Hi again, Larry!
This feel a little like spam, but...
It's a common mistake, and I have to watch out for it myself. There
really are rules for using colons and semicolons.
Lesse...
The general rule of thumb is to use colons when you want to show a list
or a conclusion, like so:
"These are the first two days of the week: Monday and Tuesday."
"There was only one thing to do with the dirty bastard that stole my
money: I shot him."
Semicolons are a way of finishing off one thought and then launching
immediately into a related thought, so they are quite literally a cross
between a period and a comma, as the symbol itself implies:
"I'm not necessarily saying that he's all that slimy; I just said he's
a
slug."
Okay, Larry. I'll keep this in mind in the future.
The key thing to remember is that a semicolon ISN'T just another kind
of
comma, so don't overuse it!
OF COURSE it isn't a comma. I knew that. After all, it has that period at
the top! ^_^
You were probably thinking of the duty uniform, which has the long
coat.
That's unarmored. When they are going out in a battlepod, they put on an
armored spacesuit.
As I said, I'd forgotten about this detail. Thanks for pointing it out.
Not everyone these days are necessarily familiar with the Macross
characters, so you should have some descriptions. It's been a long time
since "Robotech" last aired in the US market.
Oh, but I meant that I'd already described her in Chapter 2. Besides, Gloval
talks about her shortly ater.
Maybe I should just say this is an Alt Uni and get over it, right? ^_^
The mind boggles... "The tragic story of a young pilot, on a ten-year
mission, who fell into the "Spring of Drowned Chinese Idol Singer"; now
whenever he's splashed with cold water, he transforms into an insufferable,
conceited bimbo!"
Heheh. As Kenko wrote:
"Trust me, Lieutenant Hunter. This is a neccessary step to your becoming a
perfect Veritech pilot."
Rick glanced at Uncle Henry, and then returned an uncertain glance to the
pit
filed with cats...
^_^
Now THAT's a fusion I wouldn't mind reading.
Nope, I don't hate 'em. I use 'em more than most people I know!
The problem's not how many times you use it, but that you use it properly,
right?
"Fitment" is a British word, not an American one. Also, the definition
is wrong for the use you put it to. It means "furnishing, fixture, or
cabinetry" -- in other words, it refers to furniture, not machinery.
Blame my dictionary, that describes 'fitment' as a synonym for 'fitting' and
'accesory'...
Oh, okay, blame me. ^_^
English as a Second Language catching you up short, eh? ^_-
How did you... realize... Oh, yeah, the 'Latin' is a real gaveaway, ne? ^_^
Your version wasn't correct usage. "How could two people be so loud"
is
a question, not a statement.
Okay. Now I know.
"war-torn"
Um, don't think so. Morgan told me the same, but when I looked it up, the
hyphen wasn't there. I'll check again, though.
Believe us, that's the correct way to write it. It's even built into
spell-checkers that way.
Okay, I surrender. Blame my dictionary, again.
He didn't say that he wasn't a pilot, but he did tell her he wasn't a
soldier. What he was saying didn't click with her at the time; since he
was
a pilot, and she was overloaded with concerns, she just assumed that any
pilot in a Varitech had to be qualified, and blocked out the rest of his
words. Since Rick had just been bragging to Roy about how good he was a
few
minutes before, he didn't put up a much of a protest as he should have.
Well, this story is based on McKinney's books, and there Rick DIDN'T say he
wasn't a soldier. Rick's lines in that scene (I actually looked it up, just
in case)?
- "You don't mean _me_, do you, lady?
- "Huh? What?"
- "What d'you mean take off? The runway's demolished!"
- "Well, okay. If you insist."
No "I'm a noncombatant." there. I really don't rememer the first episodes of
the anime that well, so I'm using the novels as a guide.
Not in practical terms, but that's how that particular sentence goes.
It's a usage thing.
Won't argue that with you. Will change.
That's redundant. Just "idiot" or "moron" would do nicely, thank you.
That was a joke. Not a very good one, mind you. ^_^
If you want a more elaborate insult that fits the situation, then
"smart-mouthed idiot" might do.
That's a very good insult, Larry. I'll use it, all right.
As I said, there're too many insults out there for this to be a problem. ^_^
"Detract" most commonly means to "diminish the importance, value, or
effectiveness of something"
Thanks for the explanation. I'll be more careful.
How about this: "Gloval practically leaped to Lisa's board, where two
different screens were displayed."
This would certainly work, but I've already rewriten that bit. Thanks for
the suggetion, though.
"Hairdresser" is a term that has the connotation of a person who works
on women's hair. The unisex equivalent of a barber is a "hair stylist",
but
the older term is still used.
As I said, I believe you're right. I think Gloval'd use 'barber' himself, so
it's in now.
If you had phrased it "thank God that he's fine", you would be right
about not needing the comma. In this particular case, the comma takes the
place of the missing word.
The comma goes. I just didn't notice the pause while reading the phrase
aloud (that doesn't always work, you know).
Strangely enough, it's a real word in colloquial English, and has a
correct way of spelling it!
Really? I didn't know. I'll use 'um' from now on.
Yep. There are any number of "politically correct" ways of describing
skin tones... but "brown-faced" isn't one of them! It's a bit too close to
the insult "brown-nose"!
See? There're insults everywhere! ^_^
I'll use another adjective.
In this use, the words mean pretty much the same thing. "Containing"
just doesn't go with the sentence grammatically.
Well then I'll change it or 'enveloping'. What do you think?
And that's it for round two of the comments!
And that's it for round two of responses! Thank you very much again, Larry,
for all your help.
Bye and good luck,
Latin_D