"Yes, I saw that but it's just a typo. However, a 100% SAT score editor could probably catch it on second look."

LOL -- I didn't look twice 'til I saw your post!!! LOL!!! Good catch!



cease

No comments, after all English is my second language.

prob b/c you ARE educated

apparently, if you ARE, they don't want to pay $$$$$$$

Well, now I just want to know which msc that was.

I already forgot.



And I'm not sure I'd be allowed to say the name here, anyway.

It's not one I've ever read much about on here -- I've already been accepted by and doing shops for them!

cease

ceasesmith Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I already forgot.
>
>
>
> And I'm not sure I'd be allowed to say the name
> here, anyway.
>
> It's not one I've ever read much about on here --
> I've already been accepted by and doing shops for
> them!
>
> cease

Wait a moment. Which is it, application turned down, or application accepted?

ceasesmith Wrote:
> I was a little embarrassed today to hand out
> rewards
> that stated "You're excellent customer service
> has paid off!"

At a financial institution where I once worked, their late payment notices said, "A late fee has been accessed." I caught it the first time I saw one of the notices and told them that it should say "assessed." When I asked about it, I was told that it had been printing that way for years and nobody ever mentioned it.

Mistakes should be corrected. For years, our local elections office put a picture of our state flag on paperwork going to military voters overseas. Then one of them caught the mistake and the media found out. It was a similar flag from another country! This was not a grammatical error, but what it had in common was "something just doesn't look right".

Ishmael Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ceasesmith Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I already forgot.
> >
> >
> >
> > And I'm not sure I'd be allowed to say the name
> > here, anyway.
> >
> > It's not one I've ever read much about on here
> --
> > I've already been accepted by and doing shops
> for
> > them!
> >
> > cease
>
> Wait a moment. Which is it, application turned
> down, or application accepted?


Sorry, I wasn't clear, was I? I meant, I've already been
accepted by and am doing shops for the companies
that are often mentioned on the forum.

The one that turned me down is rarely, if ever, mentioned
on the forums.

Pardon my lack of clarity.



cease

I think that the primary reason that a person should correct someone's grammar is because others who never studied it much hear the bad grammar. It then sounds normal to them. We then become one of the guilty parties for ruining civilization if we don't correct grammar.

One of the reasons I enjoy MS'ing is that I enjoy fixing things and making things better.

One MSC (that seems to have very picky editors) had several typos, repetitive lists, and other problems in their shop instructions. These were all obvious oversights as opposed to grammatical minutia. I sent them a list of suggested edits as well as the suggestion that they have their editors look over their instructions. The next round of shops had a new set of instructions with all of my edits included. They even formatted it better.

Another MSC that I'm just starting to do more work for annoys me in so many of their processes. If I upload a receipt to a report, why do I also have to upload it to a separate invoice? Why should I have to invoice at all? Do some people do reports for fun? Is there not a way to better automate the invoice process? I sent them a note with all of my suggestions for improvement, but I first listed four or five things I really appreciate about their company. I hope they took my suggestions in the spirit they were given. They haven't made any changes yet, but they haven't dropped me either.

My hat is off to you ceasesmith for trying to help the company improve its website.

I read msc as Mystery shop company. I may be in the minority but I have way too many words and abbreviations in my head to remember, some of them the same abbreviation as another meaning elsewhere in my world that I tend to read some of the ones to hit my brain later in my lifecycle as the whole word. I do that especially with the electronic world abbreviations that I do not use often as a way of cementing the meaning in my brain. So for me "a" msc sounds correct.

The way I see it, there is a difference between being helpful and alerting a company or person to an error or having an almost elitist attitude that people who may not be the best at spelling or grammar are somehow beneath others. My dad dropped out of school in 9th grade and had the sloppiest handwriting and his spelling.. let's just say it was not the best. But you know what. In my lifetime, I have still never met a man that was kinder, more helpful or harder working than him. I guess my point is that yes, spelling is important, as is being able to clearly articulate your thoughts.. but in the grand scheme of things.. being kind, empathetic, happy.. that is what counts.

(except in reports.. in that case, do your best and save your editors some time. LOL ) )


Side note: My snark jar for the week is already full. I have dealt with some people with major attitude in all aspects of my life this week, so maybe that is why I am trying to encourage a little kindness.

Okay, now I'm curious... why is "an" correct?? It sounds correct to me, however someone corrected me when I used "an" in a similar situation.

(heart)

Oh, Kristyn, you and I cross-posted. What you had to say was much more important than my question.

(heart)

<3 I think it is because you use a or an based on the sound of the word, not the first letter.

Yes, Kristyn, you are right.

If you read MSC as "em-ess-see", the correct usage is "an"...."an MSC notified me of shops". But if, like the above poster, it registers as "Mystery Shopping Company", then the correct usage is "a"....
as in "a Mystery Shopping Company notified me of shops".

Catches me a LOT on words that begin with silent consonants....like, do you say "herb" or "erb"?

If it's a vowel after the a or an, it's supposed to take the "an"; if a consonant, the "a" usage is correct.

Now, in an effort to give you all some peace and quiet, I shall retire for the evening!!!



cease

Cease and Sandyf--I am so glad that the two of you have saved me the trouble of explaining the "an" in front of "msc". Thank you!

Kristyn,

First, I have to say... my father dropped out of school in 9th grade too. He had to help support his family after his father died in 1939. Not only was my father one of the most-liked people I've ever known, he was also one of the smartest. He read a LOT. If he wasn't working, his nose was usually in a book.

That said, I have to correct something you wrote which is quoted below. I realize that this is an informal forum and you probably already know about the punctuation problems in your post. However, this particular problem is one of my pet peeves.

You wrote, "...never met a man that was kinder..." A person is not a "that." They are a "who" or a "whom," depending on how you write the sentence. You "...never met a man who was kinder..." is correct.

If you are speaking about an animal or an inanimate object such as a salt shaker, you would say,

"I've never used a salt shaker that worked as well as this one."

or

"I've never seen a dog that was as kind as yours."


KristynScheduler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The way I see it, there is a difference between
> being helpful and alerting a company or person to
> an error or having an almost elitist attitude that
> people who may not be the best at spelling or
> grammar are somehow beneath others. My dad dropped
> out of school in 9th grade and had the sloppiest
> handwriting and his spelling.. let's just say it
> was not the best. But you know what. In my
> lifetime, I have still never met a man that was
> kinder, more helpful or harder working than him. I
> guess my point is that yes, spelling is
> important, as is being able to clearly articulate
> your thoughts.. but in the grand scheme of
> things.. being kind, empathetic, happy.. that is
> what counts.
>
> (except in reports.. in that case, do your best
> and save your editors some time. LOL ) )
>
>
> Side note: My snark jar for the week is already
> full. I have dealt with some people with major
> attitude in all aspects of my life this week, so
> maybe that is why I am trying to encourage a
> little kindness.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2014 12:05AM by barnabas1969.

This is one of my pet peeves, also. And you hear it everywhere and from everyone lately, it seems; including TV & radio news/host people.

Although, I admit, I refer to my dogs as 'whos'.
I think of it as, a being is a who/whom. A thing is an it/that.

And, both of your Dads sound as wonderful as mine.



barnabas1969 Wrote: (snipped for brevity)
-------------------------------------------------------
> However, this particular problem is one of my
> pet peeves.
>
> You wrote, "...never met a man that was kinder..."
> A person is not a "that." They are a "who" or a
> "whom," depending on how you write the sentence.
> You "...never met a man who was kinder..." is
> correct.
>
> If you are speaking about an animal or an
> inanimate object such as a salt shaker, you would
> say,
>
> "I've never used a salt shaker that worked as well
> as this one."
>
> or
>
> "I've never seen a dog that was as kind as
> yours."

Barnabas~ I really just laughed out loud when I read your post. To me this is an informal place for people to chat. I consider myself writing to "friends" without a need to read my entry and verify that is perfect. I do not worry about grammar errors, nor would I worry about any one else, especially in a post that was speaking about kindness etc. How silly to feel the need to point that out in something so informal as a chat room. It is like correcting a text.

Sigh. Sorry to everyone if I sound snippy, but honestly, my grammar may have been incorrect, but correcting a sentence about my father was just plain tacky.

I agree, Kristyn. As far as I'm concerned, there's "formal writing" (think: reports!), and there's
informal or colloquial writing.

Writing for publication almost demands "formal writing"; the highest standards of usage.

What's on a company's public website should be "formal writing".

Responding to or beginning a thread on a forum should be more informal. After all, if you dropped by my house for coffee & cinnamon rolls (they're fresh, I swear -- just picked them up this morning on
a couple shops!!!!), I wouldn't DREAM of correcting your grammar. And I wouldn't expect you to correct mine. That's not what "informal" language usage is!

Informal, colloquial language is the living part of language. Formal language changes at a more glacial pace (it's just now becoming OK to end a sentence with a preposition!!! -- although we do it in
speech and informal usage constantly).

Your dad sounds cool. My dad, too, dropped out of school (again, during the depression) very, very young. He, too, had his nose in books all the time. He was the smartest person I've ever known, and taught himself everything. I wouldn't say he was kind, not by any stretch of the imagination; but he could certainly be charming; and he was morally irreproachable. He tried to teach us that it was important to do the right thing "even when no one is watching".

I hope you have a kinder day tomorrow...let me see...that's not very clear....I think I mean, I hope
some kindness comes your way tomorrow!



cease

heh yeah formal writing (reports, etc): I make it as perfect as possible with plenty of proofreading.

Informal writing: I have dysgraphia, I swap letters and make a general mess of what Im typing. I try hardtomake it readable and then forget it. Who has time for perfection on forums or texting?

cease~ You had me at cinnamon rolls.


I hope you have a kinder day too

Having perfect grammar is one part of being a shopper. Being tactful and kind is another part of it.

Sorry for being a jerk. I was in a pissy mood last night. I'm sorry that I offended some of you. It was not my intent.

Apology accepted. We are all capable of being a bit jerky sometimes.

Ceasesmith maybe you should be an editor! I'm not sure I would want you to edit me. Ha Ha!!!

It seems we are getting more and more low paying offers while at the same time some proofreaders are expecting more and more perfection in the online report. I wonder at times if they want MS'ers or English majors/storytellers. Have others felt this also?

Has anyone ever actually had a report sent back for incorrect grammar, lack of clarity, whatever? The only ones I've ever had returned were because I needed to submit more/different photos. I have never
been notified that I've been "dinged" for grammar or spelling. Do they even tell us if our grammar/spelling has been corrected by the proofreader/editor?

cease