Got Stem Cells?

The author of the article (or the headline writer) is a moron: What he meant to say is

"Stem cells from testicles an alternative to embryos," not "an option..."

Effing idiots. No wonder the American empire is collapsing: there's not half a brain cell left in the entire mainstream press.

 

This isn't grammar, and I object to being called a Nazi! In all our many arguments I have never once called you a filthy name. This is simply a writer too goddamned stupid to know the definitions of the words "

 

Doh. The problem is that an embryo can't choose. So option still doesn't make sense. I think this is properly termed a "usage" issue.

 

I am often amazed by the errors of professional writers. When someone does something for a living, you generally expect them to be good at it, or at least bit better than average.

Do you think the problem is from a poor education, or simply a lack of attention to detail?

Tom

 

Kow: Adding a smiley-face emoticon to a nasty and offensive insult does not render it less offensive. It's the equivalent of, say, walking into a poor working-class Italian neighborhood where you do not reside, and you yourself are not Italian, and calling someone a "filthy wop," but doing it with a big smile on your face.

There are people who trade insults with their friends as a mode of socializing. They consider that acceptable behavior. But it's only acceptable between friends who buy into that form of communication. It's not acceptable with people who do not participate, and its never acceptable when the recipient is not a social friend (a person you regularly socialize with).

 

P.S. The testicular stem cells would be an option for researchers, or an alternative to embryos. Not an option to embryos. In fact, "option to embryos" has no meaning whatsoever. But if you disagree with me, offer a substantive argument, not an offensive insult.

 

I bet this particular instance is due to an over-zealous headline editor. "Alternative" probably made the headline too long.

I work as an editor as well as a writer and I do see a lot of crap writing. I am sure the Internets contributes to the problem, as well as all the text messaging.

I try not to get too worked up over it, but sometimes I go off the rails. I was at a local community college one day and someone had misspelled "Gandhi" on a poster, so I got out my pen and fixed it when no one was looking. It appalled me to see this at a college.

 

I know the feeling. Granted, we all make dumb mistakes some of the time, but you expect people to at least try. By nature, I'm a terrible speller. My internal dictionary works like an over-compressed image file: there is a lot of information for the size, but with some loss of detail. I am a rule based person, and English spelling does not lend itself to formal rules. My poor brain throws up its little hands in despair and says "I don't know; is it a short 'e' or an 'i' - maybe it's a 'y'..." I compensate by checking my spelling and looking up words, and in the process my spelling improves, at least marginally.

Sticklers Unite!

Tom

 

The problem isn't just whether option and alternative are equivalent, but whether option works with the construction "____ to embryos."

Option isn't typically used in that way, and "option to" simply doesn't mean the same as "alternative to."

Enough. I'm tired. I need to go fight about politics over there.