# Grammar help please? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 14, 2002, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-help-please/98189 "2002-03-14T03:10:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kuroashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9a140/32.png) [@kuroashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kuroashi)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-help-please/98189/21 "2002-03-15T01:47:58Z")
:wally just wanted to use that one once! šŸ˜ƒ We tend to get pretty colloquial when posting, eh Knead, youā€™re right, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-help-please/98189/22 "2002-03-15T01:49:57Z")
Hey, thanks, **kuroashi**. I think thatā€™s the first :wally Iā€™ve gotten. Wait, that came out wrong ā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![kuroashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9a140/32.png) [@kuroashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kuroashi)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-help-please/98189/23 "2002-03-15T01:50:54Z")
The putz remark was directed towards struct, BTW, and Iā€™m not saying it seriously. I use ā€œcomma splicesā€ all the time in posts. But at work (I proofread), I have to watch out for things that are going to be printed. ---
**Author:** ![struct](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@struct](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/struct)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-help-please/98189/24 "2002-03-15T02:16:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kuroashi \* > \*\*The putz remark was directed towards struct, BTW, and Iā€™m not saying it seriously. I use ā€œcomma splicesā€ all the time in posts. But at work (I proofread), I have to watch out for things that are going to be printed. \*\* putz (noun) _Vulgar Slang_. A penis. I donā€™t know if itā€™s a grammatical error to use a personā€™s enormous attribute as a predicate adjective to describe that person, but it would be more proper to say ā€œstruct **has** an enormous putzā€ rather than ā€œstruct **is** an enormous putzā€. However, after re-reading the flame, I will have to grant that the meaning you were attempting to convey was more along the lines of the latter than the former, even though the former is the accurate case. šŸ˜› On an unrelated note, have you ever noticed that the writing styles of many typically assigned English Literature authors tend to egregiously violate the rules of formal grammar? Faulkner and Joyce are two that come right to my mind. ---
**Author:** ![kuroashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9a140/32.png) [@kuroashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kuroashi)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-help-please/98189/25 "2002-03-15T02:50:11Z")
OK, youā€™re a fun putz.šŸ˜ƒ We were talking about manuals though, not Faulkner or Silverstein. I donā€™t know what kind of literature you enjoy readingā€¦Hey, maybe we should start a revolt and begin writing computer manuals and such colloquially! Macintosh OS XI will be the Best Seller four weeks straight! People will enjoy reading about photovoltaics again! ---
**Author:** ![struct](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@struct](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/struct)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-help-please/98189/26 "2002-03-15T03:14:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kuroashi \* > \*\*OK, youā€™re a fun putz.šŸ˜ƒ > We were talking about manuals though, not Faulkner or Silverstein. I donā€™t know what kind of literature you enjoy readingā€¦Hey, maybe we should start a revolt and begin writing computer manuals and such colloquially! Macintosh OS XI will be the Best Seller four weeks straight! People will enjoy reading about photovoltaics again! \*\* Bwahaha, we could start a whole cottage industry of canonical authors as technical writers! How about Chaucer supporting Windows: ā€œWhen that error with its screen of blue / doth freeze your system and force you to reboot / although your life is made a living hell / just reinstall kernel32.dll.ā€ Or Shakespeare writing motherboard manuals: ā€œOnce more unto the PCI standard host CPU bridge, dear friends, once more / and close pins 2 and 3 up with our jumper!ā€ Actually Iā€™m a trimmed putz. ;j ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-help-please/98189/27 "2002-03-15T14:11:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kuroashi \* > The putz remark was directed towards struct Oops. Sorry about that. Iā€™d never want to get in the way of another manā€™s putz. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-help-please/98189/28 "2002-03-15T18:40:45Z")
I agree with struct that the software does not affect the basic physical characteristics of a computer (i.e. has no effect on them) so saying a computer ā€œisā€ Windows is not accurate. But it would be acceptable a computer ā€œhasā€ Windows [installed on it and ready for use], and the exact form does depend on the numbers of machines involved. Those computers _have_ Win2000, while the remainder _have_ WindowsXP, except for Jimā€™s laptop, which _has_ Windows 98. Substitute ā€œrunā€, ā€œrunā€ and ā€œrunsā€ (or ā€œuseā€, ā€œuseā€ and ā€œusesā€) for the above verbs and it also works fine. As for comma splicing, try living in a province where prices are often expressed as $51,34 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-help-please/98189.md?page=1)