Most of them grow out of it.

[Albino]

Dear Teachers:

I was listening to a tape when an expression caught my attention. Could you look at it and tell me if there is a missing word:

“Babies are born clueless and selfish. Most of them grow out of it; those who don't, become Manager" It was an acid expression that is in the Dogbert's Top Secret Management Handbook.

It sounds complete and funny to me, but isn’t some words missing? I mean in the fraction " ... those who don’t, become managers" I added a comma in order to avoid confusion with “don’t become managers” but I think that or should I use colon “:” instead of comma?

I am in doubt of being clear.

Could you help me?

[Casiopea]

How funny.
I'm with you on this. It's a stumper.

Could it be manageable, as in controlled?

[Albino]

I am sure the author (Scott Adams) use the word "Manager" (it could have been Business Manager, or IT Manager, whatever) but the question is that in the tape it is understandable, but when I try to script it I have found that the text could be confusing; maybe because I have missed some word or because I didn't use the correct punctuation.

I hope to be more clear now.

Regards.

[Ouisch]

To rephrase what Scott Adams is saying, when a baby is born, he has no knowledge at all, except for what he wants. He wants to be fed, he wants his diaper changed, he wants to be cuddled. Babies, by nature, are selfish. They outgrow this stage, though, as they get older and gain knowledge. They learn about the world around them and how to take care of themselves and how to be considerate of other people.

The babies that never outgrow that stage (even though they physically grow into adults), however, are the ones who are eventually appointed into management positions in companies. (I hope that explanation made some sort of sense.)

[Albino]

Ouisch,

Tank you very much. The description of meaning is correct.

I am not trying to make a stamper. I understand that this not the purpose of the forum.

My question is about the punctuation, because when I transcript the tape to "Those who don't become managers" it could be misinterpreted. In the tape I listened "those who dont - a brief silence or pause for a conclusion - become managers"

Best Regards.

Albino.

[Anglika]

Originally Posted by Albino

Ouisch,

Tank you very much. The description of meaning is correct.

I am not trying to make a stamper. I understand that this not the purpose of the forum.

My question is about the punctuation, because when I transcript the tape to "Those who don't become managers" it could be misinterpreted. In the tape I listened "those who dont - a brief silence or pause for a conclusion - become managers"

Best Regards.

Albino.

If you heard a brief pause, then inserting a comma is entirely correct.

[Albino]

Anglika,

Thank you for your help. I was away for a week and I haven't read the forum until today.

Again, Thank you.

Hector Albino

[queenbu]

those who don't(grow out of it), become Manager

You do have to put the comma when you write it. The fact is that you heard it, but you did right to add the comma in the written version.