please empty your brain below
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Oh that the millions posting bilious opinion on social media had one jot of the measured tones and information provision shown in your readers' examples above, dg.
Gordon | 10.04.19 - 7:14 a.m. | #
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Us readers really are a bunch of pedants, aren't we? My apologies.
martin | 10.04.19 - 7:21 a.m. | #
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Yes,yes,yes, all well and so, apologies accepted, although none of these detracted from my pleasure.
However, what I am unclear on is... <snip>
Ken | 10.04.19 - 7:25 a.m. | #
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Given the amount that you write, the range of topics you cover, and the tight timescales to which you do it, your accuracy is up there with the best, and you have nothing to apologise for - as I suspect you know. The occasional correction, or more likely alternative suggestion/interpretation, or additional information, though, is sometimes helpful, and often interesting and/or entertaining. I wouldn't like to think this post was intended to discourage such contributions, but fear it might have that effect.
Sarah | Homepage | 10.04.19 - 7:36 a.m. | #
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I hope you took the opportunity to point out the grammatical error in the correction for 7th January. A simple "its' not "it's'" would have been quite devastating, and vengefully passive aggressive too.
The Banbury Man | Homepage | 10.04.19 - 7:38 a.m. | #
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Well, yes, and it must be annoying when the pedants pick; but it should be heartening that so many knowledgable people read the blog avidly, pay close attention to it and care enough to add crowdsourced detail to the pieces. (OK and show off at the same time).
David | 10.04.19 - 7:49 a.m. | #
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Maybe you ought to regard each post as "In draft - for consideration / comment" until each has been improved by the readership?
Frank F | 10.04.19 - 8:03 a.m. | #
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I am so ashamed that of all the many comments, only one of them was a reference to something I had written. How could I have missed all the others? I really must try harder.
it is incredibly difficult. I have articles proof-read by up to six people and mistakes of various different kinds still get through. As my moniker makes me fair game for this sort of thing it is just as well such comments usually amuse me rather than annoy me.
Pedantic of Purley | 10.04.19 - 8:06 a.m. | #
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One of my favourite comments along these lines occurred in a railway magazine.
"Mr X complains that the two clocks there told different times. What point is there in having two clocks if they both tell the same time?"
Another comment mentioned how few local-hauled trains went to a certain London terminus. On having it pointed out the following month that there was locomotive-hauled service every 15 minutes it was then pointed out that they were only locomotive-hauled out of the station. The trains in question were pushed into the station.
Pedantic of Purley | 10.04.19 - 8:14 a.m. | #
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In addition to DG's amazingly varied diet of interesting daily reportage, one of the best aspects of this blog is the stream of well informed comments from many of the readers. (Not counting my ramblings: I fear I ask too many questions, and my comments get snipped or silently omitted more than average. My apologies.)
Andrew | 10.04.19 - 8:21 a.m. | #
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The pendants should be hanged!
Dominic H | 10.04.19 - 8:31 a.m. | #
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"Please be aware that this factual inaccuracy will inevitably continue." If you were 100% accurate 100% of the time, I'd think you were actually a bot and I'd have no connection with you. Just carry on regardless (I'm afraid/pleased) I noticed none of the above errors and just enjoyed the narrative. And the pictures.
TomH | 10.04.19 - 8:41 a.m. | #
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Refunds available from the usual address?
THC | 10.04.19 - 8:41 a.m. | #
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As one of the guilty pedants whose correction DG quoted in full, I can only apologise.
Tim | 10.04.19 - 8:44 a.m. | #
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The final pedant managed to get 2 out 3 apostrophies wrong. "its" should be as in "his", and "boy's" means "of the boy" (I assume there was more than one boy at the school). Presumably sheer luck that "girls'" was correct.
RogerB | 10.04.19 - 8:46 a.m. | #
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“Please be aware that this factual inaccuracy will inevitably continue.”
- I hope so, this is what makes your blog dg!
You visit places and write about things that interest a vast number of people. You’re human and everyone is entitled to make mistakes, they’re part of life 😉
Rob Healy | Homepage | 10.04.19 - 8:47 a.m. | #
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Yeah, get it right next time.
Vic Flange | 10.04.19 - 8:48 a.m. | #
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Has visions of Nigel at skool, tongue hanging out of mouth as he sribbles at his desk.
B | 10.04.19 - 8:57 a.m. | #
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Pedant's Law: He who points out more than one grammatical error will also have misspelled the word 'apostrophes'.
PL | 10.04.19 - 8:59 a.m. | #
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Well, as one of my comments appears in that list: I don't accept the apology, as I can't see any reason for one. In my reading, my comment was just some purely speculative extension with a faint hope that another commenter might have inside knowledge, as I was genuinely intrigued.
I casually took a minor snippet of your writing as launchpad for an uninformed supposition, whereas in fact I couldn't judge if that snippet "was entirely wrong, excessively vague or technically incorrect". My apologies.
:-)
commonliner | 10.04.19 - 9:50 a.m. | #
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Can't believe somebody corrected you on something related to Bus Stop M.
John Abbott | 10.04.19 - 9:57 a.m. | #
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PL, three cheers for Diamongdeezer!
RogerB | 10.04.19 - 9:58 a.m. | #
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Sorry DG, I take issue with your correction from the 11th Feb. viz "...whereas in fact "nothing's 'fireproof' - raise the ambient temperature enough and anything will ignite."
Many materials will decompose above a high enough temperature without catching fire. The materials they decompose into may support a flame, but then it's not really the original material burning is it?
Also, there are materials such as glass that are all ready fully oxidized, you can heat them as much as you like and they will not burn. (In air anyway, I just know someone will suggest chlorine tri-flouride)
David @dtl | Homepage | 10.04.19 - 10:02 a.m. | #
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I blame the autocorrect on my phone for messing about with the apostrophes. Bad workman, tools, I know...
Dominic H | 10.04.19 - 10:08 a.m. | #
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'fluoride'
Chemist | 10.04.19 - 10:22 a.m. | #
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I'm a tad concerned that you felt the need to list all those slights against your dogged research. Do you REALLY care? SHOULD you? x
Milo | 10.04.19 - 10:57 a.m. | #
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Seems to me as if DG has more "Proofreaders" than he needs or wants.😉
YDU | 10.04.19 - 12:01 p.m. | #
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There is a very good reason I don't blog - and today's post is it!!
So from my perspective, you're doing brilliantly, educating and informing your readers (well, me at least!) on a daily basis.
Cornish Cockney | 10.04.19 - 12:04 p.m. | #
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...maybe some of your readers work for TfL
Grumpy Anon | 10.04.19 - 12:58 p.m. | #
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I see that one of my comments made the list. All I can say is that I was born a pedant and I'm cursed to remain a pedant!
X-Plaistow | 10.04.19 - 2:01 p.m. | #
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I'm sure you're secretly delighted that your readers spotted your deliberate mistakes!
Mikey C | 10.04.19 - 5:24 p.m. | #
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I had someone at work who often plagiarised stuff as his own, or just went through it with a fine tooth comb to find an error and go crawling to the boss. I placed deliberate mistakes to show his deceit and give him something to do.
scrumpy | 10.04.19 - 6:10 p.m. | #
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Apology accepted.
Madison | 10.04.19 - 7:23 p.m. | #
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How many different people were involved in creating the given examples?
dg writes: No repeats.
Blue Witch | 10.04.19 - 7:58 p.m. | #
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Grumpy Anon -
Yup. For which, my apologies.
Andrew S | 10.04.19 - 9:56 p.m. | #
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THIS IS NOT HOW I WOULD HAVE DONE AN APOLOGY BLOGPOST.
Geofftech | 10.04.19 - 10:32 p.m. | #
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I presume that PoP put 'local-hauled' in there as a test....
GJ | 11.04.19 - 7:23 a.m. | #
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Can’t believe people are falling for the deliberate mistakes! He’s like a cat playing with a cornered mouse.
Mark | 11.04.19 - 7:43 a.m. | #
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For DG and David@dtl - my turn to apologise. I was an Underground inmate many years ago; while working on fire safety issues, the 'nothing is fireproof' line was trotted out. Not being an engineer / chemist, no reason to doubt that.
One thing about DG - you always learn (or re-learn) something new. More please...
Joel | 11.04.19 - 9:51 p.m. | #
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Love this. Especially the folk who messaged a correction and then a compliment.
Jayne | Homepage | 13.04.19 - 7:41 a.m. | #
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