Ted Unangst: > [i was trying to stay away, but can't.] I've never really trusted prepositions ;) By and by, stand by that clock and adjust it by 30 minutes, by whatever means and by whatever rubric you deem appropriate. By which direction, I wonder.
> On 11/18/05, J Moore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Wed, Nov 16, 2005 at 09:58:28AM -0800, the unit calling > itself Greg Thomas wrote: > > > What part of adjusting do you not understand? Nowhere in the > log message > > > does it say that that adjusting is finished. You are just > being obnoxious > > > for obnoxious' sake because you didn't get your way. > > > > > > Greg > > > > No, Greg - I'm not trying to be obnoxious for obnoxious' sake - are you? > > What part of the definition of the word "by" to you not understand? > > > > Have you looked the word up in a dictionary? Have you imagined yourself > > in a situation where you were standing in front of a clock, and someone > > said to you, "adjust that clock by 30 minutes, Greg." > > the log message says "adjusting". that's the present participle (not > to be confused with gerunds). it means "not done yet." > > q: "what are you doing in front of the clock?" > a1: "i adjust the time (this instant only)" -- no > a2: "i adjusted the time" -- no > a3: "i will adjust the time" -- no > a4: "i'm adjusting the time" -- we have a winner. will you be done > adjusting the time the instant that the sentence is out of your mouth? > or will the adjusting [gerund form here] continue for some time after > the statement is issued?
