to do with the fact that English doctors, or scholars, or whatever Oristar's original phrase was would commonly be taken to refer to doctors from England, not English-speaking doctors (tho of course English doctors would probably be English-speaking too).

Don't you think that it might be somehow pertinent to go back and check to see what Ori really wrote before you offer him advice.

Here's your quote:

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"English scholars and doctors" sounds like you only want people from England participating, which is not, I gather, your intent".

That was Ceili's edit of Oristar's original sentence. Perhaps you ought to have offered your "advice" to Ceili.

Here's what Ori originally wrote:

in which native English-speaking scholars, doctors and technicians will communicate with Chinese members directly in English language.

I reiterate.

The Elements of Style ... enormous influence has not improved American students' grasp of English grammar; it has significantly degraded it.

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@Ceili,

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I play it by ear.

That can be good, Ceili, but it can also lead to native speaker blindness.

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I understood what you were saying regarding plannings,

If you understood, why would you write,

If you think he should use plannings, by all means, tell him to use it. You should also explain that you are a champion of slang, and that by most convention, most people who speak english would not say, One of the long term plannings ever.

intimating that I was suggesting a number of things that you understood I wasn't suggesting.

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but when someone is learning english, do you really think it's important to throw a wrench into the explanation?

What wrench? That wasn't a cardinal sin of second language learning. I explained that it was a completely plausible possibility that followed other similar collocations in English [my failings, my dealings] but that it was just not a natural collocation.

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I can't understand why you consistently offer up the obscure as examples. How does validating some obscure little cockney phrase, for example, help correct an obvious 'mistake' a newby makes.

You can see, can't you, how unfair that is, Ceili? How am I to respond to some made up example, or one wherein you failed to understand because of your lack of experience in the field of second language learning?

Where you disagree with my diatribes, Smile

please address them.

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@JTT,

JTT wrote:

Quote:
I understood what you were saying regarding plannings,

If you understood, why would you write,

If you think he should use plannings, by all means, tell him to use it. You should also explain that you are a champion of slang, and that by most convention, most people who speak english would not say, One of the long term plannings ever.

intimating that I was suggesting a number of things that you understood I wasn't suggesting.

Why would you even intimate a possibility that plannings could ever be a word. The fact that you would pick apart that word to prove a point, no matter how obtuse, is the heart of the matter. How was it helpful in any way?
I was suggesting anything, other that giving you free reign to do as you wish. If you want to haggle over a non-word. Find Dave, this finagling over "what could be" is stupid.

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@Ceili,

You failed to address this direct question, Ceili.

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If you understood, why would you write,

Ceili: If you think he should use plannings, by all means, tell him to use it. You should also explain that you are a champion of slang, and that by most convention, most people who speak english would not say, One of the long term plannings ever.

intimating that I was suggesting a number of things that you understood I wasn't suggesting?

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Why would you even intimate a possibility that plannings could ever be a word.

I'll accept that as a clear admission that you didn't understand my point, Ceili, despite you saying you did, because this statement, above, illustrates that you most definitely did not understand.

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How was it helpful in any way?

You still don't understand. Even after the other examples I gave.

It was an overreaction on your part. I merely pointed that out. Nicely.

As shown by the other examples, below, there is nothing preventing 'plannings' from being a word. Just to be clear, I'm suggesting a future potential, not a present condition.

??One of the long-term plannings ...??

One of the long-term detailings ...

One of the long-term failings ...

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I was suggesting anything, other that giving you free reign to do as you wish.

I don't understand this sentence. Is it missing a negative perchance?

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If you want to haggle over a non-word. Find Dave, this finagling over "what could be" is stupid.

That's exactly what language scientists do, Ceili. By discussing these issues, they hope to see patterns in language that will lead to, at the least, two important results: one, we understand language better. Two, ESLs can be shown a pattern whereby they can figure these out themselves.

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