Publicity stunt by Amazon, one of the biggest retailer on line

A few weeks ago Amazon released on line a video which turned quickly viral, showing a new way to deliver your small purchases . You order your item (a book or a CD for example) on your computer, smartphone or tablet , you click and in less than half an hour later you can hear the droning of some unmanned aerial vehicle (Octocopter- the name isn’t nice, a mix (hybrid) between insect and plane) which lands in your backyard and drops effortless your parcel to your door.
If we will have to wait some years before it happens ( major issues will have to be worked out , new rules for commercial use of Drones, safety problems etc…) i twas mainly a schrewd publicity stunt for one mammoth of the e-commerce in his war to pass the others and become still huger (refers to the conversation between Muriel and Gérard about robs..).



if there are mistakes in my text, or any wrong information, feel free to correct them. Thank you in advance

Hi Jean-Pierre,

Thanks for your words on this subject.
Yes, it was mostly an opportunity to advertise and start a buzz (common in the US).


> if there are mistakes in my text, or any wrong information, feel free to correct them. Thank you in advance

A few remarks concerning your words (if you don't agree, don't hesitate to comment):
- to me, an object cannot be separated from its verb - no adverb in between; hence I frown when I read "released on line a video" or "drops effortless your parcel"
- I don't think the words "viral", are appropriate
- " in his war" -> " in its war"
- "robs" - do you mean "robots"? "rob" means "thieves"

Hi Jean-Pierre, Gérard
I think Jean-Pierre could read this. It is about the adverb position . He will see by himself that the verb is close to the object.
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/word-order/adverb-position

Hi Muriel, Jean-Pierre,

Very good page, thanks Muriel!
I would add there's no direct object after to be -> "She's still a very pretty girl"... however we sometimes hear "She still is..." in the US (unless it is to insist on the 'still').

I wrote "object complement" as the true name didn't come to mind, I meant "direct object".

Hi everyone
As a way to correct my mistakes i try to understand them, are they careless mistakes or something else … more difficult to correct
I’ve found on Linguee
« That's what makes a video go viral ». Translated as « C'est ce qui fait qu'une vidéo soit bien répandue ».
We find at the same time «to go viral with their marketing » as « se mettre au marketing viral »
So as i wrote « turned viral » I’d have wrote instead « went viral » but as I meant « made the buzz » it was more easy to say « started the buzz »as you advice me Gérard.
I went back to your article « bots run the internet with 61 percent… » and i see that the bots turned into « robs ». I think we are here in the careless mistakes’s category
Muriel, your link about the adverb-position following Gérard’s comments about the order of words in a sentence in English is as clear as the other one about Since/for . I think this kind of mistake comes from the bad habit that consists in trying to translate from French to English. It will certainly take time to jump directly to the « good » expression because it is the native French language inside that try to take power by shapping with his own rules the new one...

Hi Jean-Pierre,

Congrats on your care to improve your English.

You remind me of a mistake I made when I was studying English at school.
I wanted to find and try new words and as I had a "war dictionary" used by my father to talk with English speaking officers (during WWII), I chose to use a new word for "barbe"... the teacher underlined this with red ink and asked me what the hell it meant and he laughed when I told him: in fact, it was a hand-dictionary without details and the word I had used meant "la barbe!".
Since then I tend to be very careful with new expressions (I apply the KISS principle).

A few remarks regarding your text above:
- I’ve found on Linguee - I would say I found on Linguee... but I'm more American than British.
- "turned viral" - "turned" is very good
- I’d have wrote instead - written (past participle)
-  it was more easy - easier
- you advice me - don't confuse: advice is a noun, advise is the verb
- "it is the native French language inside that try to take power by shapping with his own rules the new one... "
This sentence is way too complicated for English grammar, simpler would be better
The subject of "try" is "that" standing for "language" - so, you must use the 3rd person of singular: "tries"
"Shapping" looks incorrect - if you mean the gerund of "to shape" (what I guess), the correct spelling is "shaping" otherwise the pronunciation would be different and incorrect.

Thank you very much, I'll try to make the most of all these pieces of advice in 2014.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !

Hi Jean-Pierre,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hi Jean-Pierre, hi Gérard, hi Muriel, et al ...

Firstly, as I love Amazon for my shopping (but not so much Ebay), I am very excited at the prospect of Amazon dropping my parcel on my balcony by drone, 30 minutes after I order it ... this would be a dream come true !

Regarding the use of the word "'viral" ... this is a recent adaption, mostly used on You Tube to talk about videos that are very popular and have been watched by thousands, maybe millions of people, in a very short time frame.
We say a video went viral, or it is going viral.
But now everybody is wanting to use the word viral, to describe anything and everything that is "over the top".
We say it is a "buzz" word.

Otherwise, Jean-Pierre, I thought your english wasn't bad at all ... a few little mistakes, but I understood everything.

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all,
Regards, Krystyna

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year Krystyna. Hearing from you was a great pleasure !