Confessions of a pedant

[darcydodo]

Read this sentence and weep.

"However, elements or perhaps reminiscenses of a structure exists in the Law Code which put other social institutions in focus."

How can something like that even think of existing in a published paper?!

*goes crazy and commits mass murder and explodes*

ETA: I'm just beginning to realize that this sentence may be one of the lesser evils in this paper. It's incredibly poorly proofread, and I can't help but wonder if English may not be the author's first language. Still, editors? Hello?

Comments

[ilgattopardo.livejournal.com]

Ouch. Who wrote this? Is this the Gortyn Law Code we're talking about here? I had fun doing an American School report on it on Crete a couple of years ago, but I don't remember reading something like this. My commiserations.

How can something like that even think of existing in a published paper?!
Well now, you were at the APA, so you've heard how low "professional" standards can be!

[darcydodo]

Yup, the Gortyn Law Code.

It's from a paper in C&M entitled "Men, Women and Property in Gortyn: the karteros of the Law Code." I think I needed to be more awake than I was last night in order to understand it. Though I'm starting to think that probably if it were written in sensible English, that could be an aid to understanding it, too.

[kwokj.livejournal.com]

"I can't help but wonder if English may not be the author's first language. Still, editors? Hello?"

Yup, I'm reading foreign authored academic papers in North American journals, and that's exactly what I'm wondering: where the fuck are the editors?

dumb q

[judytuna.livejournal.com]

stands ETA does what for?

Re: dumb q

[darcydodo]

You mean, besides Estimated Time of Arrival? ;)

I think it's "edited to add," but I sometimes read it as "extra thought added" because that's how I first interpreted it.