To think that some (not all) of Jacob Rees-Mogg’s rules for communications are okay?

[CruCru]

I am not a fan of Jacob Rees-Mogg. I would hate to be made to refer to Imperial units because I don’t think in Imperial (presumably he does) and the Esq. thing is alien to me.

However, things like “Check your work”, having two spaces after a full stop and no comma after “and” are fair enough. I’m not sure about all the banned words or phrases but perhaps they are overused (to the point of being sloppy).

regarding imperial, apart from the moronity of the idea, he's also being a cockwomble - anyone younger than me (including myself) were only every taught in metric at school in the UK. I really don't give a shit what he and his nanny used at home - all kids since 1971 have only learned metric.

He might also want to educate himself (which I realise will never happen. It's impossible to get facts into something as dense as his head) about the history of metrication in the UK - since it was first proposed in 18 fucking 18 - which is over 200 years ago.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_the_United_Kingdom

Finally, he might want to reflect on what can happen when you mix units.

Silly bunt.

pikapikachu
I use two spaces after a full stop. It makes writing easier to read.
Isn't that one space?

It was 2 spaces when I typed it - it's annoying but mumsnet edits back to one space when you post.

The Americans' tardiness in consistently adopting SI units for all scientific and engineering calculations infamously led to the loss of a Mars orbiter. All the calculations were supposed to be done in SI but one part wasn't.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MarsClimatee_Orbiter

Are computer memory sizes imperial or metric (GB, MB, TB etc) ? I realise that 1GB = 1024MB but it's used everywhere ?

The SI compliant 1MB is 10e6 bytes. The old convention still in common usage was in multiples of 2, now more correctly mebibytes MiB. There is no 'imperial' standard.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megabyte

I think quite a few unis require two spaces after a . on submitted work.

According to some rules of etiquette wouldn't Theresa May be known as Mrs Phillip May M.P. as she's a married woman

The Oxford comma is shit too.

It is sometimes very useful for making a sentence unambiguous, which is one of the primary purposes of punctuation. It's also the standard in the US; if I don't use them in the documentation I write our tech editor will add them.

@notangelinajolie what do you like about Rees-Mogg?

I agree with most of his rules. I also think that unless you're not bothered how your staff communicate he us right to tell them what he expects. Many employers fall into the very unfair middle ground of caring but not saying clearly what they want.

This had nothing whatsoever to do with what I think of Rees-Mogg. I can't bear him.

It's also the standard in the US; if I don't use them in the documentation I write our tech editor will add them. I do a lot of work with US-based writers, who are meant to use British grammar and our house style - which is no Oxford comma. I’m always having to remove those commas.

I think that gibibyte, mebibyte etc my fact of the day.

I've been a gamer for most of my life so have always known computer related stuff not to be decimalised eg I was a child in the 8-bit era of gaming

Binary multiples (inc octal and hex) make sense in computer systems. They didn't start out counting on fingers.

Yabu

Nothing and I mean absolutely nothing about JRM is ok.

He's so awful he nearly makes me believe in the lizard conspiracy theory because I don't want to believe he's an actual person.

Fuck him, and, fuck, his, preferred grammar.

I think we should be more concerned about his views on Brexit (especially the proposed backstop and leaving on 31 October), and his views on abortion.

I think if those views were different, then we'd forgive his use of imperial units.

In any case, Boris Johnson should have appointed Angela Leadsom as Leader of the House.

The Oxford comma has been accepted as correct grammar for many years. If you think it's wrong, you are wrong. It is absolutely, unambiguously acceptable.

WaitedForGodot

I read that article, thank you, and the history of the two-space is interesting but this jumped out at me: What galls me about two-spacers isn’t just their numbers. It’s their certainty that they’re right. I kind of feel he got that the wrong way round. I don't give a toss if people want to use one space but why do they get their knickers in such a twist about people doing stuff differently from them?

I'm more concerned that JRM (the odious little ) doesn't want "equal" used. That speaks volumes to me

The Oxford comma’s acceptability depends on the house style you have to adhere to. It may be acceptable, it may not.

Okay autocorrect, have it your way, deleting my extra asterisks!

I do two spaces because I learned to touch type a long time ago but if you draft a piece of legislation with them in it will kick back as an error so that's ironic...

I was a little surprised that biros and gel pens are allowed though.

YABU

Well, my flabber is well and truly gasted.

I had no idea that it was considered old-fashioned to use two spaces after a full stop, or that an email should not being with "Dear So-and-so." I've been self-employed since 2012, which was when I last worked in an office, and both these things were common practice then.

I'm only forty fucking seven {weeps} and clearly I'm unemployable!

Clearly I can't spell either. Obviously I meant to write "an email should not begin with" ffs. Pension me off now for my own good please.

no one will be able to challenge him on are the rules - he really knows his stuff.

Now he and his chums just have to manage the slightly trickier business of following those rules...

Lilyofthefields

It's the geek in him I think. It's not what he says but the way he says it. I think he has a wonderfully eloquent way with words. I like that he cuts to the chase and stands by his convictions. Looking forward to him wiping the floor with John Bercow.

There was a legal case (in the US, I know) about the Oxford comma.

A lack of an Oxford comma cost dairy $5 million

edition.cnn.com/2018/02/09/us/dairy-drivers-oxford-comma-case-settlement-trnd/index.html