Spelling, punctuation and handwriting

[Pennine MC]

. It is irritating, but nobody bothers to correct people anymore.

 

Is it that, or is it the expectation of a dismissive response - 'Does it matter?'/'What a nerd?'/'What's it got to do with you?'

[Oldddudders]

Is it that, or is it the expectation of a dismissive response - 'Does it matter?'/'What a nerd?'/'What's it got to do with you?'

As in "Whaddyer want? Good grammar or a smack in the mouth?"

[Ashcombe]

I have a growing hate for the newspeak, "children and young people" which social services seem to troll out at every opportunity. It manages to be tortologous and vague at the same time.

 

People are either children, under 18, or they are adults. It is a legal definition.

 

Perhaps if we refered to teenage children as children, instead of giving them the impression they are some sort of intermediate beings with all the rights but none of the responsibilities of adulthood, they would know their place better and be less confused.

 

 

I agree and find the recent trend for calling high school pupils "students" confusing. To me students are 18+ and studying away from home. Not minors in secondary education! The generation that precedes mine would regard the term as referring to long haired, scruffy individuals who attend protest marches. An out of date concept as contemporary students at university are usually working to fund themselves through their degree. Sorry, I digress....!

[Pennine MC]

As in "Whaddyer want? Good grammar or a smack in the mouth?"

 

They dont have to be mutually exclusive

[Oldddudders]

They dont have to be mutually exclusive

Ah, the educated ruffian! There's a triumph for state education!

[Oldddudders]

The generation that precedes mine would regard the term as referring to long haired, scruffy individuals who attend protest marches.

Cor! Beatniks! Wearing duffle coats and ban-the-bomb badges, of course! Most of them now retired, and having been professors, barristers and captains of industry! After all, in those days a degree really did open doors. I do believe that a majority of people who begin as left-wing & principled become increasingly identifiable with the right-wing values they once despised in middle-age and later. Hence their unerring ability to deprecate the educational shortcomings of their juniors....

 

Now, what were we discussing?

[Ozexpatriate]

I agree and find the recent trend for calling high school pupils "students" confusing.

'Pupil' (other than in an ocular sense) is a victim of international English. The 'supervised learner' meaning is not presently in the US vernacular.

 

With continuous erosion of an education in the classics, words like 'matriculate' are similarly victimized.

 

In North American usage I have heard the verb 'graduate' and the noun 'graduation' routinely applied to the passage from elementary school to middle school - we're talking about the end of the 5th grade in a K-12 system here! Despite this, Americans are very fond of the term 'valedictorian', which I find slightly ironic.

 

I do think this trend degrades the gravitas of the word 'graduation' when applied to completion of a four-year university degree.

[Ron Solly]

Graduation ah yes.

I attended yesterday here in South Australia, a " Year 12 Graduation Ceremony" in which my oldest grandson (17) participated as it was his final year at school - then either to the work force or University. But he still uses " me & my mate" - not " my mate & I" & when I gently chide him, the answer is , " well everyone of my age uses it"

 

The ceremony even had "Valedictorian" Speeches

 

Even Primary school children now have a "graduation event" from Primary to Secondary education.

[45156]

Even Primary school children now have a "graduation event" from Primary to Secondary education.

I've actually heard of nursery schools having this sort of event when the kids leave to go to infant school!

[Horsetan]

.... captains of industry!

 

Or indeed "craptains of industry"....

 

...a majority of people who begin as left-wing & principled become increasingly identifiable with the right-wing values they once despised in middle-age and later. ...

 

'tis true, y'know. You do get more right-wing as you get older!

[Pugsley]

'tis true, y'know. You do get more right-wing as you get older!

I hope not, I'm bad enough now!

[skipepsi]

I seem to have gone the other way from supporting Thatcher in 1979 to being far to the left of the LibDems now.

[Oldddudders]

I seem to have gone the other way from supporting Thatcher in 1979 to being far to the left of the LibDems now.

I hope I'm not being patronising when I say that suggests you "think" about things more deeply than earlier in life. You're the exception that proves the rule, certainly!

[Edwin_m]

There's a real howler on the front cover of the latest Hornby mag:

 

"The Pennine's in N Gauge"

 

Presuming it isn't trying to say the member on here of that name has switched gauges.

 

(I've just spent 20min going through the last five pages of this thread so hopefully nobody can accuse me of invisible ink!).

 

Edit to remove consecutive exclamation marks.

[Pennine MC]

"The Pennine's in N Gauge"

 

 

Presuming it isn't trying to say the member on here of that name has switched gauges.

 

 

You presume correctly Edwin

 

Though it could be news of a forthcoming DMU in 2mm scale

[Platform 6]

You presume correctly Edwin

 

Though it could be news of a  forthcoming DMU in 2mm scale

 

That's exactly what a double-O agent would say .. I rest my case   

[John_Hughes]

One of my pet grumps is the poor grammar and spelling in various Exhibition Guides. This gem (one single sentence, despite the capital letter in the middle!) is from the recent Warley guide:

 

The approaching tracks from the west, cross fertile plains following the river criss-crossing it as it enters the town finally passing through a lattice truss bridge that traverses the main highway as well as the river A small shanty town flanks the sides of the tracks and a camp fire surrounded by dropouts and hobos can be seen in the woods.

 

And this stuff has supposedly been edited for the Guide!

 

(And don't get me started on the material printed which derives from the text submitted by overseas exhibitors at the show, who surely deserve the courtesy of having their English edited into a more appropriate and correct form! They do their best, so why don't we help them?)