Comment on When someone corrects your code
interolivary@beehaw.org 8 months agoA-ha, but this most decidedly not formal writing! UNO REVERSE CARD.
But on a more serious note, I did intend it as a sort of question because I’m not 100% sure, because the rules for quote use might well be different in English than my native language. I actually also don’t know the rule for question mark usage in English; is it generally considered a crime against orthography to plonk a question mark on something that’s a statement, or is it valid in some cases?
LinuxSBC@lemm.ee 8 months ago
It’s totally valid in most cases. It’s technically only supposed to be used for a question, but language is based on how it’s most commonly used, with those “rules” only applying in extremely formal situations. With the prevalence of informal text-based communication, many people use it to indicate being unsure, like how you used it. I just wanted to continue the chain of grammar corrections (which is why I used the wrong “its”/“it’s” at one point). Also, you were right about the quotes.
interolivary@beehaw.org 8 months ago
Ah, I see you’re also a descriptivist 😀
But yeah I know you were just continuing the joke; I’m a language nerd (well, general nerd really) and I just got curious about what the rule actually is. While English orthography rules related to punctuation usually seem to be pretty much the same as with Finnish, the rule for question marks seems to be more relaxed in Finnish and it can be used to mark any expression as a question.