If DU disallowed normal English and enforced E-Prime, would it solve some problems?

[LoZoccolo]

[pinto]

1. Haven't a clue. What are the problems?

:hi:

[LoZoccolo]

10. This is from the Wikipedia article.

Bourland and other advocates also suggest that use of E-Prime leads to a less dogmatic style of language that reduces the possibility of misunderstanding and for conflict.

[gkhouston]

23. Because nothing says "less dogmatic" like decreeing the banishment of certain words. n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

26. I think you meant "the Wikipedia article states this"

The second word in your post title does not exist.

[aquart]

2. What is "E-Prime"?

[neverforget]

4. Like Prime Beef but a few magnitudes lower

[LoZoccolo]

7. E-Prime restricts English, creating another version of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-prime

Notice that I responded in E-Prime.

[aquart]

19. OMG! Those dimwitted assholes are rewriting Shakespeare!!!!

Showing they actually understand absolutely nothing about the English language.

I may be shuddering for days.

[On the Road]

22. So He Would Eliminate

all verbs of being, such as seem, look, and appear?

[WinkyDink]

27. No. Am, are, is, was, etc.. Verbs of "being" are from "to be"; do not include your list.

http://www.towson.edu/ows/verbtypes.htm

[Hannah Bell]

29. kind of like newspeak

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Angry Dragon]

5. You would lose a great Shakespear quote

[Contrary1]

6. "...or not..."

What kind of question is that? :rofl:

[babylonsister]

8. This thread is going places!

I just don't know where! :rofl:

[cliffordu]

9. But what about my

Hoopty??

[joshcryer]

11. Nah, one can still use derisive language in eprime.

[Abq_Sarah]

12. It just ends up sounding

Like it came from a lawyer.

[joshcryer]

13. Haha

:D :hi:

[gkhouston]

17. or a professional resume writer. n/t

[LoZoccolo]

14. I do not think that it will solve that problem n/t

[joshcryer]

15. I find myself writing eprime most of the time. It does not shield you, either.

You remain subject to derision regardless of your attempts.

[Xipe Totec]

16. Risible proposition nt

[stockholmer]

18. without problems, there would be no solutions

:toast:

[lumberjack_jeff]

20. This is the kind of semantic nonsense, up with which, I shall not put.

Or...
"Yarr! That be gibberish!"

[Festivito]

21. So the attacks can be more clear? Ha. NO! /nt

[Iggo]

24. Won't solve a thing.

Humans shall remain confrontational.

[gkhouston]

25. What about DUers? n/t

[jp11]

28. Yes and create others.

[mmonk]

30. A kind of Twitterization of DU?

[LoZoccolo]

33. I imagine that E-Prime would lengthen posts. n/t

[mmonk]

35. I thought it was a kind of reductionism.

But I don't know anything about it.

[pinboy3niner]

31. K&U-Prime

:evilgrin:

[Yo_Mama]

32. It is a good idea, but no

It would increase the confusion and distress level of the average individual.

[Zephie]

34. I don't think that I could manage writing in E-Prime for extended periods of time

Sitting here reading wikipedia and looking at the rules for writing in E-Prime and I find myself having a very hard time comprehending how to do it. I understand the need for substituting words to replace things, however I seem to ___ having a bit of a hard time trying to find replacements for some in all contexts, like this sentence. (What would I use in that blank space to replace the word "be"? I tried to reword the sentence many different ways but I couldn't come up with a word to replace "be" or "being".) It feels uncomfortable to try to bend around word constraints like that for me, and usually I don't have problems with wordsmithing. Maybe I'll have to do some writing in this style, as today was the first time I have heard of it.

Edit for E Prime violation :rofl:

[hunter]

36. E-Prime is the whore sister of George Orwell's Doublespeak

:eyes:

[Ilsa]

37. Perhaps E-Prime training would help journalists provide more objective reporting. nt

[markpkessinger]

38. A better solution is...

...for people to learn when the use of the verb "to be" (in all its various conjugations), is appropriate and when it is not. E-prime essentially attempts, by eliminating all forms of the verb "to be," to make it virtually impossible for the writer to use the passive voice. While it is certainly true that the passive voice is best avoided in most cases, there are situations where it is perfectly appropriate, and even preferable, either as a stylistic matter or as a matter of conveying the proper meaning of certain types of sentences. If I were teaching English composition to, say, upper middle school or high school students, I might very well periodically request that certain assignments be completed in E-prime as a tool to get them to think about what they are writing. But I don't think it would be particularly helpful in the context of DU (nor any other forum that deals with issues involving political, religious, cultural or sociological identity and/or identification.

[LoZoccolo]

39. The first sentence of your post exemplifies what E-Prime seeks to avoid.

You assert that E-Prime intends to avoid passive voice by eliminating use of the verb "'to be' (in all its various conjugations)" when I've never seen that asserted, and you've used the word "is" to assert a label of appropriateness to certain uses of the verb "to be", thus making a value judgement without qualifying it. E-Prime avoids the latter.