Remember in October when Dave Gray, one of the hosts of TPN’s GlobalGeek podcast, sent a letter to Apple with a cheque for $1 for using the term “podcast”? I thought he was just kidding around but apparently he did actually send the letter and the cheque – to Steve Jobs. Seriously.
Well… yesterday he got a reply.
Okay so I know we all know by now that Apple weren’t going to go after genuine podcasters (at least that’s their story THIS week). But it’s still good to have it in writing. Good on ya Dave!
I note that Apple also permit the use of split infinitives.
There’s nothing at all wrong with split infinitives … in English.
There’s nothing wrong per say with split infinitives in English its just bad form in professional writing. Most people don’t even know the rule exists or what it means anymore.
It can be funny though, if you know what it means.
“And all dared to brave unknown terrors, to do mighty deeds, to boldly split infinitives that no man had split before” DNA
There’s nothing wrong with splitting an infinitive. What is “bad form” however is writing “per say” when you mean ‘per se’!
“There’s nothing wrong per say with split infinitives in English”
Apparently there’s nothing wrong with misspellings in Latin, either.
That’s pretty cool that they replyed back. And within a month and a half!
Dude, I have a learning disability leave off.
I don’t have the time or the inclination to double check that I have the correct spelling out of a whole bunch of phonetically identical versions of words in a comment. Rest assured that in a piece of professional writing I would confirm that I have the correct spelling. It is surely splitting hairs (or as the french would have it ‘quartering the horse’) to have a go at someone for incorrectly spelling a latin expression when, unlike much of the population, they do know what splitting infinitives is.
Ironically I can spell weird and generally useless words like etymology just fine… and my spelling in french is perfect… go figure 🙂
Who gives a Rats Clacker whether it is spelt right or wrong or its grammatical incorrect! Its the content that matters and if you can understand the point being made, then thats the main thing.
Molly
PS. If there are any spelling or grammatical errors in this comment and it is annoying you, GOOD!!!!!!!!!! Be annoyed.
An exclamation mark is just a crutch to hold up a weak sentence. So your sentence “GOOD!” is so weak, it needs, like ten crutches.
OOOH! BURN!
Interesting that Apple is trying to claim ownership in every other use of the term “pod” as used alone or in conjunction with any other term. They have opposed every pod-related trademark application. Curious, that for Apple to even secure “iPod,” they had to argue that a pre-existing “Pod” mark was significantly different in sight and sound. I guess these other folks should have sent Jobs a letter and a check.
Here they are discussing the use of split infinitives.
On Digg they are talking about the spelling of the word “cheque”.
I think that is amusing.
I don’t claim to have full grasp of correct punctuation; however, I’m pretty sure that if you are going to have a go at exclamation points you should ensure that your sentence is correctly punctuated.
You might want to consider the correct punctuation of conjunctive adverbs in the first sentence and have a little think about where the pause should be in the second sentence.
If you want to be pedantic at least have the balls to do it onymously (isn’t that just the BEST word).
Dave – if it were on Slashdot, you’d be told that “In Soviet Russia infinitives split you”… or something like that.
Miriam shouldn’t they do it cognito?
I don’t think cognito is strictly speaking an english word. Onymous is.
Yeah I have been thinking about what the Slashdotters would be saying.
The other thing that has been popping up is that Leo Laporte has copped a ribbing for calling his shows “netcasts” – bloggers are sighting this story and saying that they hope it will now shut him up and that he wil stop using the term “netcast”. Which is quite lame IMHO.
Would that not be English with an “E” as opposed to an “e” the capitalization when using the word “english” has confused me no end.
Oh probably 🙂 the curse of speaking such an incredibly confusing language.
See Cam, all this crap about spelling and writing of words is the exact reason you should install Podpress (http://www.mightyseek.com/podpress) and allow for Audio Comments (Thanks to your mate and mine Michael Bailey and Mobatalk).
Molly
Oh yeah. I said it on Dig and I will say it again here: I told you so!
In saying that, congrats on the buzz! How you going to top this though?
Molly
PS. Cam, there is a plugin that allows automatic Digg icons on each post, its a little buggy but for your audience might be a good idea!
OK.
I had to efficiently refer to Wikipedia to find out what a split infinitive was.
Man I love Wikipedia. My English is Shizen Houzen and as such, had no idea what they were all taking about but thanks to Wikipedia, I know know what I don’t give a rats clacker about!
Thanks Wikipedia!
Molly
Apple never tried to appropriate or “claim ownership” of podcasting-words. What they did was prevent others from registering these words as trademarks when the usage was outside of the podcasting area. Apple’s actually the good guy here.
OMG! That’s so cool!
Podcasts rock my body! C’mon! Let’s make some PODCASTS!!!!! YEAH!
No need to pay Steve 😉
@Miriam Parkinson: Even in French, horses are not split in multiple pieces. The expression is “couper les cheveux en quatre”. “cheveux” means “hair”. “chevaux” means “horses”. So the French split the hair in four pieces. No animal gets hurt.
good to know 🙂 obviously there was a misspelling at some point because the dictionary of phrase and fable thinks its horse… I always thought it was slightly odd.
What chutzpah.
You have to give the guy credit.
>>There’s nothing wrong per say with split infinitives in English its just bad form in professional writing.
>>the dictionary of phrase and fable thinks its horse…
What is indeed “bad form†is also writing “its†when you mean ‘it’s’!