Video & Multimedia
Related: About this forumSmarter every day: Slo-mo flipping cats -- Why do cats land on their feet?
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,013 posts)The question the video actually asks is "How", at the 17 sec mark when it gets around to it. The video (and presenter) is a lot smarter than the video title.
1monster
(11,012 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,013 posts)I didn't realize you wrote the thread title. I thought it was the title of the video and you had simply transcribed it. I'm sorry I disturbed you. I did not mean to post "against" you. However, the principle remains and possibly you might gain ...
I only wrote in support of stating things clearly and directly. Readers of the post who like to write might think about what is actually stated (or written) and what it actually means.
1monster
(11,012 posts)one can state things clearly and directly and effectively in many different ways.
I do not concede your point that you were more clear or direct than I was. You were simply more didactic in your approach.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,013 posts)"Why" is a question about purpose.
"How" is a question about means and ways.
You can write "why" when you mean "how", if you like, but it is simply clearer to write "how" when you mean "how" and it will be understood by more readers.
Some readers will pass over a video entitled "Why cats land on their feet" because they will think the answer is rather obvious (which it is). More readers will view a video entitled "How cats land on their feet" because that is a more complex question with a much less obvious answer.
But sorry you got upset when I accidentally corrected you when I thought I was correcting the video.
"A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday". Alexander Pope (1688-1744) "Thoughts on Various Subjects", 1706.
1monster
(11,012 posts)"Cats fall on their feet because they are able to manipulate their upper bodies .... blah, blah, blah."
Look up didactic at dictionary.com.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,013 posts)I know what didactic means. It means "about the science of teaching". There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you refuse to learn, then that is your choice.
"Why do cats fall on their feet? Cats fall on their feet because they are able to manipulate their upper bodies" may be acceptable English in some ways, but it still exhibits sloppy thinking, which is something writers are advised to avoid.
Why do cats fall on their feet? Cats fall on their feet because it is safer than falling on their backs.
How do cats fall on their feet? Cats are able to fall on their feet by manipulating their bodies.
P.S. As the video explains, it is not just their "upper" bodies.
1monster
(11,012 posts)di·dac·tic [dahy-dak-tik] Show IPA
adjective
1. intended for instruction; instructive: didactic poetry.
2. inclined to teach or lecture others too much: a boring, didactic speaker.
3. teaching or intending to teach a moral lesson.
4. didactics, ( used with a singular verb ) the art or science of teaching.
Interesting that you choose the least common of the meanings.
But you've already proved to me that you are just trying to be provocative. Had you really any desire to give constructive criticism, you would never have been so offensive in your posts.
P.S. I am an English teacher.
Done with you.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,013 posts)xocet
(3,871 posts)Why is the instrumental of what:
http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/html/oe_bosworthtoller/b0578.html
How is an adverb:
http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/html/oe_bosworthtoller/b0564.html
This is also interesting:
http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/html/oe_bosworthtoller/b0565.html
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,013 posts)xocet
(3,871 posts)mahannah
(893 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)mahannah
(893 posts)Sanity Claws
(21,849 posts)1monster
(11,012 posts)to participate after the first time. If I tried that on any of my cats, I would be requiring a trip to the Emergency Room to stitch up the rips in my skin.
I'd never even think of attempting it a second time.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)malthaussen
(17,205 posts)... perpetual energy!
-- Mal
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,013 posts)not against the fur.
tclambert
(11,087 posts)lame54
(35,295 posts)meti57b
(3,584 posts)tclambert
(11,087 posts)TexasBushwhacker
(20,205 posts)Blue Owl
(50,448 posts)n/t
ailsagirl
(22,897 posts)KansDem
(28,498 posts)...it was on the face of Gigi.
The cat at 4'53" must have thought she was next...