I just want to say hello and welcome to my new blog address! Hope everyone is having a great holiday!
Maybe you’ve noticed that the address of this blog has now changed to verypurpleperson. The blog is actually still hosted by Blogger, but I use the custom domain feature to redirect the visitors to my own domain.
I think it’s nice to have my own domain, as I can later change to other blogging software like WordPress if I want to. Some pages of this website, like ‘About’ and ‘Contact’ are already powered by WordPress, but I’ve customized the appearances so that all pages are looking similar although powered by different software. Uhm, sorry for this technical ramblings, but I really really love playing with these blogging software and css codes. I have various accounts on so many free blogging services under various names and love playing with them. Yes, yes, I’m a nerd. In fact, the last few days I kinda get obsessed with css codes and start having dreams where I had a giant whiteboard full of css codes before me, and I was shuffling the codes around happily.
Anyway, I’ve just got a very nice email from a kind reader, correcting the word ‘stuffs’ that I’ve used a lot. It turned out that I didn’t use this word correctly. ‘Stuffs’ is not the plural form of ‘stuff’, the word doesn’t have a plural form because it is an uncountable noun. Oh no! And I’ve mentioned the word everywhere! Please forgive my ignorance! m(_ _)m
So I think it’s a good thing that I’ve no longer used the name ‘verypurplestuffs’ for my blog. The one thing that I can’t change is my fanpage address because facebook doesn’t allow it, so I guess I don’t have any choice but to accept this.
English is such a difficult language! I’m from Indonesia, and there are no tenses in Indonesian language. Everything is in present tense and we use other words to convey the meaning better. So the sentence will go like this: “I go home tomorrow.” “I eat fish yesterday.” “I read book now.”
There’s no plural form either. We simply repeat the word to make it plural, like this: “I have book-book.” “I see dog-dog in the yard.” “Child-child play in the room.” It’s really a simple language.
Now I’m going to say thank you very much for the attention to my blog, and my grammar! It is always nice to learn new things, whether they are some sewing techniques, css codes, or grammar knowledge. I hope my English can be understood so far, but I will always try to speak and write English better. Me talk pretty one day!* ^.^
(* courtesy of David Sedaris)
stick with ‘stuffs’. It’s sort of your trade mark and i always thought it was intentional.
Oh! I just thought you were being fun and silly when you said "stuffs"! I've heard lots of people say it, just to be cute. But don't worry about your English! It really is a difficult and complicated language. In fact, we (I'm from the U.S.) don't even speak it very well! It was interesting to learn that the Indonesian language has no plurals or tenses. That's really nice!
I’ve always liked your use of “stuffs” – it is very cute and does make sense even if it is not correct. I love your blog by the way, it has inspired me to get sewing again. Happy New Year to you and your family.
I think your use of “stuffs” is cute, and your blog is just awesome. Happy New Year!
I thought the way you used the word ‘stuffs’ was charming and kind of cute. I really thought you were using it that way on purpose and just kind of playing with words. I enjoy your blog and reading about your ‘stuffs’
I just wanted to say that i LOVE all yr work! Yr blog is lovely & so inspiring. You go girl & keep on showing us yr “stuffs”
.-= anitadanilla´s last blog ..Scrappy house =-.
Your blog is charming and so are you. Don’t worry about your English – it is just perfect enough (now, I know that doesn’t make sense either but who cares?!)
I think you should still use “stuffs” as much as you want! English is such a do-it-yourself language, and there are always new words being added and old words that die out. Plus, people know what you mean, and that’s all that matters. I’m from Hawaii, where Pidgin English is spoken…and I’ve heard several people use the word “stuffs” before. It’s good to know the rules, but heck, if everyone followed them, we wouldn’t have half the vocabulary and style we have today.
one more vote for the love of “stuffs”! i mean, “google” wasn’t a word not so long ago (i think…) anyway, i think you’ve coined it and i love it.
on top of that, the ability to speak more than one language is amazing. wish i could.
I wanted to buy a dress from your shop that I have been keeping my eye on but its gone! Can you make any of your old dresses again?
First time to comment here!
I’ve only been reading your blog for a few days, and I must say, you write good English! I’m a fellow south east Asian (Filipino to be exact) and I can relate to the difficulty in translating sometimes. More often than not I *think* in Filipino, but I write in English and sometimes it gets jumbled with tense, grammar, etc.
Happy Holidays to you and your family! Your son is very fortunate to learn a lot of languages for someone so young.
Congrats on your new space! I enjoy reading your blog very much and “stuffs” doesn’t bother me in the least! One of my best friends is from Yogyakarta and I hope to someday travel to Indonesia with her to visit her family and see Java and of course, Bali. She’s taught me a little basic Indonesian and I think it’s such a straightforward language. My 4th grader complains about English all the time while studying her spelling words. “Why can’t English just make sense?”
Aww thank you very very much for all the sweet comments! ^.^
I never thought that so many people would be so nice to share their thoughts about this word.
I used to work as an editor in a magazine (Indonesian magazine), so I find language is a very interesting subject. In my family, we speak in Javanese, a native language spoken in the island of Java, and it’s really different from Indonesian and English. Javanese language doesn’t have tenses either, but it has different levels of formality, depending on whom you are talking to. Pretty confusing.
And now I live in a country with an entirely different language (and alphabetic system!). I’m slooowly learning Japanese now, and my son speaks in broken Indonesian language with lots of Japanese words inserted in between. All these languages are very interesting with all their own rules! ^.^
I personally dont like the work ‘stuff’ but since reading your blog I’ve started to say ‘stuffs’ too! I thought you did it deliberatly. ‘Stuffs’ is very cute, just like your blog so I too hope it doesn’t dissapear completely. xxx
.-= alibahbah´s last blog ..Mmm, Pie =-.
Hi – your English is *marvelous*, don’t let anyone tell you something else. It truly is a very odd language with a lot of bits that make no sense whatsoever. As far as “stuffs” go, while it is an “uncountable noun,” many of us pluralize it anyhow, to make it playful or silly.
I like the idea of your language better – no tenses would make things so much simpler!
You’re doing a great job.
I’m in agreement with the other readers who find “stuffs” charming, original and expressive. One of my best friends is French and she used to make the same “mistake.” I never corrected her because (as other people pointed out) English is a difficult language to learn, but always open to re-invention.
I think you are doing very well. I can understand your English just fine, but it’s good that you are open to improvement. We should all always be looking for ways to improve ourselves and learn new things. You are a great example to the rest of us. And I agree with Krista that sewing stuffs sounds cute; so I wouldn’t worry about it. It won’t make you look ignorant or uneducated, just cool and cute. And cute you are. You look so adorable in your pictures. As Gina says, English is a very flexible language. People are always making up their own words and putting a new twist on them. So I say, use stuffs as much as you want. It’s like your own little signature. I never thought anything negative about it.
What you just said about Indonesian is very interesting. I had no idea. I’ve never met anyone from Indonesia before. I was born in Cuba, so my original language is Spanish. I moved to the US when I was 10 and it took me a few years to learn English. I had my own language obstacles as well. For instance, in English you say: The big book. But in Spanish you say: The book big. So I had to reprogram my brain to say sentences backwards, until it became a habit. Now when I think in English, the Spanish grammar rules make no sense to me, and the other way around as well. But I don’t think that it would be easy for me to learn Indonesian grammar either…lol
I want to mention that the use of the word stuffs is charming and a bit like your signature. It really allows you to group your work in an original way that your followers are able to recognize easily.
It may not be a proper english word but it conveys what you are doing beautifully. ‘Glamourai’ isn’t a word, neither is ‘Lindsanity’ but the blogs using those terms have flourished and are some of the visited sites out there.
English is a flexible language, and the internet is the best place to make it your own.
So, I really hope ‘stuffs’ doesn’t completely disappear from your vocab!!
And congratulations on the move to the new domain!!
Welcome to your new home!
I totally thought you were using ‘stuffs’ just as your own little term as opposed to a grammatical mistake – it’s cute
Love your blog!
I think that your English is great! I have been following your blog for a little while now, and I enjoy reading about what is going on in your part of the world. It is a wonderful thing that people from opposite sides of the world with similar interest can follow each other. I like hearing about and seeing the fabric that you use, were it came from, and about the area that you are from. It was nice to link from you blog to the Market you attended. How did you do? It looked like an amazing place.
I think your English is great! (A lot better than my Indonesian :-)) And your blog is beautiful.
popping up to say hi and to say that i really enjoy reading your blog. also, i like how you use the word “stuffs”! It’s a charming way to use the word and besides, people make up words and their own rules for English all the time, especially in a domain/user name. For example, “google” is a made up word. I hope you keep on using your words.
i always thought your english was pretty good. in fact, i was under the impression that you were using the word “stuffs” because it sounded cute.
i like “stuffs”.
it’s funny that you post this, because i was reading recently, that people in your area of the world do have problems with plurals, and tenses when speaking the english language. i didn’t know that there weren’t such things as those in other languages.
my english is pretty awful at times, and it is my only language. i’ve always envied people who learn other languages. so no need to apologize. art is one thing that transcends language barriers, and you are really good at what you do.
p.s. i’m trying out your dress tutorial today. i need a party dress for next week.