"Hmm, strange. Sad how grammar and spelling have fallen off a cliff:"
Only if you are unfamiliar with a very long standing colloquialism that is perfectly understood by large swathes of the native English speakers world wide and confuse the difference between colloquialisms and standards, to us your "through now" makes no sense and "Hmm, strange." is very far from a grammatically correct sentence.
But somebody as eloquent as yourself should be able to ask a follow up clarification considerably less confrontationally than you did, we recently lost a very active and interesting member due to the grammar and spelling police. This is an international forum where we predominantly communicate in English, but no set regional variation of English, for many involved here English is a second or third language, we are poorer for it if we fail to make allowances for that, along with the colloquialisms, dialects, slang, and different levels of experience, education and understanding of English we encounter, and that all ignores the ever growing issues of input devices "intelligent" auto corrects!
Yikes. Wasn't trying to be rude...just accurate.
I've worked more often with people who are fairly prescriptive in their use of language (particularly Indian software engineers who are not native speakers), so I don't deal with colloquialisms all that often. A precise use of language can be important to getting the correct point across, ESPECIALLY in diverse groups with international speakers who don't use English as a first language (something I've had to do frequently during the last several years of my job.)
In my experience, colloquialisms, slang, and a lack of knowledge about the actual meaning and proper usage of words has diminished language, particularly English. I honestly find it
sad how frequently I come across blatantly incorrect use of words and grammar (and I'm not saying charlesa's use of 'till' was blatantly wrong...it wasn't, it just left me a little confused), when it is clearly the result of a misunderstanding about what a word really means or how the language works. People also frequently misspell words as they phonetically work them out in their minds along with misunderstanding them. That indicates they have likely never been taught the word, never looked up its meaning, and picked up what they thought it meant from some other individual who likely incorrectly used the word in an improper context. I
honestly find that to be a
SAD state of affairs, when so many people don't know the true meanings of the words they use (and we aren't talking a few here and there...were talking tens of thousands, if not millions, of people who natively speak English...facebook, youtube, etc. have countless examples.)
I actually BLAME spellcheckers, abbreviated text messaging and the like for dulling the average American's ability to communicate or even understand what the words they use mean and might potentially communicate in conflict with their intentions. That isn't the only reason English spelling and grammar for native speakers has become so poor, though. There is definitely a lack of education or poor educational techniques involved, which is why it's so sad. It just demonstrates the decline of America and the American people (and no, I'm not talking about classic differences in spelling between American and British use of English words...color/colour don't bother me.) In all seriousness, people should know and understand their language in totality, there shouldn't be so much room for misinterpretation or misuse; there shouldn't be such a lack of knowledge and understanding.
I have no problem with people who are clearly not native speakers of English, I understand their difficulties. I don't believe charlesa has any such problem, their English is fine, outside of having the potential to be misunderstood. In my understanding, the use of the word until means to this moment, yet quite explicitly NOT
after this moment. Replacing "until" with "to" or "through" eliminates the finality of until, meaning the state of things to or through the current moment continues. If that is still confusing, or you feel that is still incorrect, then a better alternative would have been "so far":
"I have been using the LP-e4N interchangeably between the 1DS III and the 1DX. No issues to report so far."
My question was honest, and I had no intention of being rude. It honestly sounded like charlesa was saying she suddenly encountered a problem, yet never elaborated the point.
