I tried to post this half an hour ago, but suffered a total internet failure. In the meantime, Effortless has sent in his post. However, I leave this unedited.
“Light blue touch-paper and retire immediately to a safe distance.”
...and leave a couple of days to see what results.
Not as much as I expected, I’m bound to say, and not even an answer to the original question. No answer to my question, either, but never mind, it was at least in part rhetorical.
I freely admit to having a thing about spelling. I notice spelling mistakes. It is a terrible affliction, believe me. No one ever appreciates my pointing out an error, no matter how politely I do so. I make no claims about being a champion speller myself. I seem to be for ever consulting dictionaries, and I think therein lies the difference; I take pride in doing a job to the best of my ability, be it flying, driving, writing to PPRuNe, or brushing my teeth. For me there is never a good excuse for doing a bad job. When it comes to writing, on this website for instance, what we write and how we write it is the only way hundreds of thousands of people have of judging us. When I see a whole paragraph devoid of punctuation and upper case letters I form the opinion that the writer is illiterate, and obviously wasted both his weeks at school. Furthermore, I feel he should be legally barred from airing his views in print. If that makes me elitist, or a snob, then sobeit. However, despite seeing so many such examples on the website, I think this is the first time I have posted a wholly negative reply.
To return to the original post, it was the name in the title, of course. Two errors, one of which was repeated in the next mention of it. I believe there is a difference between spelling errors and typos – these two I decided were the former, and “enoulgh” the latter. One mistake is one too many, but two mistakes in one word are definitely more than should be permitted. Furthermore, I believe that if you are going to write about a person, it is particularly insulting to misspell that person’s name. It is a common enough name, of a far from common man. Effortless has seen it in print thousands of times, and he still gets it wrong. Once again, no good excuse for doing a bad job.
However – quote: “If you mean "Pillip" then I am afraid that you may have missed the point.” Yes, Effortless, you’re dead right, I missed it. I missed it by such a distance I never even realised there was a point. Could this have been a joke? I ask myself. If it was, then I swallowed it hook, line and barrel. If that is the case, then I apologise most humbly, but please explain it to me, and I’m sure to many more of us who don’t understand it. Hidden Agenda praised those contributors whose mother tongue is not English, and I could not disagree with him less. I thought about it, and concluded Effortless is British, otherwise I would not have posted a reply. If I am wrong, Effortless, then I apologise even more humbly than most humbly, and I hope you can take comfort from the fact that you had me fooled – twice. Even so, I would still feel deeply ashamed.
SilsoeSid, I am aware that my post was not grammatically correct – lack of verb, subject etc. I could have made it so, but I think by so doing I would lose the point of the message I was trying to convey, and it would become more than most people up with which would put. If you want to engage in a grammatical duel, then I’m your man, but this is not the place. I would respectfully suggest that you take a lengthy course in the subject first, though, and your use of the term “Opening gambit” in a sentence about grammar marks you down as a non-starter, if you’ll pardon the pun.
The language of aviation is English, supposedly, which should put the Brits at a distinct advantage. I am embarrassed when I read the posts of so many of us who definitely are British, and I wonder what the rest of the world thinks of us. As BlenderPilot says, he’s Mexican, and he knows better - I salute you, Sir, and all the others out there who put me to shame.
Farmer.