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 Grammatical Errors 
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Joined: Sat Sep 14, 2013 12:46 am
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I know this is not something many people worry about, but I find it extremely irritating. In the text of several missions, I have observed grammatical errors; below are two of the most egregious, which actually change the meaning of the sentences.

Mission Description: Titancore Revelations
"Armed with the power of the Titancore, our enemies will crumble at our feet. Link your ship with the Titancore scan interface to gather an intelligent data matrix on potential enemy worlds. Its flawless intelligence will lead us right to them."

This is what is known as a false antecedent, in this case implying that the "our enemies" have the Titancore. This is obviously incorrect. Some correct possibilities would be: "Armed with the power of the Titancore, we will crush our enemies" or "With the power of the Titancore at our disposal, our enemies will crumble at our feet."

Mission comm text: A Choice of Sides

"Are you suggesting that we choose a side?"
"I don't like the idea as much as you"

This error, while not grammatically incorrect, conveys a different meaning than the one intended. While "don't like" and "dislike" may mean approximately the same thing, they function differently. What the game text actually says is: "I don't like the idea as much as you (do)," which is not the intended meaning. "I dislike the idea as much as you (do)" is the proper way to phrase that sentence. Alternatively, as suggested by Diegobane, you could phrase it: "I don't like it any more than you (do)," which many would consider to be the more elegant solution.

If it's not too much trouble, I would appreciate it if such errors could be avoided in the future, thanks!


Last edited by Lytol on Sat Apr 26, 2014 3:33 am, edited 3 times in total.



Mon Apr 21, 2014 11:04 pm
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I love it! + :)

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Mon Apr 21, 2014 11:07 pm
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I've mentioned the second one already in the Typos thread. We'll see if it gets changed.

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Mon Apr 21, 2014 11:07 pm
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Arrogant, condescending, and kinda insulting, especially when you write:

Lytol wrote:
This is an error involving a lack of understanding of how the English language works.


I'm not sure if you mean to be so rude, but that's the vibe I'm getting from your post. Please go, and read over your post; I think you'll find several punctuation and grammatical errors that you have made yourself. Hypocrite much?

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Devastation - Rank 1209 - Proud Officer of Imperium of Namalak


Mon Apr 21, 2014 11:20 pm
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Devastation wrote:
Arrogant, condescending, and kinda insulting, especially when you write:

Lytol wrote:
This is an error involving a lack of understanding of how the English language works.


I'm not sure if you mean to be so rude, but that's the vibe I'm getting from your post. Please go, and read over your post; I think you'll find several punctuation and grammatical errors that you have made yourself. Hypocrite much?


It was not my intention to be arrogant or condescending, but my description was perfectly accurate; the text ignores implied verbs, which are important in the language and very commonly used.

I did read over my post, I missed one capitalization, and I apologize for that; however, even if I didn't use the perfect punctuation, there isn't anything in my post that violates grammatical rules or changes the meaning of the post.


Tue Apr 22, 2014 2:33 am
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Hmmmm... I suspect your definition of false antecedent differs from mine.

To me, it is crystal clear both from the context of the surrounding sentences and from the sentence itself, that "Armed with..." refers not to "our enemies will crumble at our feet" but to us.

I feel it in no way implies that the enemies are "armed with...".
In fact, I believe that is the most improbable and illogical assumption you could possibly make, given the whole purpose of the mission is for us to find the Titancore.

The only time I can think of where that kind of assumption would make sense is if the sentence read:
"Armed only with a small feather duster and a roll of duct tap, our enemies will crumble at our feet"

Given it is meant to portray speech, I think both your suggested alternatives are considerably more clunky and, to my mind at least, completely unnecessary.

Similarly, the "don't like/dislike" query is a question of taste, not a fundamental misunderstanding of how English works.
For the life of me, I cannot understand how you think this is somehow clearly incorrect.

"Don't like" means you do not actively "like" something.
"Dislike" means you actively "dislike" something.

That is not the same thing - close, but not the same.

I don't like how wrapped up people get in perceived "mistakes": negative of like, therefore can range from anything from "don't care either way", through antipathy and right up to the point of "liking".

I dislike how wrapped up people get in perceived "mistakes" - positive of "dislike".

Similar meanings, but by no means the same.
In my opinion, to suggest one is clearly correct, while the other is clearly wrong, is just a little silly.

Anyway, happy flying everyone :)


Tue Apr 22, 2014 4:13 am
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Deigobene wrote:
Similarly, the "don't like/dislike" query is a question of taste, not a fundamental misunderstanding of how English works.
For the life of me, I cannot understand how you think this is somehow clearly incorrect.


He didn't make the problem clear.

The current wording can easily be read as: "I don't like this idea as much as you (like this idea)", which is not the meaning, because "you" do not like the idea. Reading it as "I don't like this idea as much as you (don't like this idea)" is not the way this phrase is generally used, but is the intended meaning.

If it said "I dislike this idea as much as you" it could not be misread. As he said, it isn't about the meaning, but rather the difference in how they operate.

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Tue Apr 22, 2014 5:00 am
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Arbiter wrote:
Deigobene wrote:
Similarly, the "don't like/dislike" query is a question of taste, not a fundamental misunderstanding of how English works.
For the life of me, I cannot understand how you think this is somehow clearly incorrect.


He didn't make the problem clear.

The current wording can easily be read as: "I don't like this idea as much as you (like this idea)", which is not the meaning, because "you" do not like the idea. Reading it as "I don't like this idea as much as you (don't like this idea)" is not the way this phrase is generally used, but is the intended meaning.

If it said "I dislike this idea as much as you" it could not be misread. As he said, it isn't about the meaning, but rather the difference in how they operate.


Fair enough, I did actually understand the "problem" as outlined by Lytol but given it is meant to be speech, I just don't see it as a big problem, nor incorrect.
Of course it is possibly ambiguous - if you are looking for ambiguity - as are many of the phrases each of us says every hour of every day, if not taken in context of the conversation in which they occur.

I would simply never say the phrase "I dislike this is much as you".
I would (and have) said the phrase "I don't like this as much as you (don't like this)"

I just don't see it as an error, simply a more realistic phrasing that rolls far more naturally from the tongue.

To each their own of course :)

Cheers all, have a good one!

EDIT: If pushed - or if I cared more ;) - I would suggest "I don't like it any more than you"


Tue Apr 22, 2014 5:50 am
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Deigobene wrote:
EDIT: If pushed - or if I cared more - I would suggest "I don't like it any more than you"


Yes, that would be the real way someone would say it; I've never heard someone using the phrasing the way it is now.

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"I guess love's a funny thing--the way it fades away without a warning.
It doesn't ask to be excused,
and when it's gone--oh, it's gone--it ain't ever coming back"


Tue Apr 22, 2014 1:24 pm
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