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Taut, Taught, & Taunt Pitches
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May 18, 2014 at 8:53 am #1316936
After reading several dozen articles here in the Gear section of BPL on how to pitch tents and tarps, I offer this cheat-sheet:
Taut: “Stretched tightly, under stress.”
Taught: “To impart knowledge.” (past tense)
Taunt: “To ridicule or provoke.”
Seems a lot of people here are either imparting knowledge to their tarps, or ridiculing them.
Here’s how to become a true tent-pitch savant:
In school you learn that a pitch can be taught
But it’s cruel and it’s mean when your pitch is a taunt
What you want is a tent that is tight and is taut.May 18, 2014 at 8:57 am #2103608Foresome of us, id's just ben two long sense we where inn skool.
DuaneMay 18, 2014 at 9:09 am #2103611GEAR talk. Everything GEAR. All about GEAR. Ultralight backpacking gear. Lightweight backpacking gear. Hiking gear. Anything GEAR. Gear that sucks, gear that works, gear that's cheap, gear that's cool, gear that's overrated by lying manufacturers, gear that's only available from a side street Spanish market, gear that breaks, gear that's multi-use, gear that can be Googled, GEAR GEAR GEAR GEAR GEAR. Now go. Talk 'some gear.
Perhaps rants and musings about alleged trolls, spelling, grammar, AND "usage" should be posted in Chaff.
Edit: Better Bob?
May 18, 2014 at 9:11 am #2103614Did you mean "grammar" or did you mean usage?
–B.G.–
May 18, 2014 at 9:21 am #2103617In any event, "you've got to be carefully taut" as the song goes….
May 18, 2014 at 9:46 am #2103628Guyline vs. guide line
May 18, 2014 at 9:47 am #2103629It's my tent that taunts me when I can't get it taut. Apparently I can't be taught.
May 18, 2014 at 10:09 am #2103640Move this to Chaff
Don't know what everyone is scared of over there. Was the best of BPL for years.
May 18, 2014 at 10:13 am #2103644> Perhaps rants and musings about alleged trolls, spelling, grammar, AND "usage" should be posted in Chaff.
Considered it, but didn't do that, because the vast majority of discussions on taut/taught/taunt are held here in the GEAR forum, where people are discussing how to pitch tent or tarp.
Is it really so terrible if folks open this thread and happen to learn the definitions of these three simple words that are frequently used to describe GEAR? I don't think so.
May 18, 2014 at 10:27 am #2103648I tell you what… you sit here and make it your life's mission to straighten out the world. I'm headed for Rainier.
Peace.
May 18, 2014 at 10:29 am #2103649^ Now that's a taunt.
May 18, 2014 at 2:31 pm #2103715And if you guys get it wrong any more, I'll have the tort lawyers after you.
May 18, 2014 at 2:33 pm #2103716So jist git yer butt off to night skoll and git yer GED!
As a retired high school English and social sciences teacher (history, psychology and environmental studies) even in the '90s I despaired of this nation's ever-lowering level of public education. One year I even had to fail 30% -yes, THIRTY PECENT- of my entire 10th grade world history class! But so did the English and biology teachers for that same lazy-assed class.
And here in Nevada we have THE LOWEST performing public education system in the nation. It's all due to insufficient funding – period.
Sorta a "mind over matter" thing. The citizens and businesses don't mind and it doesn't seem to matter to the parents.Delmar, don't get me started! You know how I get…
May 18, 2014 at 3:04 pm #2103723Isn't Eric holding a tot in his avatar? So, my humble offering:
"At first, the little tot tried to taunt me for my sloppy tarp, but then he taught me how to get a taut pitch."
Tent taunting? Man, this could go on forever.
May 18, 2014 at 3:10 pm #2103725I for one appreciate the attempt to point out incorrect English usage. The use of spellchecker programs and now auto-fill on cell phones has made people very lazy about their writing. I like to read blogs as well as forums, but I want to stab the screen when I read the same incorrectly used word 4 times in the same blog entry. And, it's not just incorrect usage of apostrophes, either (its vs it's, there/their/they're), but sometimes an entirely other word has been substituted that changes the sense of the sentence! Also the use of text-speak in regular postings–aaaah!
May 18, 2014 at 4:03 pm #2103737I can handle some mistakes but when people are passionate about a hobby to the point of starting a blog, surely they can spell their key words correctly?
May 18, 2014 at 4:11 pm #2103743"The use of spellchecker programs and now auto-fill on cell phones has made people very lazy about their writing."
Since you're using 'spellchecker programs AND now auto-fill phones,' have made would be correct, not has made.
"sometimes an entirely other word"
Hmmmmm, grammatically awkward – better to write: 'another word entirely' if you really want to get the word 'entirely' in there. But really, 'entirely' is superfluous in your sentence….
:-)
May 18, 2014 at 5:09 pm #2103759Thanks Delmar
That is what I taut .
like.May 18, 2014 at 5:45 pm #2103776One time I pitched my tarp way too taunt. I woke up the next morning emotional scarred from the verbal abuse.
Using that taunt line hitch was a huge mistake.May 18, 2014 at 5:50 pm #2103779…moved to OP…
May 18, 2014 at 5:50 pm #2103780A hastily written post on a forum, without proof-reading! That's why I don't write a blog, Doug!
Walk away, come back and read your post, correct it, then hit Send.
May 18, 2014 at 5:59 pm #2103784"And if you guys get it wrong any more, I'll have the tort lawyers after you."
Well you can always try to bribe your way out of it by offering them an expresso although torte lawyer would have been funnier.
(if you can't beat 'em join 'em I suppose)
May 18, 2014 at 6:09 pm #2103786They litigate cake?
May 18, 2014 at 6:11 pm #2103788Thank you for pointing out those mistakes Doug. While we're on the subject, I would argue that this statement needs more work.
_______________________
"And, it's not just incorrect usage of apostrophes, either (its vs it's, there/their/they're), but sometimes an entirely other word has been substituted that changes the sense of the sentence! Also the use of text-speak in regular postings–aaaah!"
_______________________
While it's not technically incorrect to start a sentence with "And", it adds an air of informality. There are better choices. Simply starting the sentence with "It's not just…" would have been sufficient to avoid the awkward use of a coordinating conjunction. The final sentence could benefit from a comma being placed after "Also". Finally, closing the sentence with the use of the expression "aaaah!" is arguably simplistic and vague. Perhaps you mean to express frustration? If you are trying to explain a complex set of emotions and lack the proper vocabulary, I suggest you investigate those feelings and find the proper vocabulary to express them. The reader will gain a more accurate insight into what you are trying to say.
Edited for grammar and spelling.
Edited again for clarity.
Edited again for content.
Edited again for spelling.May 18, 2014 at 6:13 pm #2103789"They litigate cake?"
They do if they're being punny.
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