Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Suffice it to say that I enjoy and learn more from this Forum than most of the other (BMW, Corvette and Porsche) websites that I use. There's not a time when I don't learn something by tuning in on Packard topics. I am impressed by the body of knowledge and experience of the contributors. But, being the son of an English teacher and having had to write professionally for my living, there's a small point I'd like to make about two little words that are pronounced the same but with very different uses.

The word "it's" is a contraction, meaning that several letters have been left out to shorten it, instead of going to the trouble of saying it is, it has, it was, etc. The inclusion of the apostrophe does not make it work where you might want to use it as a possessive. That would be "its". So the next time you want to say something about possession, save the wear and tear on the apostrophe key and just leave out the little punctuation mark. The sentence: "It's a shame to criticize its uses." might illustrate its proper use.

This forum is light years ahead of both the Corvette and BMW forums. Bimmer fans speak in arcane terms that require slide rules and cheat sheets to know chassis and model designations. Porsche forums do much the same to limit communication to insiders. Corvette forums, while guilty of some of this, also engage in creative spelling uses. I would not be surprised to see them write: "It brakes my heart if I couldn't put petals to the meddle." May God bless all of us as we struggle with our beloved English.

I'm reminded of the song in My Fair Lady where Professor Higgins is singing the praises of the English language and it being such a glorious sound. He goes on to chastise Miss Doolittle and her murder of her native tongue and then stated that Americans hadn't used English for years -- so in that respect, perhaps we can be forgiven for our lapses.

Let's not lose sight` of the fact that English, like all languages, is constantly evolving...

IMHO there are few viable rules for use and placement of commas...and ellipses should have as many dots as they need to achieve the proper emotional response.

Even when trying to observe the rules, some days one's fingers hit wrong keys......

It doesn't surprise me that BMW people can't spell or use grammar. Look at their choice of cars! I made the mistake of buying one of those piles of s*#t several years ago and it rivaled MG for extremely poor quality. Bimmers are over-engineered rolling money-pits that cost a fortune to maintain. After we dumped our 528 for literally nothing just to get out of it, we bought a Cadillac CTS that performs just as well, costs less, looks better, and -- brace yourself, Bimmer owners -- is reliable. There are a ton of great acronyms for BMW: Blew My Wad, Busted My Wallet, Bavarian Manure Wagon ... ad infinitum.

I's thinks we all's does well with are grahamer. Sorry, couldn't resist

-Garrett

It's obvious: Anybody with a vette or bimmer don't noe nothin 'bout nobody the same as Dan Quayle the "potatoe" man.

I will except your offer . .

Profound thanks, Dave, for launching this long overdue thread. Most here gathered demonstrate a grasp of the mother tongue above and beyond most dumb car guy sites, perhaps not surprising as they've the education to appreciate and afford
Packard refinement. A few glimpses of Company publications,
especially from the brass era through the Alvan Macauley
years, he leaving April, 1948, reveal this refinement extended to advertising, shop and parts manuals, press releases.

That, and tho' this be an informal venue 'mongst kindred spirits, bothering to proof what you write before clicking submit is a simple show of courtesy, respect for the reader.
Also, we tend to question the credibility of the poster's
knowledge when he shows less than a nodding familiarity with the language we all share.

The Packard family was of direct English ancestry, after all, and i note the 1941-47 Clipper Master Parts Book refers to my car's hood as the "bonnet." So given the fine engineering throughout our cars; that Packard consistently
offered in all endeavors, and advertised in the New Yorker and Literary Digest, among others, we might bother to put a wee bit of effort into our posts.

Thanks again, Dave.

While I wince at some of the English? I see in various forums, I am inclined to be lenient when the post carries valuable information. The only ones that really irritate are those posing a fluff question just to see their avatar or name in print.

I do own a BMW and frequent some of the BMW websites. I do think that generally the BMW sites have members who are ,for the most part , younger than those of us who own Packards. That may explain the misuse of the English language found on certain but not all of these enthusiast sites. The use of proper grammar and hand writing was taught to a higher standard in the era when most members of this forum went to school. I would hazard a guess that an elementary school graduate in the 1950's would have a much better understanding of proper grammar than a college graduate of this century.