Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
Quote:
if the Gemological report does not come from an internationally acclaimed laboratory, then it is probably in my best interest to pass on the certification
At the risk of repeating myself, there are no gemological labs which "certify" anything. They simply supply their educated opinions, based on the sophistication of their instrumentation and their interpretation of test results.
if the Gemological report does not come from an internationally acclaimed laboratory, then it is probably in my best interest to pass on the certification
At the risk of repeating myself, there are no gemological labs which "certify" anything. They simply supply their educated opinions, based on the sophistication of their instrumentation and their interpretation of test results.
Barbara,
Thank you for the reminder, my mistake is duly noted. I am still kinda new to this forum. sometimes I communicate better with rocks than I do people.
what I meant was, that if a person has doubts as to the credibility of a gemological report, it could be a wise decision to get a second opinion from a source they trust.
Yes, think in terms of reports instead of certificates.
I can see how definitions could confuse matters though. For example the first definition of "certified" according to the online Merriam/ Webster dictionary linked below.
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:20 am Posts: 2756 Location: Southern California, U.S.A.
Dictionaries write their definitions based on popular usage. That's how verbal atrocities like "irregardless" came to be enshrined in their pages. Coming soon: "anyways" and "then" instead of "than."
Rom, I've noticed the misuse of then/than quite frequently lately, even by columnists and professional publications. It's a minor annoyance/curiosity to me.
I'm often grammatically lazy but, I've noticed an increasing lack of proofreading in my local newspaper and other professional publications. Someone on strike? Maybe the first signs of our new texting and tweeting generation.
Not a thread hijack. I think the issue has been resolved.
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:20 am Posts: 2756 Location: Southern California, U.S.A.
JB, I don't know the full answer. Part of the problem may be computer spell-checkers. They only determine whether a word is spelled correctly, not if it's the correct word in that context. There's a terrible problem with homonyms like "there," "they're," "their," etc. and proper use of the apostrophe is a lost cause. Also, corrupted words used in texting find their way into general use.
On the whole I think contemporary Americans care less about proper use of language than they once did. It isn't emphasized in schools and seems to be mocked as "putting on airs" in popular culture. But language is constantly changing and dictionaries reflect those changes.
Consider Shakespeare. Some say he invented over 1700 of our common words by changing nouns into verbs, changing verbs into adjectives, connecting words never before used together, adding prefixes and suffixes, and devising words that were wholly original. I try to adapt to current changes but I still think "irregardless" is an abomination.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot post attachments in this forum