The man, "Jake," was always saying that Chinese is better than English, and this afternoon, he began to question the writing skills of Jin Yong simply because "Annie" mentioned Jin Yong's writing style and skills, which Jake doesn't like and doesn't think are creative [STRIKE]or something[/STRIKE]. I don't remember clearly. Then he began to say things about Jin Yong. Many people who were born after 1980 grew up on Jin Yong's books and the movies adapted from his books.
Imagine that[STRIKE],[/STRIKE] someone who's not a native speaker comments on your English skills and say that your English is outdated or something. I would just answer this person because I respect you. I was trying to help him to know that he should be careful not to go overboard because he can't achieve what Jin Yong achieved. This is a matter of opinion.
Anyway, let's forget about it. Emsr2d2 and teechar have answered my question.
Hi, Silver!
In writing, when we give people or organizations substitute names to hide their identities, we don't usually give them letters or numbers. It's not natural. Our custom is to use a different name.
There are several ways to do this. For example:
- The man, "Jake," doesn't like Jin Yong. I think Jake is being unfair. [Notice that the first time, we use quotation marks. After that, we don't]
- The man — I'll call him Jake — doesn't like Jin Yong.
- Jake (not his real name) doesn't like Jin Yong.
- The man, Jake, doesn't like Jin Yong. [You're not writing for publication, so the name doesn't matter. You can use any name. We'll never know — or care.]
Avoid over-using expressions like or
something. (And
never write "and stuff like that"!)