In a message dated 4/19/2003 1:56:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< Ok, I have to ask.  Are we going to pick one the words
  of one another apart and get into the
 misnomers--which I admit to having made--or are we
 going to concentrate on the question itself, the
 concepts?

 There's a school of thought here that says every "I"
 must be dotted and every "T" crossed.  There are
 countless souls here, each with their own fetishes,
 and some are more anal about the language than others.
  >>

It's hard to type an undotted i (lower case) or an uncrossed t.  :-)

As soon as I saw Tim's message about "Muslimism", I thought, "Oh, boy, is he
asking for trouble!"  (I considered it myself, but thought discretion was the
better part of valor, based on past, painful experience.  After all, I get
bashed just for requesting clarification--ahem--when I don't understand a
sentence.)  I knew a lengthy, defensive, outraged overreaction would soon
ensue.  It took only a few minutes, like clockwork.  I don't understand why
people can't accept a correction about terminology with grace--I guess I'll
just have to accept the fact that some people are anal about their mistakes.
I have always believed that the appropriate response to a correction is
"thank you."  And if you knew you were wrong and made a boo-boo because your
fevered brain, cluttered with so many more important matters to consider,
just couldn't grasp the right word in time, you might say, "Yes, I knew that,
but I was typing too fast--thanks, anyway."  As I've said before, I invite,
encourage, and welcome public corrections of my mistakes.  But that's just
me, alas.

I hope the predictable thread of bashing and counter-bashing doesn't go too
long this time.

Tim, I was interested in your other message about transliteration.  I accept
your explanation, but don't quite understand it.  (Again, this is a request
for clarification, not a criticism!)  This is something which has always
fascinated me.  How is Iqaluit pronounced?  I get the impression that some
transliteration follows language rules inconsistently.  For example, it seems
that Iraq has not been transliterated into English but some other language,
otherwise it might be Iraque or Irak.  I'm still trying to figure out how the
old Peking got altered to Beijing or Beping (Beiping?  I forget), since the
consonants are totally different.  What is the best approximation of the
Chinese pronunciation?  I know Mumbai got changed to Bombay because the
British supposedly couldn't pronounce Mumbai, which I always found strange,
as they should be able to press their lips together as well as anyone else.

Anyway, it sounds like you might be able to shed some light on these
mysteries for me...

David Haberstich





What's the alternative?  Just let mistakes go without response.  How useful
is that?

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