Frank, at 22:47 on May 29 1995, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

BG> Sorry, I meant to type
"grammar-syntax-context-spelling-checker", but was 
BG> initially too lazy to do so.  I wish I had now...

FM> Too late! You can't get away that easily. (But if you find one of those, I 
FM> *want* one!

BG> My immediate reaction was going to be "you'd be lucky",
but such an app 
BG> would likely be possible, albeit positively immense in size (and probably 
BG> incredibly slow to run, due to the vast amount of cross-checking 
BG> involved).

FM> I'm not even sure about possible.

Probably not to the extent that would make it sufficiently useful, agreed.

FM> In that specific example, you could say, "Shakespeare is a valid English 
FM> work" or "Shakespeare is a valid English word".

Dunno, I'd be inclined to suggest that the first example is grammatically
incorrect anyway, and should read either "A 'Shakespeare' is a valid
English work", or "Shakespeare's is a valid English work"
(or to be completely pedantic, "Shakespeare's are valid English
works").  Ain't English fun?

FM> Not to mention the usual ones like, "Time flies like an arrow".

True, metaphors would be an absolute nightmare to validate.

BG> However, there is still no substitute for having learned correct 
BG> grammar, syntax etc at school,

FM> Yes.

Glad you agree.  I perpetually nag Robert (now 15) about his poor spelling
and grammar, but my main concern is with his pronunciation and elocution. 
After a few weeks of making him verbally repeat any word from which he
drops the final letter(s) (*ing is the worst, as you'd expect), all is well
until he spends a weekend in Toowoomba with his dole-bludging moronic
natural father, then the whole cycle repeats itself.  So much for learning
by example...

BG> As an aside, Brisbane City Council held their annual school spelling bee 
BG> last week, and it did not surprise me in the least that it was won by a 12 
BG> year old Vietnamese boy.  Why do Asians do so well in our educational 
BG> institutions?  The only explanation I can offer is that their attitudes 
BG> towards learning are far more intense than ours, which is very much in 
BG> keeping with my own observation that the majority of local school kids are 
BG> simply lazy little shits.

FM> No doubt you're right,

I'd hoped not, but do you have any other valid explanation?  I don't.

FM> although I'm sure you'd also agree it very much depends on the school, to 
FM> the extent that it reflects the culture of the area from which it draws its 
FM> clientele.

Absolutely, no argument with that at all.  Mind you, given the amount of TV
being watched by kids these days, some of the grammatical blunders made by
news copywriters (and compounded by their readers) are disgusting (as my
hero, Stuart Littlemore, so frequently and pungently points out).

FM> * It's easy to apply yourself, if you just use crazy glue!

Stealing American taglines now, are we?  Have you no shame?  |-)

Regards, Bill
@EOT:

--- Msgedsq/2 3.10 alpha