Wintreath Regional Community

A Link to the Past - Archives => The Registry of Things Past - Historic Archive => Frosthold Castle - Wintreath Government => Topic started by: Mathyland on November 24, 2016, 04:49:55 AM

Title: Grammar Checker of Wintreath?
Post by: Mathyland on November 24, 2016, 04:49:55 AM
I would like to formally propose for there to be a typo/grammar checker of Wintreath that evaluates new official documents. Before you say that's stupid and write it off as similar to Trader wanting to be Jarl of Pun Related Affairs, I would like to say that I'm serious, and it's a very important job that we have demonstrated is needed more than once. It wouldn't be a huge job, but I would be willing to do it, even if it is boring. (almost) Nobody wants to sit there and proofread every official document. I would be willing to do it, though :D. I just ask to be recognized as the Official Proofreader of Wintreath. Some larger mistakes could lead to misinterpretations of laws, that could potentially lead to some bad things. To demonstrate my point that it's a needed position, I will now show some corrections that should be made to our laws:

Quote from: Procedural Rules of the Overhusen Act
4. When voting, Overhusen members may cast one or the following votes on proposals:
a. Aye, indicating that the member is voting in favor of the proposal
b. Nay, indicating that the member is voting against the proposal
c. Abstain, indicating that the member is voting neither in favor of or against the proposal but wishes his or her vote to be recorded.
Here, the "or" in red should be "of."

Quote from: The Judicial Offices Act
RECOMMENDATION - The Court finds the defendant either innocent or guilty but recommends special provisions be made that fall outside of the remit of the Code of Criminal Law Act. It is up to the Monarch to decide whether to implement these recommendations. A case can therefore have an INNOCENT - RECOMMENDATION verdict and a GUILTY - RECOMMENDATION verdict.
The part in red should be "can, therefore,"

Quote from: Code of Criminal Laws
7.2 The Monarch has the right to supercede the court process in extenuating circumstances such as war or invasion.
supercede should be "supersede."

I haven't looked through many of the laws looking for typos yet, but you can see that there are some issues with our laws. They may be minor right now, but I believe we should take action now before the problem becomes an issue with misinterpretation of laws. I don't think the Official Proofreader of Wintreath is a bad idea, and it should be seriously considered. I'm not asking to be given a lot of power or any special privileges, but I think this job is something that would better the Wintrean community. Maybe I could propose corrections, but they have to be approved by either Wintermoot or the houses. I hope you consider this idea, @Wintermoot , and I'd be happy to do this.

EDIT: I think I also noticed a typo in the welcome telegram when I joined the region, just saying.
Title: Grammar Checker of
Post by: taulover on November 24, 2016, 05:27:56 AM
I hope you don't mind if I criticize your criticisms. :P
Quote from: The Judicial Offices Act
RECOMMENDATION - The Court finds the defendant either innocent or guilty but recommends special provisions be made that fall outside of the remit of the Code of Criminal Law Act. It is up to the Monarch to decide whether to implement these recommendations. A case can therefore have an INNOCENT - RECOMMENDATION verdict and a GUILTY - RECOMMENDATION verdict.
The part in red should be "can, therefore,"
Both are correct, and in this case your suggestion would stylistically be worse because it overuses commas.
Quote from: Code of Criminal Laws
7.2 The Monarch has the right to supercede the court process in extenuating circumstances such as war or invasion.
supercede should be "supersede."
This is one of the cases where the mistake is common enough that many dictionaries will list it as a correct spelling (because dictionaries are descriptivist (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qT8ZYewYEY)). Consequently, this possible typo doesn't hinder meaning/interpretation at all.
EDIT: I accidenally hit enter, so the topic title is messed up. It should read: "Grammar Checker of Wintreath?"
You can edit post titles. :)

Generally, any major typos are either caught before laws are passed or fixed in Omnibus amendments. It's something that everyone going over the laws does, and as such I don't see the need for a specialized position dedicated to it.
Title: Grammar Checker of
Post by: Colberius X on November 24, 2016, 05:35:34 AM
Hey @HannahB, it looks like someone's trying to steal my job!  >:(

In all seriousness, I wholeheartedly support going through and proofreading existing laws. (We're just about due for an Omnibus Correction Act Three-bajillion-and-one, don't you think?) I've done my best, particularly during my tenure in the Overhusen, to ensure that any new laws were as error free as possible, but I've never been brave enough to proofread all of the existing laws.  However, it is something that should definitely be done.

At the same time, I don't believe an official position is necessary for this.  A dedicated topic in the Citizens' Platform and some willing volunteers are all we really need, I think.  Once all the laws have been proofread and the changes proposed in the aforementioned topic, citizens and members of the Storting can decide which changes should be implemented and draft an omnibus correction act.
Title: Grammar Checker of
Post by: Mathyland on November 24, 2016, 05:43:12 AM
You can edit post titles. :)
How? And don't you mean thread titles?
EDIT: I figured it out, as you can see.

And I can't find it now, but there was one law I found that had two typos and one grammar mistake of using "or" instead of "nor," although that's probably not an error anyone cares about.
I hope you don't mind if I criticize your criticisms. :P
Quote from: The Judicial Offices Act
RECOMMENDATION - The Court finds the defendant either innocent or guilty but recommends special provisions be made that fall outside of the remit of the Code of Criminal Law Act. It is up to the Monarch to decide whether to implement these recommendations. A case can therefore have an INNOCENT - RECOMMENDATION verdict and a GUILTY - RECOMMENDATION verdict.
The part in red should be "can, therefore,"
Both are correct, and in this case your suggestion would stylistically be worse because it overuses commas.
I fail to see how using two commas in a sentence is overusing commas.

Generally, any major typos are either caught before laws are passed or fixed in Omnibus amendments. It's something that everyone going over the laws does, and as such I don't see the need for a specialized position dedicated to it.
At the same time, I don't believe an official position is necessary for this.  A dedicated topic in the Citizens' Platform and some willing volunteers are all we really need, I think.  Once all the laws have been proofread and the changes proposed in the aforementioned topic, citizens and members of the Storting can decide which changes should be implemented and draft an omnibus correction act.
I see that I may have been a little extreme with the dedicated position. I'll still do it, though. Should I start a different topic for this now?
Title: testing post subject option
Post by: taulover on November 24, 2016, 06:13:03 AM
You can edit post titles. :)
How? And don't you mean thread titles?
EDIT: I figured it out, as you can see.
Technically, posts can have titles too, though they do nothing in this forum. :P
I hope you don't mind if I criticize your criticisms. :P
Quote from: The Judicial Offices Act
RECOMMENDATION - The Court finds the defendant either innocent or guilty but recommends special provisions be made that fall outside of the remit of the Code of Criminal Law Act. It is up to the Monarch to decide whether to implement these recommendations. A case can therefore have an INNOCENT - RECOMMENDATION verdict and a GUILTY - RECOMMENDATION verdict.
The part in red should be "can, therefore,"
Both are correct, and in this case your suggestion would stylistically be worse because it overuses commas.
I fail to see how using two commas in a sentence is overusing commas.
Perhaps overuse was the wrong word. I think maybe it's better put this way: unless you were intentionally trying to create the effect of a pause in the reader's mind, the commas were redundant, and even if it were intentional, it feels a tad stylistically awkward IMO. Of course, I may be wrong. :)
I see that I may have been a little extreme with the dedicated position. I'll still do it, though. Should I start a different topic for this now?
Go ahead, unless you want to repurpose this topic.

Edit: The post title actually does have one, minor effect! :D
Spoiler
(https://wintreath.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FyoP7Oxk.png&hash=c9fbd59aae72023d61a0f0e537f84c3b)
Title: testing post subject option
Post by: Mathyland on November 24, 2016, 06:17:41 AM
Perhaps overuse was the wrong word. I think maybe it's better put this way: unless you were intentionally trying to create the effect of a pause in the reader's mind, the commas were redundant, and even if it were intentional, it feels a tad stylistically awkward IMO. Of course, I may be wrong. :)
That makes more sense, and I agree with you.

I think making a new thread is a better idea.
Title: testing post subject option
Post by: taulover on November 24, 2016, 06:20:44 AM
Perhaps overuse was the wrong word. I think maybe it's better put this way: unless you were intentionally trying to create the effect of a pause in the reader's mind, the commas were redundant, and even if it were intentional, it feels a tad stylistically awkward IMO. Of course, I may be wrong. :)
That makes more sense, and I agree with you.

I think making a new thread is a better idea.
I like how your quoting of me carried over my post subject. :D If this is a bug, Wintermoot, I suggest looking into it. (I know that some forums will show subjects for every post, but this forum clearly does not.)
Spoiler
(https://wintreath.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F2dHdqcj.png&hash=be237241db6bb66932aee0d214df3001)
Title: Grammar Checker of Wintreath?
Post by: Mathyland on November 24, 2016, 06:24:38 AM
Perhaps overuse was the wrong word. I think maybe it's better put this way: unless you were intentionally trying to create the effect of a pause in the reader's mind, the commas were redundant, and even if it were intentional, it feels a tad stylistically awkward IMO. Of course, I may be wrong. :)
That makes more sense, and I agree with you.

I think making a new thread is a better idea.
I like how your quoting of me carried over my post subject. :D If this is a bug, Wintermoot, I suggest looking into it. (I know that some forums will show subjects for every post, but this forum clearly does not.)
Spoiler
(https://wintreath.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F2dHdqcj.png&hash=be237241db6bb66932aee0d214df3001)
No! Not bugs! I don't need to be near another one! :P
Title: Grammar Checker of Wintreath?
Post by: Chanku on November 24, 2016, 04:24:40 PM
Oh please Mathyland, we all know that you love bugs and you want to get closer with the bugs and maybe take them out on a few dates so you can get them to do...things... :P /s
Title: Grammar Checker of Wintreath?
Post by: Mathyland on November 24, 2016, 04:46:30 PM
All I want to do is crush them and throw them away!
Title: Grammar Checker of Wintreath?
Post by: Chanku on November 24, 2016, 05:19:11 PM
You say that, but we all know the truth. :P
Title: Grammar Checker of Wintreath?
Post by: Mathyland on November 24, 2016, 05:20:30 PM
This is not the place to discuss that. This is the place to discuss grammar!
Title: Grammar Checker of Wintreath?
Post by: Chanku on November 24, 2016, 08:05:44 PM
Who says we aren't discussing grammar bugs?
Title: Grammar Checker of Wintreath?
Post by: Mathyland on November 24, 2016, 08:07:13 PM
You implied it :P
Title: Grammar Checker of Wintreath?
Post by: Sapphiron on November 25, 2016, 12:09:43 PM
Someone please enlighten me what's a grammar bug?

Meanwhile, a system of proofreading seems fun ^_^
Title: Grammar Checker of Wintreath?
Post by: Michi on November 25, 2016, 12:25:44 PM
You've never had a ladybug or butterfly land on you, only for it to speak to you precisely and accurately before it pooped on you and ran away?

Clearly you're out of touch with this world.
Title: Grammar Checker of Wintreath?
Post by: Chanku on November 25, 2016, 04:32:54 PM
Someone please enlighten me what's a grammar bug?

Meanwhile, a system of proofreading seems fun ^_^
Or it's a bug in the grammar of a language...but primarily what Pengu said.