An SF lesson learned....

[amadar]

So a few days ago I stumbled across a pair of shoes on the bay that piqued my interest. They were dirt cheap, and likely to stay that way given the descriptions of the shoes by the seller. Also, there was about 1 day left on the auction and the page only had 20 or so views.

Since I am a size 13, I thought it would be safe to come on here and post a link to the auction asking for a general consensus on whether the shoes were worth purchasing, assuming the unlikeliness of a fellow bigfoot stumbling across my thread. Whoops.

Although I only received a few replies in the SF thread, the page view for the ebay item jumped from 20 to about 150 in the span of one day, and lo and behold, I was outsniped.

Now of course I don't know for sure that an SFer outsniped me. But I think the chances were pretty good.

 

[ter1413]

ur bad!

 

[Achilles_]

Yep, next time save the pics to your computer then host them yourself.

 

[SpooPoker]

You are looking at NORE and whusurdadi right now.

 

[amadar]

Originally Posted by SpooPoker

You are looking at NORE and whusurdadi right now.

hahaha lets see if one of them emerges here and owns up to it

 

[Achilles_]

Originally Posted by SpooPoker

You are looking at NORE and whusurdadi right now.

Only at this forum would a guy's foot size be remembered by people

 

[Reevolving]

Yes, that was stupid. Try again.

 

[idfnl]

Ya, must say there were a few auctions in the past I wanted to post but didnt... ebay is chum, and here lie sharks

 

[SpooPoker]

Originally Posted by idfnl

ebay is chum, and here lie sharks

This is a great quote.

 

[Harold falcon]

Should it be "an SF lesson learned" or should it be "a SF lesson learned"?

 

[millemots]

FWIW, this is not a situation unique to SF. I am also a member of a board dedicated to a particular guitar manufacturer. Several years ago the brand was flying "under the radar" and one could pick up used models very inexpensively. I posted a picture (hot linked to the seller's site) of an extremely rare model from early in the company's history, looking for a little information before I pulled the trigger.

Now, the seller was a mom & pop music shop located in my home town, which itself is located out in the middle of nowhere. I happened to know that used guitar had been sitting there for nearly two years. I went back that afternoon to buy it, and it was gone. The manager, whom I knew quite well, told me it was the strangest thing. They had fielded nearly two dozen calls for that guitar (the first caller bought it) from all around the US, and one from overseas. He'd never seen anything like it.

idfnl's analogy to chum and sharks is spot on, in my experience.

 

[OakCliff]

"An SF lesson learned" is correct grammar.

 

[Newcomer]

Originally Posted by harvey_birdman

Should it be "an SF lesson learned" or should it be "a SF lesson learned"?

For abbreviations, you use 'an' if the first letter begins phonetically with a vowel, and 'a' if it does not. For example, 's' is pronounced phonetically as 'es.' Ergo, you use an.

 

[Harold falcon]

Originally Posted by OakCliff

"An SF lesson learned" is correct grammar.

Originally Posted by Newcomer

For abbreviations, you use 'an' if the first letter begins phonetically with a vowel, and 'a' if it does not. For example, 's' is pronounced phonetically as 'es.' Ergo, you use an.

Thanks fellas, that would have kept me up all night with worry.

 

[amadar]

Originally Posted by harvey_birdman

Should it be "an SF lesson learned" or should it be "a SF lesson learned"?

I think I was originally correct, as the use of the "a" or "an" before a word, acronym, initialism, etc. is determined by the phonetic sound of the first letter of the word, acronym, initialism as it is pronounced. Hence: "An hour" and not "A hour", even though "hour" starts with a consonant.

Congrats on derailing the thread.