I know this to be very true, but i have managed to learn most of what not to do on my own over a long time who knows.. maybe in looking through this site i can fill in the rest of the blanks

and how come the t-shirts can't be theme aware too? when your selling themes why not sell a like t-shirt?

I like this one your selling:

https://www.wincustomize.com/window.asp?Cmd=PREVIEW&source=https://www.wincustomize.com/images/store/LWN-shirt.jpg

how come there isn't a bunch of shirts with logos and designes on them??

you can use www.cafepress.com or some site like it.

The majority of people do not have an adequate command of the English language. This often comes to the fore when using the written word. Frequently on this message board questions are asked, and not understood by the reader, because of poor English. When the question is answered incorrectly, the writer becomes frustrated.

Of course it is partly the responsibility of the reader to realize some people do not have the ability to make themselves understood clearly. I am a member of another list where a couple of valued members are often peceived as being agressive, argumentative and rude, by quite a large number of people. This often leads to massive flame wars. One of the members is Russian, the other is German; BOTH of them are writing in a second language! Can you imagine the difficulty conveying feeling and expression in a foreign language! Someone asks a question, another replies in an apparently abrupt manner, and its 'here we go again'!

So the moral is: if someone is not making themselves clear, be patient and understanding. They know what they meant even if you don't. Please try to be understanding and thoughtful. Help them as much as you can without becoming frustrated yourself. We are all here to help each other. If you do ask a question, there is nearly always someone willing to help - that's what makes this a community, and a damn good one at that.

Remember also, 'there's always a bigger fish' - I like to think my English is pretty good; I'm sure if my university professor read some of the things written by me here, the poor guy would turn in his grave...

Soapbox over...

Brad, in the English language there are often a number of words to convey the same message. Each one has it's own nuances and subtleties. This is where conotation comes into play. Finding the right word, with the right set of nuances, subtleties and conotation is the tricky part. I've found with time, you learn them. It does, however, require that you keep your vocabulary small. Not so small as to seem a simpleton, but small enough so that you always remain in command of it. The right words, placed in the right spot at the right time will almost always convey the message you desire without sparking conflict.

There are a number of very good books written concering the English language and its use. One of the best I've read, (and it is less than 200 pages with large type ), is called "A Bawdy Language (How a Second-Rate Language Slept Its Way to the Top)" and it's by the the author Howard Richler. It's very entertaining and very informative regarding our given language, and it's a very quick read. (I did it in one 5 hour sitting).

Whatever else Brad, never worry too much about your word usage. The English language is so full of pitfalls it's a wonder any of us can get it right even 10 percent of the time.

Like the author of the above mentioned book says:

"As languages go, English is as impure as they come: rife with borrowings from other languages, contaminated by dialects and slang, tainted by curses, and confused with double meanings, euphemisms and jargon."

In other words, don't worry if you don't get it right all of the time. The language just won't allow it.

motion - In other words, don't worry if you don't get it right all of the time. The language just won't allow it.

does this mean i can blame my spelling on the english language officially now?

feline has been doing this unofficially for years now

Ahhh, sorry feline. Spelling is the one things you can't blame on the language. You can, however, blame it on your long line of English teachers. That was their responsibility.

Brad, is that book's full title "The Mother Tongue: English and How it got that Way"? I remember many many years ago reading a book of that title. It was a wonderful book.

I think I also remember reading in that book that the reason we aren't supposed to end sentences with a preposition was that a long time ago some monk or such arbitrarly made that rule.

motion - You can, however, blame it on your long line of English teachers. That was their responsibility.

also been doing that for years

Yeah, my english teacher hated me, he didnt understand me on purpose and got low rates on purpose

Feline, a preposition is word which is used to link nouns and stuff in a sentence:

The dog is ON the chair.
Mary is WITH John.

Here's a helpful simple web page: http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/preposit.html

There are not only cultural differences, but gender differences as well. Often, men and women meant completely different things when saying the exact same words.

One example that was given at one conference I went to, that spoke about effective management, is the following:

When a man asks a woman whether something is wrong, and she says 'No, nothing's wrong', most of the time there IS something wrong, she's just too peeved at the guy, or too upset to talk about it. The guy, at this point, is often confused, because the woman looks upset, yet tells him that nothing's wrong.

However, when a woman asks a man if something is wrong, and the guy says 'No, nothing's wrong', he usually means that there's nothing wrong. The woman, however, often will think that the man just won't tell her what's wrong, when really, there IS nothing wrong in the first place.

So, we not only have the pitfalls of the English language and cultural differences to deal with, but we have gender differences as well!

A preposition is something your not supposed to end a sentence with. I read somewhere that there was this linguist who really hated the rule. He wrote: "This is a rule with which I will not put up." I thought that was cute.