Spelling mistakes and typos



Vorici's speech when leveling to 7.

how ---> have
IGN = Tetti
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Rhys wrote:
Thanks for the reports, guys!

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Tempada wrote:
There's a conjugation error in the Ethereal Knives description:

"Fires an arc of knives in front of the caster which deal physical damage."

An arc deals physical damage. The subject is arc, not knives, so deal should be changed to deals.

No, it is the knives dealing the damage, not the arc. The grammar of the main sentence leaves the subject of the subordinate clause ambiguous - it could be either - but the conjugation of "deal" tells you it is the knives.


I was actually really curious about this and here's what the English nuts over at the English StackExchange have to say about it:

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/200696/an-arc-of-knives-deal-damage-or-an-arc-of-knives-deals-damage

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You forum user is correct. An "arc" is dealing damage. A specific kind of arc -- an arc of knifes. The "of knifes" is a genitive, which is a restriction placed on the noun. It isn't the subject of the verb, it is a restriction on the subject.

The exact meaning of the genitive is open to interpretation, it is sometimes ambiguous, and sometimes even carries more than one meaning. In English we use it for designating many different relationships between the two words. However, in all cases the genitive places a restriction on the noun, which is to say it reduces the things the noun can refer too. In this case "arc" is restricted to one composed of knifes, an "arc" composed of fire or acid would not qualify, hence it is restricted to knifes only.

You could say "Knifes firing in an arc deal damage." In which case the plural "knifes" would be the subject.

HTH.
IGN: Blaze_Ember
Last edited by vmrob on Oct 9, 2014, 4:25:09 PM
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vmrob wrote:


I posted in that StackExchange thread.

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Both ways are grammatically correct, but there is a different emphasis placed on the source of the damage. If the arc is dealing damage, then there is one source dealing one amount of damage, but if the knives are dealing the damage, then since there are multiple knives, then there are multiple sources of damage applying separately.

This is an important distinction for this particular skill.

A similar example:

"Fires an arc of knives which explode on contact."

There is a significant difference here if the knives explode individually, instead of the entire arc of knives exploding in unison.


There are also other answers in the StackExchange thread that agree that the grammar leaves it ambiguous, i.e. that both ways are grammatically correct.

[Edit] Though since that skill doesn't shotgun, it would be better to say the "arc deals damage" rather than the knives individually. But I maintain that both ways are correct, grammatically.
Code warrior
Last edited by Rhys on Oct 9, 2014, 6:59:58 PM
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Rhys wrote:
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vmrob wrote:


I posted in that StackExchange thread.

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Both ways are grammatically correct, but there is a different emphasis placed on the source of the damage. If the arc is dealing damage, then there is one source dealing one amount of damage, but if the knives are dealing the damage, then since there are multiple knives, then there are multiple sources of damage applying separately.

This is an important distinction for this particular skill.

A similar example:

"Fires an arc of knives which explode on contact."

There is a significant difference here if the knives explode individually, instead of the entire arc of knives exploding in unison.


There are also other answers in the StackExchange thread that agree that the grammar leaves it ambiguous, i.e. that both ways are grammatically correct.

[Edit] Though since that skill doesn't shotgun, it would be better to say the "arc deals damage" rather than the knives individually. But I maintain that both ways are correct, grammatically.


I see that now! I'm glad you responded with that level of detail too as I thought it was a genuinely interesting question. Thanks for the clarification! :D
IGN: Blaze_Ember
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When you defeat Vagan a timed duel, he says something to the tune of 'deflated quicker than a pair of testicles' but the text only says 'pair testicles'.

Oops, ballsed that one up.
Code warrior
Would like to point out that you cannot "Fire" a bow the correct term is loose or shoot. Fire is referring to the discharging of a firearm.
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Would like to point out that you cannot "Fire" a bow the correct term is loose or shoot. Fire is referring to the discharging of a firearm.


Google gives me (emphasis mine):
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verb
1.
discharge a gun or other weapon in order to propel (a bullet or projectile).
"he fired a shot at the retreating prisoners"
synonyms: launch, shoot, discharge, eject, hurl, throw, send flying, let fly with, loose off, shy, send; More


Merriam-Webster's definitions include:
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2fire verb
: to shoot a weapon

: to throw (something) with speed and force
which specifies only "weapon" and even includes throwing, which clearly isn't a gun.

and thefreedictionary.com includes both of these:
"
6.
a. To propel (a projectile); launch (a missile).
b. Informal To throw with force and speed; hurl: fire a ball at a batter.


The other dictionaries I checked all included definitions which included firing weapons in general, not specifically guns, or separately included definitions for launching things with force, not necessarily from weapons - most had both.

In short, it seems to me that "fire" in relation to launching projectiles probably entered the language through the association of guns and other actual firearms, it has since taken on a broader meaning and it's not incorrect to use it in relation to other projectiles being launched from other weapons.
This would suggest, at least to me, that in the language of the UI, which is talking to a player from our world in modern English, "fire" is a fine word to use in the context of bows. However, in dialogue or other in-game text, it could legitimately be seen as anachronistic or otherwise out of place, due to that link to guns.

So in which context are you finding the word in the game?
Last edited by Mark_GGG on Oct 22, 2014, 7:24:50 PM
Rain of arrows
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Fires a large number of arrows into the air, to land at the target after a short delay.
It's not 100% wrong but with the lore and atmosphere of POE it just doesn't really look right. Just my 2 cents keep up the good work over there at GGG.
See to me, that word doesn't seem like a problem at all there, because that text isn't "in-universe" - it's not a part of the PoE world or lore, and thus has no reason to fit within it. It's part of the UI which is talking directly to the player.

So while I can see where you're coming from, I personally wouldn't consider this to be wrong, due to the context it's in.
hi

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