Picking the Short Straw. There's a thing called, "drawing straws", where the person who picks the shortest straw, loses. So if there is a task that no one wants to do, people might say, "Let's draw

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Craig Mansfield

Picking the Short Straw. There's a thing called, "drawing straws", where the person who picks the shortest straw, loses. So if there is a task that no one wants to do, people might say, "Let's draw straws!". Someone gets enough straws (plastic ones, or twigs, anything) for everyone in the group, and the "straws" are all the same length except for one, which is "the short straw". If you pick/draw the short straw, it means that you have to do the unpleasant task. I suppose it could mean you win, too, but mostly in England it's a way to decide who does something that no-one wants to do haha. If you're a person who feels he/she has bad luck, you could say, "I always pick the short straw!".

12 dec. 2012 01:46

Correcties · 33

"See me, I am taking my hat off to you."

You know that the comma, has NOT ended the sentence, it puts a pause in there.

So the only reason you have a capital "I" is because it's a proper noun. It is not the start of a new sentence. It all makes sense once you understand it

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/nouns-proper.htm

There is one point I would to make, but for the time being, I wont complicate matters.

See if you can guess what it is? It involves replacing a comma with a question mark, where could you add a question mark? And why would you then use a capital letter?

:D

13 december 2012

<a class="nick_nn" style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: #336699; text-decoration: initial; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;" href="http://www.italki.com/T009962029.htm">Elina</a> 23 minute(s) ago

oh! thank you very much Craig, very well explanation, I've got it completely here! thank you thousand times! :)))

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oh! thank you very much Craig,

Oh! Thank you very much Craig,

. full stop/period

! exclamation mark

? question mark, all end a sentence.

At the start of a new sentence (even if it's on the same line), ALWAYS capitalise the first letter.
Example 1 of 2.

Hi Elina, can I explain this to you?
This will explain some punctuation rules in a clear way for you.
 (peoples' names always have a capital letter, so does the word "I".)

Hi Elina, can I explain this to you? This will explain some punctuation rules in a clear way for you.

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The exclamation mark is a decorated period/full stop, so it shows the end of a sentence: you can see a little full stop and another "mark" above it. This should remind you to use the capitalisation rule.

(I just invented the term, "capitalisation rule" hehehe)

There is an exception that I'd like to tell you about; when you quote somebody saying something, you have not ended your sentence, so the punctuation of their quote, is not punctuating your sentence.

Hehehe "thus" hehehe

I was talking to my friend Elina the the other day, and she said, "I'm sick of punctuation! It can all go to hell!" to me this comment was a little over zealous, and I think she needed a little rest so she could recharge her batteries.
Note that the letter in your own sentence, which contains the quote, has not been capitalised.
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very well explanation

very well explained (something that's been done, and done to your liking)
very good explanation (you've graded the quality of the explanation)

I've got it completely here! thank you thousand times! :)))

I've got it!

I've got it completely!
I completely understand it!

Thank you a thousand times!

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Good work, pet!

Keep going, keep learning, keep correcting.

Keep enjoying :)
<3

*Mitten lick*

13 december 2012

I always get the short straw.
I won the wooden spoon.

I got the boobie prize.

I'm always the runner up.

I don't mean me personally, I'm a princess and I'm brilliant at everything!!
I hit the jackpot with my life!

12 december 2012

It's mind boggling how people thought it was ok. I suppose it was English people (and Dutch I think) who came up with the idea. What people don't realise though is that they didn't stop with black slaves, they decided to enslave the world with economics. If that's not true, why do you have to work full time to pay for your whole life just for a house? Why do they take 20 40 or 50% of all the money you earn? Why aren't you "allowed" to keep your money? Why do you get charged vat? Taxed on your wages then taxed on the money you get for your pension? Inheritance tax? Slaves pet. The same evil pigs who are in the history books. Whoever's got the weapons or the law. :/ I love the earth but hate some of the people.

17 december 2012