Re: Do you suggest me using IDE when I'm learning JAVA
On 05/02/2010 03:41 PM,
Arved Sandstrom wrote:
Fortunately "may not" is one of the modal negatives that has a fairly
unambiguous meaning, as in, "not allowed". That doesn't mean that a lot
of people don't use it incorrectly, though.
Lew wrote:
"Correctly" according to you. I've heard "may not" to mean "might not"
my entire life.
"That may not turn out the way you expect."
"There may not be enough for seconds."
You may not be correct in your assessment of correctness, at least
regarding common usage.
Arved Sandstrom wrote:
I think I'm correct. :-) I pointed out "That doesn't mean that a lot of
people don't use it incorrectly, though." In fact I'd say that the
majority of people use it incorrectly, which is why you've heard
incorrect usages all your life.
It is your terminology "correct" vs. "incorrect" that is incorrect. The
dictionary definition of "may" includes the notion of "possibility" or of
"permission" depending on context. Either usage is "correct". The same holds
for the negation.
Some people, according to the dictionary, consider the affirmative definition
to mean "might" as incorrect, but that is a prescriptive restriction not
commonly followed.
Now if by "correct" you mean "unambiguous", I agree with you, but as for it
being incorrect English usage to use "may" or "may not" in the sense of
"might" or "might not", you're just plain wrong.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Ten_things_you_may_not_know_about_Wikipedia>
<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2010-04-21-braingames21_ST_N.htm>
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/business/18digi.html>
and perhaps most tellingly,
<http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/proctors/info/pam/section9.shtml>
"... late entries may not necessarily be accepted."
I think we can probably take Oxford University's usage as "correct".
--
Lew