September 26, 2009

Wordsworth..

Nope, I am not talking about the renowned poet here. I am talking about how the wordplay happens, sometimes unintentionally and how then it becomes the brunt of comedy or blog posts such as these. I was going through the Masters/PhD theses of many friends over the past few days. Before you decide that I am a complete geek, I was only going through the acknowledgment section of each one (by the way this is my best opportunity to brag that I made about 5 of those :D). And maybe because this is the one section that the advisors don’t correct and the one section that you have free reign, people often end up not reading what they’ve written. And that leads to some comedy of errors. Here are a few-

1. This thesis is dedicated to my late grandfather. May his sole rest in peace. This one had to have been checked. I mean, come on!

2. Last but not least I would like to thank my parents. There blessings have helped me get here. Here, there, everywhere.

3. Life would have been difficult  at Cincinnati if not for my fiends (friends). Really? You’d think it would’ve been easier.

4. If not for my friends who were my family here, I am not sure I would have been able to beer living here alone. Of course friends are responsible for beers. Cheers!

Well, there are more of course. Any bloopers you’ve come across that you’d want to share?

5 comments:

Ones and zeroes and myself said...

In fact, the French make terrible mistakes. I see daily atleast a dozen mistakes made by top management guys in my company... And also, they are more tolerant of mistakes. They don't care and they act as if its very normal for a french to make mistakes in English..
I think you took the most personal parts or sentences of the thesis of non-native speakers of English in which they wanted to express their thanks and gratitude for their loved ones. I hope none of the authors of these thesis works read your blog..;o)

Jaya said...

Siva-> I think you've misunderstood my post. Since I mentioned that these were the theses of my 'friends' I thought you'd have guessed that these are my US friends (and their friends). And I would never have any examples of French people whose thesis is in English in any case. And in the unlikely event of them reading it, they are not alone. So many people err on this one. And though we as Indians are non-native speakers of English, we speak as well as (if not better) than most. Which is why this made for a lighter vein.

moonlightforu said...

I am about to submit my thesis in 15 days...after having a look at your post...all i did was to rush through my piece of thesis...Guess, I am quite good at my work....I didn't find these type of errors.... Well...this has been like an warning bell for me....will surely recheck the entire work.....Thanks to you.

Madhumathi said...

How abt people using below sentences

"i will not repeat again"??

Most of the words with re*** & again - get that..

You could post an article on this topic as well!!

Jaya said...

Moonlightforu-> I am sure it's a whole year since you graduated and here's the reply from me you thought would never come! HAHAHA. I was just going over some old write-ups and came across quite a few that I have shoddily neglected to reply. I am terribly sorry for that and I hope you are doing well and are still visiting the blog! Thanks for the comment :)

Madhumathi-> My boycott threat! I am surprised the threat didn't come after this one. Only joking... :D. I do apologize for this tardy reply and I hope the "better late than never" adage rings in your ears if you ever read this.

Needless to say, thanks for the comments and keep visiting!

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