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This list has a minority of contributors to whom English is not their
native language, and an unknown number of lurkers in the same
category. Sometimes they struggle to understand what goes on, and we
should be careful not to add to their alienation.

Even I, a native speaker of a sort of English from a different
tradition to the American one, sometimes have to struggle to find a
meaning.

This request is aimed mainly at Bill, though it applies to others, to
a lesser extent. I doubt if he is aware of the problems that
can arise.

Bill, imagine yourself into the place of a Brazilian or a Scandinavian
who, translating dictionary in hand, tries to understand this
sentence-

"I went through the trauma of the sea monkey kit being brine shrimp in
my youth."

Bill's contributions are lively, intelligent, colourful, and
idiomatic, and it would be a pity to lose any of that. But in a
technical forum such as ours is, clarity of understanding should take
priority. So I ask Bill, and others, to go back and re-read their text
before pressing the send button, to ensure that it's going to be
understandable to those who are not native-speakers of American, such
as me.

Please don't imagine that I, as an Oxford resident, wishes to see all
the messages in Oxford-English. Far from it!

George.

contact George Huxtable at george@huxtable.u-net.com
or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.





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