National Punctuation Day

Wait — what?

Oh!

There: done, almost.

It still needs a semicolon; that mark of punctuation, however, is one from which I feel ever more removed.

Related posts
How to punctuate a sentence
How to punctuate more sentences

[We all know that National Punctuation Day is a big commercial racket. It’s run by a big Eastern syndicate, you know. Nevertheless, I will honour National Punctuation Day in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.]

An alternative to Google Translate

A recommendation from Tororo at a nice slice of tororo shiru: DeepL Translator.

I put Tororo’s post, written in French, into Google Translate and DeepL. Here’s the start of the opening sentence, with links omitted:

Il y a quelques années, en réponse à la remarque d’un lecteur bienveillant, j’avais testé trois logiciels de traduction (Reverso, Babelfish, Google Translate) disponibles en ligne.

Here’s Google Translate:

A few years ago, in response to a benevolent reader’s comment , I had tested three translation software packages (Reverso, Babelfish, Google Translate) available online.

The space before the comma is of Google Translate’s making.

And here’s DeepL:

A few years ago, in response to a kind reader’s remark, I tested three translation software programs (Reverso, Babelfish, Google Translate) available online.

“Kind” sounds more plausible that “benevolent”; “program,” more apt than “package”; but “comment” fits the blogging context better. But Google Translate cannot know that. As the translations continue, each shows a few glitches. But Tororo finds that DeepL produces, “au moins pour les traductions d’anglais en français et de français en anglais, des résultats nettement meilleurs que les trois susnommés réunis.”

Or as Google Translate puts it, “at least for the translations from English to French and from French to English, results much better than the three above mentioned.”

Or as DeepL puts it, “at least for translations from English to French and from French to English, much better results than the three above-mentioned combined.” Notice that DeepL is smart enough to omit the article before “translations.”

John Shimkus, profile in courage

A Washington Post article about House Republicans leaving Congress notes that John Shimkus (R, Illinois-15), one of those leaving, “declined to say whether he had any problems with Trump”:

“The president is the de facto head of the party by definition, but the party for me is less government, individual responsibility, lower taxes, more personal freedoms and liberties,” he said.

“People come and go. Personalities are personalities,” he added.

Shimkus has served in the House since 1997. He became our representative (after redistricting) in 2012. We may get someone even worse next year.

Related reading
All OCA John Shimkus posts

Meet Dr. Camel

[Mark Trail, September 23, 2019.]

I am avoiding all jokes about doctors and Camels. This Dr. Camel is a cryptozoologist, searching for proof that Yetis exist. My interest is in his handshake, which suggests to me that Dr. Camel might be something of a crypto-creature himself. Do you see the problem?


[Mark Trail, revised by me, September 23, 2019.]

Note to colorist: Proofread. Avoid carless errors.

I improved Mark Trail’s sleeve with the free Mac app Seashore. I added a left margin to make this moment look like a panel unto itself.

Related reading
All OCA Mark Trail posts (Pinboard)

[Carless is on purpose, a joke I used to add to pages describing essay assignments.]

The end of the dining car

From The Washington Post: “Amtrak says it is reinventing its dining service on long-distance trains, killing the traditional dining car to create more ‘flexible’ and ‘contemporary’ dining options.”

I remember sitting in a dining car just once — white tablecloth, eggs. Other than that, I’ve known only café cars serving sandwiches — tuna salad on stiff white bread. The tuna salad had relish mixed in.

Now is a good time to visit the Railroad Dining Car Archives.

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper, by Greg Johnson, looks rather difficult but might prove less so. (And what might that bode for next Saturday?) Only sixty-four words, with a fourteen- over a fifteen-letter answer in the north, and a fifteen- over a fourteen-letter answer in the south. My favorite long clue: 14-A, fifteen letters, “Noticeably neutral display.” I immediately thought of a song by The Specials.

Other clues I especially liked: 14-D, five letters, “Fare that was rare to air.” 20-D, six letters, “Gang leader on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.” 29-A, ten letters, “Frequent Broadway openings.” And for the news of the weird: 38-D, six letters, “Sir        Grenville Wodehouse.” No wonder he used initials.

No spoilers: the answers are in the comments.

“Tippy-top”

Donald Trump just stated that "our nuclear" is in "tippy-top shape."

Messing with the mail

From Time: “The Race to Prepare for a Potential U.S. Exit From the World’s Mail System.”

Merriam-Webster and they

Merriam-Webster explains the inclusion of nonbinary they in its dictionaries:

All new words and meanings that we enter in our dictionaries meet three criteria: meaningful use, sustained use, and widespread use. Nonbinary they has a clear meaning; it’s found in published text, in transcripts, and in general discourse; and its use has been steadily growing over the past decades. English speakers are encountering nonbinary they in social media profiles and in the pronoun stickers applied to conference badges. There’s no doubt that it is an established member of the English language, which means that it belongs in Merriam-Webster’s dictionaries.

The “grammatically conservative” might want to read this short commentary by Geoff Nunberg. The sentence that hit home for me: “It's not a lot to ask — just a small courtesy and sign of respect.”

Ben Leddy hosts The Rewind

Here’s the latest episode of WGBH’s The Rewind, “Who Was the Father of Country Music?,” hosted by our son Ben.

[And if you’re wondering about the comma after the question mark, see The Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed.) 6.125.]