THEY WRITE                        THEY MEAN

     It has long been known that...    I haven't bothered to look up the
     reference

     ....of great theoretical and       ...interesting to me
     practical importance

     While it has not been possible    The experiments didn't work out,
     to provide definite answers to    but I figured I could at least get
     these questions...                a publication out of it...

     The W-Pb system was chosen as     The fellow in the next lab had some
     especially suitable to show       already made up
     the predicted behavior...

     High purity...                    Composition unknown except for
     Very high purity...               exaggerated claims of the supplier
     Extremely high purity...
     Super-purity...
     Spectroscopically pure...

     A fiducial reference line...      A scratch

     Three of the samples were         The results of the others didn't
     make
     chosen for detailed study...      sense and were ignored...

     ....handled with extreme care      ...not dropped on the floor
     during the experiments

     Typical results are shown...      The best results are shown...

     Although some detail has been     It is impossible to tell from the
     lost in reproduction, it is       micrograph
     clear from the original
     micrograph

     Presumably at longer times...     I didn't take the time to find out

     The agreement with the predicted
     curve is:

     excellent                         fair

     good                              poor

     satisfactory                      doubtful

     fair                              imaginary

     ....as good as could be expected   non-existent

     These results will be reported    I might get around to this sometime
     at a later date

     The most reliable values are      He was a student of mine
     those of Jones

     It is suggested that...
     It is believed that...            I think...
     It may be that...

     It is generally believed that...  I have such a good objection to this
                                       answer that I shall now raise it.

     It is clear that much additional  I don't understand it
     work will be required before a
     complete understanding...

     Unfortunately, a quantitative     Neither does anybody else
     theory to account for these
     effects has not been formulated

     Correct within an order of        Wrong
     magnitude

     It is hoped that this work        This paper isn't very good but
     will stimulate further work       neither are any of the others on
     in the field                      this miserable subject

     Thanks are due to Joe Glotz       Glotz did the work and Doe
     for assistance with the           explained what it meant
     experiments and to John Doe
     for valuable discussions