RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: suttontrust on Monday 28 February 05 22:24 GMT (UK)
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Does nobody possess a dictionary any more, or can they just not be bothered to use it? Why are people asking the meaning of occupations that you would find in any decent dictionary? And why do so many people not look at what they've typed, giving the impression that they're not literate?
I know, I know, tolerance. But while I'm at it, why do people use that awful expression "LOL"? I had to ask a young colleague what it meant.
You can tell I'm not in a good mood.
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Don't worry, I just asked my daughter what "LOL" meant and to be honest I wasn't that impressed ! !
I, too appreciated good spelling and grammar, however, I am rather lax myself on times - but always like to attribute it to the odd glass of wine in the late evening - sorry!
Caroline :)
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Hi Suttontrust,
I quite agree with you, it's something I've often thought about.
It must be something to do with our age ;D
Bee
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Ahh Sutton it must be a bad day :'(
I like LOL :-[ it's better than ROFL and very much the same as AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH or GRRRRRRRRR which seem to be the ones you are looking for ;)
Can I make you smile and risk laughing out loud?
All the best,
Pam
;D
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My favourite tv programme is Grumpy Old Women - but then, you already guessed that.
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A lady after my own heart. Had this very discussion at work today.
You and I are no longer young at heart. LOL is a young person's thing - I dislike it intensely and I'm not in a bad mood.
However,that pales into insignificance when I ponder on the use of the word 'of' - as in - 'He must of lived there' etc etc instead of the word 'have' Do these same people say 'Of you got any' instead of 'Have you got any' I don't think so. Lazy speech is now creeping into the written word and there is nothing we can do about it.
It is the evolution of the English language - much as we detest it and in a couple of hundred years, maybe even less, we (if we come back, that is) wouldn't be able to understand much of our language- much in the same way that we wouldn't have recognised the English language in the Middle ages.
Thak you, Suttontrust, I enjoyed that ;D ;D ;D ;D
Tricia
Here's another one - the use of the word 'well'
I bet he's well glad he did that.
I'm well pleased.
Etc .etc. Come on - hands up - how many use similiar expressions using the word 'well'
I'm quite nice, really ;) ;) Tricia
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Unfortunately I'm one of the offenders of using lol and lmao - to much time spent in chatrooms ::)
Willow x
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Pam LOL your pussy cat is hilarious. Is it a case of I refuse to have my teeth cleaned with a battery operated toothbrush?
I always put LOL at the end of my emails. I always thought it was Lots of Love, until I discovered it meant Laugh Out Loud, my friends must have wondered what I meant especially if it was a serious email ;D
Personally I wouldn't dream of hurting someone on this site simply because they don't use the correct vocabulary or use the dictionary to look up occupations, (it might not have occurred to them that the answer was in the dictionary), or because they enjoy using dialect or initials.
Some people might find typing difficult and so get words mixed up, some might find spelling difficult, or how to express themselves. Lets face it ladies, nobody is perfect ...
Su
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<chuckle, chuckle>
I must admit that "LOL" makes me smile because in welsh it means pretty close to "what fuss/rubbish" ("hen lol").
These abbreviations are new perhaps to the internet - but different abbreviations have been around back in the days of the telegram, and adopted nowadays by amateur radio enthusiasts (like "hehe" which is very easy to write in morse as .... .. .... .." which is a laugh instead of "haha" which is a much more cumbersome .... .- .... .- ).
Now we see the "text message generation" (which I must say I'm a part of I suppose) using "m8" for "mate" and other crazy abbreviations.
A language is said to be dead without change, so thankfully we are finding ways to communicate, quicker, and in a way that describes what we feel.... or is it... ???
Is it the age of the smilie? ::)
Trystan
"Hen lol"
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suttontrust,
And what's wrong with online dictionaries! And online maps! That's my pet peeve; people who ask questions instead of Googling for an answer - and to do that, they wouldn't even have to leave the computer. Don't get me started on emoticons, avatars, etc!
Incidentally Su, I try to be helpful and to answer such questions where appropriate - but I also try to explain how one can find out the answer, and I try to provide appropriate URLs. I'm a great believer in the saying 'give a person a fish, you feed that person for a day; teach a person how to fish, you feed that person for life'.
Judy
PS: Pam, what a cat!
PPS: Tricia Q, a quick Google finds that "well pleased" has a long and honourable history. It appears even in the Bible, King James version (Luke 3:22) and in Shakespeare (The Second Part of King Henry the Sixth, Act IV, Scene X)!
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Trystan,
Did you use to use the old 4 meg Am radio or 2 meg with split morse and voice?
Blimey now I am showing my age remembering 4meg am radio.
Seriously though, does it really matter how one types on these sites. Using text talk does annoy me because some of the words they shorten could be said correctly with one letter extra added. I do think though that lol lmao Blimey are fine because they let one know what the intention in a post was, after all how many of us have read a post and thought how rude is that? yet upon seeing the LOL realised it was said tongue in cheek.
As for checking dictionaries hmmmmm I wonder how many of today's households have one. But there are plenty of occupation sites they could have looked for without resorting to this list but then as I have been told recently that is what these boards are for
Rob
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Rob,
You are showing your age, LOL (whoops!)
I got my C&G Amateur Radio licence when I was 17, then passed my RA morse a year later. I was totally skint, so the only gear I could afford was radio equipment with only morse...
I spent four years on that old piece of kit bashing out dots and dashes.... sending out "73" ("--.... ...--") for "best wishes" and lots of "hehe" (".... .. .... ..").
I was like some spy in the time of the cold war. A compact transceiver in a suitcase, I'd throw out a length of wire with a beer mat attached to the bottom of it, and with less power than a flashlight, I'd be talking to people in lands I'd never heard of before. Our "abbreviations" and "Q-codes" bridged language barriers, and allowed us to to communicate...
My best was I set up my radio to test it before I left home for university, and I made contact with a chap called Roger in Melbourne ("VK2RO"). In never managed to get as far as that again on the incredibly low power that I could afford.
It reminds me, I must rig it all up again before I forget how to bash that key again....
Oh well... happy days.... oh well....
Trystan :)
(My aplogies for going off on a total and absolute tangent there)
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Hi
Iwas down at my bro-in-laws last week and he was up in loft sorting through some old boxes and found his pride and joy his 8 track cassette player it looks like a piece of old junk to me but what made me laugh was the size of the cassettes they are like suitcases :o :o
Joe
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Hey Joe,
Cassettes! Must be one of those new-fangled inventions!
As a well meaning, well intentioned and normally well behaved person, I'm well pleased to be able to say that out in my garage I have some well preserved semaphore flags!
They are probably well suited (even well adapted - for exercise purposes at the very least) to a well educated (semaphore-wise) person of my vintage!
Perhaps I would have been well advised to resist the temptation of this post - it is, surely, not well chosen and probably will not be well appreciated and will ensure that I am not well respected!
Judy (unfortunately not well off)
PS: Joe and Trystan, what about those early hard disks - size of wagon wheels! Or were they well before your time ...
PPS: "Well glad"? I've not heard that!
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I remember one time (thirty years ago !) when we had a hard disk delivered to the office. It took 6 (SIX !) people to unload it off the lorry and we nearly dropped it !!!!!
And that was for a state-of-the-art, whacking great 1 MB (I repeat, ONE Megabyte) disk !
Nowadays I have a USB stick with 512 MB in my pocket (and I have to root for it, if the pocket is big)
I must stop now and go to Potsdam, visiting a customer. I shall take with me a 40 GB portable disk, about the size of a paperback ...
"See" you all later ....
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Rob,
You are showing your age, LOL (whoops!)
I got my C&G Amateur Radio licence when I was 17, then passed my RA morse a year later. I was totally skint, so the only gear I could afford was radio equipment with only morse...
I spent four years on that old piece of kit bashing out dots and dashes.... sending out "73" ("--.... ...--") for "best wishes" and lots of "hehe" (".... .. .... ..").
I was like some spy in the time of the cold war. A compact transceiver in a suitcase, I'd throw out a length of wire with a beer mat attached to the bottom of it, and with less power than a flashlight, I'd be talking to people in lands I'd never heard of before. Our "abbreviations" and "Q-codes" bridged language barriers, and allowed us to to communicate...
My best was I set up my radio to test it before I left home for university, and I made contact with a chap called Roger in Melbourne ("VK2RO"). In never managed to get as far as that again on the incredibly low power that I could afford.
It reminds me, I must rig it all up again before I forget how to bash that key again....
Oh well... happy days.... oh well....
Trystan :)
(My aplogies for going off on a total and absolute tangent there)
Amazing, a fellow ham. I wonder how many other hams frequent this forum. We should make a contact using echolink sometime.
73's deadants
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Actually if we all resort to looking up our own occupations etc we may as well do away with this site - rather defeats the object - me thinks!!!!!!!!!
kerryb
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Actually if we all resort to looking up our own occupations etc we may as well do away with this site - rather defeats the object - me thinks!!!!!!!!!
kerryb
Steam away, kerryb! Though what's wrong with simply not reading such threads!? ESPECIALLY not reading threads in The Lighter Side!
Actually, I suspect that if my grandchildren (especially my senior school granddaughter) were to read this thread, they would have no doubt that discussion of semaphore, morse code, and enormous wagon wheel hard disks of minute capacity, falls well into the ambit of serious (not lighter side) genealogy or at least family history! Which, of course, includes the experiences of our/their ancestors.
Very best regards,
Judy
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Judy
I was keeping quiet about such relics of the past because as this is my 40th year I am most definitely in denial of knowing such things ever existed. A friend and I recently visited a museum and looking at a display of the 1960's (I was born1966) and enjoying remembering such albums, clothes etc a child came up and told his dad in a very loud whisper 'cor they must be so old, the beatles have been dead for years.' Dad replied, 'only as old as me you cheeky boy.'
Hmmmmmmmm ??? ??? ??? ??? ???
kerryb
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Gee kerryb, this is almost enough to drive me to emoticons!
I'm making no admissions - though I do recall when transistor radios arrived not to mention TV. And I even recall listening to test matches via a cat's whisker (hello, Trystan and Joe??) ...
No doubt those kids had never heard of Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby (wish I hadn't either, actually).
What was that about Dame Nellie Melba? And Caruso?
Not to mention the heavier than air machine?
Cheers,
Judy
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Does nobody possess a dictionary any more, or can they just not be bothered to use it? Why are people asking the meaning of occupations that you would find in any decent dictionary? And why do so many people not look at what they've typed, giving the impression that they're not literate?
I know, I know, tolerance. But while I'm at it, why do people use that awful expression "LOL"? I had to ask a young colleague what it meant.
You can tell I'm not in a good mood.
Can't resist this one, Suttontrust ;), but I was wondering whether your teachers ever said anything about beginning sentances with 'And' and 'But'? :)
Language is a tool that evolves constantly. I have some pet hates, too, but I guess I try to tolerate them. I particularly dislike the way we are adopting (in speech) the rising tone at the end of sentances that makes it sound like a question - so beloved of our antipodean friends.
But hey - I'm not going to lose any sleep about it!
To use a recent phrase - lets chill!
I'm a great believer in the saying 'give a person a fish, you feed that person for a day; teach a person how to fish, you feed that person for life'.
So long as they have a fishing rod, too, Judy - and don't forget how to use it, get their line tangled up, or get their bait mixed up. Which of course, can happen to us all! :)
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I know this is probably completely off topic by now so apologies Suttontrust ( I love your cat by the way, at least he doesn't pee in the sink as ours does occasionaly!)..
but I still remember when I was a callow youth at boarding school hiking off down to the local rubbish tip to salvage old radio bits to create amazing cats whisker radios.
Hooking the aerial wire to the radiator and Listening to pirate radio, shannon air and various Aussies chatting to each other across the outback ,whilst under the covers in the dorm ::) :) There now I've shown my age !....
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... Suttontrust ... I was wondering whether your teachers ever said anything about beginning sentances with 'And' and 'But'? ...
But Paul - what would they know! And who cares!
Judy
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What was that about Dame Nellie Melba? And Caruso?
Sorry who is Dame Nellie Melba - a type of ice cream??? ??? ;D ??? ;D
kerryb
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Sorry who is Dame Nellie Melba - a type of ice cream??? ??? ;D ??? ;D
kerryb
Or a type of Peach?
http://tinyurl.com/4gzgt
Judy
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Its true what they say, then, about irony being a particularly English thing? :)
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And was that irony or sarcasm?
Off for my regular hit of English soapie - The Bill!!!!
Cheers,
Judy
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Does nobody possess a dictionary any more, or can they just not be bothered to use it? Why are people asking the meaning of occupations that you would find in any decent dictionary? And why do so many people not look at what they've typed, giving the impression that they're not literate?
I know, I know, tolerance. But while I'm at it, why do people use that awful expression "LOL"?
Well said Suttontrust - I couldn't agree more! I could also add to your list of questions but I'd better not get myself too worked up!
Jill
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Down, Jill, down! :) Life's too short to worry too deeply about these things! :) :)
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R U all dun? lol
Tee hee, couldn't resist.
Here's one to depress further, if needed. We (my illustrious employer) just employed a qualified accountant who was not alive when Elvis was alive.
I don't understand how this can be?
I take solace in the fact that there is at least one professional premiership footballer older than me so until Alan Shearer retires I'm still young.
Pam
;D
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Pam,
Elvis?
"Que"?
But do the policemen look like schoolkids to you? That's always been a test!
Judy
PS: That's the ones you see in the street - not the ones on the box in The Bill!! And I do sometimes wonder whether anyone's older than moi!
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Down, Jill, down! Life's too short to worry too deeply about these things!
You're right of course Paul - I won't worry any more - I'll just grit my teeth and bear it. Or shall I bare them instead?
Jill
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Trystan,
4meg as far as I know as been discontinued and morse within am radio is not used that often now. I never did get my licence but used to go out on club competitions which allowed me the opportunity of bashing out some CQ's and a few hehe. I did prefer the 2 meg to 4meg thoud but 77's were just neat. I must think about getting my licence and a set up now I can afford it :)
Rob
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I have been following this thread for awhile. It has been my experience that the persons most bothered by this subject are teachers. I think it is time to "chill out" and let the younger generations have their cultural identity just as we of the past few generations have had. If the people on this site are here they obviouly have an interest in their culture and express their feelings in their own manner. At 63 years of age I see nothing wrong with the younger folks expressing themselves. If you dont like the internet slang and abreviations then dont converse with those using it, its that simple. I dont mean to be grouchy but life is too short to complain about insignificant things like this,
get innovative and learn the "lingo" and really enjoy others regardless of their slang.
Ted
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Absolutely tall ted!
(That's one I picked up from my 12 year old niece)
Kerryb
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Ted
Ouch! At 60 years of age I have no objections whatsoever to the younger generation having their own cultural identity, in fact I'm all for it, but I regard a basic knowledge of the language and an ability to convey it to others via the written word as being an essential, not an option. I fail to see why 'internet slang' should be an acceptable replacement.
My comments, few though they were, were not a complaint against RootsChatters, Internet users or any other group of people, merely my own thoughts on a subject I feel quite strongly about, chiefly because I don't like to see a beautiful language being abused. This does not prevent my enjoyment of a conversation with people who do not feel the same way.
Oh, and by the way, I am not and never was a teacher - but once upon a time I was an editor!
Jill
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who was not alive when Elvis was alive.
Pam what do you mean ??????????????????????????????????? :o
Elvis Dead ????????????????????????? :o
I don,t believe it :o
I'M Off to lie down I'm,m in shock
;D ;D ;D
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Our (collectively refering to my generation) and younger generations, I freelly admit, have a shocking lack of grammar and spelling. I managed to gain a degree then a PhD without a single idea of how to construct a sentence.
I deal with professionally qualified people on a dailly basis - they can't write either.
Who do you blame?
Personally I am to blame for not having had (no, made) the time to fill the gaps in my ignorance. Was I to blame at school when the curriculum devoted no time to the subject of structuring written english. Why was I given an English GCSE? Because I was one of the few who knew where to use an apostrphe?
Anyway, language will evolve, english will in turn evolve.
Dig it Daddyo, cool, ripper, fair dinkum y'cannae stop it.
What we need is tolerance so we can ALL enjoy communicating. If someone is less than clear in their meaning, ask for clarification. We don't all come from the same educational background.
Heyho, back to looking up rude names on the census LOL!
Pam
;D
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Yeah go Pam and Tallted ;D
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diolch I think
??? ???
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I love this new computer lingo !!! LOL
As a 62 year old who visits the Rootchat chatroom...I was delighted when....discussing ages the other night.....a younger visitor said....."WOW....you don't sound 62!"
How neat is that?
So I shall continue with my LOLs, OMGs, and BRBs.....It's all part of the fun of this new age.
And, by the way...I just transcribed a will from 1790.....Now there is some messed up language!
Cheers,
Indi
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U R sooooooooo right Ted. I love all these abbrieviations and text messaging. In my teenage days it was ... far out man .... hang loose .... hip... and get with it...
learning the 'lingo' and chilling out has boosted my street cred with my teenage grandchildren, who think I'm real cool and not like some of their friends grandparents who haven't a clue what their grandchildren are talking about.
Blazin' man innit....
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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??? Well i can't understand a word of it ???
My son said read that message on my phone i said is that in English ???
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Ted and Pam - well said!
Paul
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Okay, okay, I didn't mean to spark all this off. Paul, I was an English teacher. And you can start a sentence with and, so there. My serious point is not about internet and texting slang. It's about communication. We went through a long period when school children were not given the tools to enable them to construct their own language intelligibly. We now have graduates who use "of" instead of "have" and don't know what a sentence is.
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This thread brought back some fond memories ...
At comprehensive school we were forbidden to start a sentence with And ... and got a smack on the knuckles with a ruler if we did.
One day I thought I'd be clever and said that if it was good enough for Hemmingway which we were studying for O Levels who often started sentences with And ... then why not in class. Mysteriously, I got a lecture about the evils of Enid Blyton (which was banned in our school on the strength that the grammar was a poor example to pupils) and a clip round the ear with the blackboard eraser!
I still feel a bit guilty if I go to start a sentence with And .... ;D
Jonathan
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And i was just going to say !!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D
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Sutton and Jillj,
I sympathize with you both. Teaching and editing for proper grammer are exacting professions and to see what happens to language when slanged, if that is a word, can be frustrating.
But, and a big but, if we want to communicate with our children, their culture and our grandchildren then we have to keep up rather than fight the "current" of the linguistic river.
Both my daughters have PhD. degrees in Science, one in Zoology and one in Cancer Cell research, they are both so much better educated than I am and I find it hard to keep up with their modern usage of English at times. I keep reminding myself that to learn it is so much more fun than fighting it.
So, I am on your wavelength as far as proper use of the English language, but also enjoy keeping up with the young ones. "Twenty three skiddo" and "Here's lookin at ya kid".
Ted
P.S. the quotes didn't pass the spell check. ;D
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;D
Spell checker can,t even understand text ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Ted
Being of the female species I have to at least try to have the last word!
You are quite right - we should, and I hope I do, learn from the youngsters and it is great fun - but that is no excuse for them not to learn to use their own language properly. I text on my mobile phone using every abbreviation I can dream up, but there is no way I would use that language for any other purpose. I can also write shorthand, but wouldn't use it to write a letter. I'm sure I sound stuffy but...and I quote "a big but" there is a right and a wrong way of doing most things!
I rest my case.
Jill
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Hi suttontrust
Respect! (To you, I mean). I'm a bit ambivalent about the subject, really, but The Story of English, which I read last year, convinced me about the evolution of language.
Wasn't really having a go at your Ands and Buts - just teasing!
All best wishes
Paul
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I must think about getting my license and a set up now I can afford it :)
Now that the UK has the Foundation license, it's never been easier to get a Amateur Radio License.
http://www.rsgb.org/
deadants
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Having just read through this from page 1, I agree entirely with those of you who want to continue with legible, coherent and EXPRESSIVE English. I have no problems with slang but it is "of its time" and usually runs its course. My argument is with those who cannot use the language properly. Yes, apostrophes do matter and so does punctuation. It can completely change the sense of a sentence, and so can spelling.
English is a wonderful mixture of other languages (read Malcolm Bragg's "The Adventure of English" and you will see why) and it is still evolving. Those who can't or won't make the effort to use it to the full are missing so much and I feel sorry for them.
You can probably work out my age from this posting without having to look up my profile ....
Honeybun
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You can probably work out my age from this posting without having to look up my profile ....
Honeybun
But Honeybun ... you don't sound a day older than 57! ;)
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Well i think Suttontrust must be the poshest lady in hull ;D
I think we are lucky to be able to read what we see. ;D Imagine what would happen if everyone decided to type out a post in their local dialect ,spell as we speak. You'd no be able ta understand it. I bet hardly any of us speak the Queens English,
and a dialect does crops up the mails many a time. Have you not noticed ::)
Celia
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No one who knows me would ever call me posh. I am bilingual in standard English and East Hull. Don't let's degenerate into insults. What's clear from this thread, which I regret starting, is that there are plenty of us who feel the same way. We have to live with the language as it is, but we don't have to like it.
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Jillj,
You are correct, you had the last word. LOL.
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How does one use appostrophe's etc in grammar when one doesn't have the foggiest about Grammar? Comma's are there to take a breath, anyone who has heard me speak knows I don't take breaths until the sentence is completed :)
As a present undergrad at uni I take offence at the assumption that we don't know how to string a sentence together or that it matters. The first thing after the understanding of the question when writing an essay, is and I quote " The correct use of Grammar and Spelling is pre-requisite for a good grade." We are taught though to write in a way that anyone with no command of the subject would understand it but without dumbing down.
Luckily for me, (who through having no interest in English in the written form ) I have a very patient set of people who read all my works prior to submission day and without whom I would be failing miserably although with their checks I am starting to get a grip of this new language and its appostrophes etc.
Who do I blame? Secondary education and more importantly myself
Rob
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I too have read this thread with interest and at times amazement. It would be very sad if RootsChatters, such as myself, who do not hold a degree in English are put off posting by imagining their effort is being marked out of a possible 10.
People communicate to the best of their ability and some need encourgement and compassion. That I have in spades ;D ;D ;D
Darcy
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Darcy,
I, too, thought that this was a message board and chat room about Genealogy.
I hope it's not a test of my language skills and the veracity of my questions.
On an internet message board I use internet language.
Like it or lump it.
Cheers,
Indi
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C'mon c'mon guys,
The beauty of this place is that we are all different otherwise we would all know the same stuff and be pretty d**n useless to each other.
Sutton just wanted to vent and there is room for that here but at the end of the day we all just want to chatter.
My last word on this is you can't blame a kid for not learning if he/she isn't taught. As an adult if you want to improve your english you can there are classes everywhere but it isn't a priority in most peoples lives.
My motto
Above all tolerance
Anywho, let's enjoy are many and varied quirks!
All the best,
Pam
;D
PS Life's too short to spell check - my real motto...
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PS Life's too short to spell check - my real motto...
Pam - that's very similar to my own motto:
Life's too short to spell czechoslovakia
:)
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Sutton I have taken your advice and looked up "Fettle doffer" in several good dictionaries and not found any answer. Dare I ask you to help me?
I hope that people on this friendly site have not been put off asking for help by some of the replies.
Matty
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http://www.careerplanner.com/DOT-Job-Descriptions/DOFFER.cfm
Here's a doffer? Fettle not so sure of.
Pam
;D
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Maybe Suttontrust meant "Felt", that would fit in with Pam's doffer
Otherwise:
The word was most typically used as a verb meaning to put things in order, tidy up, arrange, or prepare. Here’s an example, from Anne Brontë‘s Agnes Grey of 1847, in the Yorkshire dialect speech of a servant: “But next day, afore I’d gotten fettled up—for indeed, Miss, I’d no heart to sweeping an’ fettling, an’ washing pots; so I sat me down i’ th’ muck—who should come in but Maister Weston!”. In northern English it can still have the sense of making or repairing something. In Australia, a fettler is a railway maintenance worker, responsible for keeping the line in good shape. It’s also used in some manufacturing trades—in metal casting and pottery it describes the process of knocking the rough edges off a piece. But all of these are variants of the basic sense. So the noun refers to condition, order or shape, and [in] fine fettle means to be in good order or condition.
in: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-fet1.htm
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Pam,
Thank you I have looked at the site and found it interesting. Lancashire was know for cotton so may be Fettle was a slang term for repair.
:) Matty
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Bob,
Thank you the word could mean to keep things in order. It was a twelve year old whose occupation was fettle doffer, or again felt would fit in.
Matty :)
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In Geordie parlance, of course, you can be 'In fine fettle', or in good shape / feeling well.
Alternatively, if you were being scolded your parent might say 'I'll fettle you!' meaning quite the opposite!
'Wot fettle?' is a universal greeting.
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Hey, I thought we were on the Lighter Side. This is getting seriously genealogical!
Matty, I can't find your request about Fettle Doffer.
My dictionary (1966 2v SOED) has "Doffer" and "Fettle" - though, as an Aussie, I'm shocked to see (hello Berlin Bob) that it doesn't have "Fettler"
It says:
"Doffer"
One who or that which doffs hmmm
- In a carding machine, a comb or revolving cylinder which strips off cotton or wool from the cards
- A worker who removes the full bobbins or spindles.
Here's a site which has lots of doffers apparently in various roles:
http://www.rickwalton.com/freeu/brains/oddjobs.htm
doffer, can doffer, cloth doffer, filling-yarn doffer, mangle doffer, twister doffer (though no descriptions)
and it has fettler!
I also found an 1891 Huddersfield census page which included a "worsted doffer" and a "woollen fettler"
Somewhere else I found:
FETTLER
[1] Cleaned the machinery in woollen mills, removing accumulated fibres, grease, etc.
[2] fettlers sharpened the fustian cutters knives.
[3] Needlemaker who filed the needle to a point.
Perhaps your 12yo cleaned the combs?
Have fun Googling!
Cheers,
Judy
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Thank you Paul
I like that one- being fettled by your parent - different dialects are very interesting.
Judy thank you for your reply it looks like any one of those is possible. Sorry we are on the lighterside (a bit steamy) we should all enjoy it and have fun ;D
Matty
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In Yorkshire Fettle as to meanings. Fine Fettle means sound great etc or in the saying I am going to fettle you it means sort out.
Rob
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I'm sure the phrase "in fine fettle" would be well understood (couldn't resist that "well") in Aus.
Paul E's other meanings are new to me.
Just checked out fettle in the online Scots Dictionary at:
http://www.sldl.org.uk/
It has most of the meanings we've seen including Paul's Geordie ones:
- Very freq., esp. in s.Sc., in phr. what fettle? = how are you?
and
- fettlin, a dressing-down, a “sorting”.
And yet another one:
- A rope or band of twisted straw, heather or the like
The things one learns!
Judy
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Coming back a bit nearer to the original subject: I would be happier if people would at least put a new line now and then, after a full-stop. A new line between paragraphs would be a bonus. Reading large amounts of text, without "white space" is very hard. This text is a bit too short to really illustrate my point, but I'm sure I'm not the only one !
And now, same again -
Coming back a bit nearer to the original subject:
I would be happier if people would at least put a new line now and then, after a full-stop. A new line between paragraphs would be a bonus. Reading large amounts of text, without "white space" is very hard.
This text is a bit too short to really illustrate my point, but I'm sure I'm not the only one !
Bob
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:-X
What is all the fuss here .(stop) We are in danger of losing new members here if they are afraid to post because of then being scared in case they say or do some thing wrong .(stop)
All never had the same up bringing as each other, some had a bad school life .(stop) Because of some reason or another . (stop)
But they still would like to enjoy being here on roots !! .(stop) So all are not the same as we all have are bad points .(stop)
So lets stop moaning and keep it simple (stop)
Just write ,check it ,spell checker (wonderful tool ;D)
And just post it !!!
Now lets get on with it !!!
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Stop,,,,,,, of just being funny there !!! ;D ;D
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Graceland,
we ARE getting on with it ! But it's nice to let off steam now and again.
;D ;D ;D
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I agree with you Graceland.
When we write something it is to convey meaning so as long as it can be understood I don't think people should feel hung up about errors
Bob is also right in saying that it is difficult to read long pieces of text if it has no white space between. I've often given up reading someone's pleas for help for just this reason.
Sue :D
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Coming back a bit nearer to the original subject: I would be happier if people would at least put a new line now and then, after a full-stop. A new line between paragraphs would be a bonus. Reading large amounts of text, without "white space" is very hard. This text is a bit too short to really illustrate my point, but I'm sure I'm not the only one !
This is wot i am talking about Becareful not to scare any one away
Please !!!!
B Bob U said it !!! ;D ;D ;D
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Hey after everthing thats been said on hear I was going to put that sticker in my profile
audrey
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Audrey ,
U can still use the sticker !! :D
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I couldn't have put it better G
I was once told by a Court Circuit Judge that I could change the course of legal history, hang an innocent man and set new precedents (or in my case presidents) with my spelling.
I worked for him for 23 years.
an extract from a statement I took from a witness to an attack
"I saw exactly what happened as I was well within eyesh.t
when he came at me I threw a glass bowel at him which cracked when it hit his head. I was mad about that as the bowel was a present from my Mum. I knew he had been drinking because his friend said he had drank 7 strong largers at lunchtime"
I am also useless at math. I bluffed my way into a job with a Building Society where I worked for two years. When the computers went down and we had to add up and take away manually, I often went into a coma due to fright.
My last job was at the local library where I worked for 11 years.
This weekend my fourth play what I wrote is being performed over three nights by a local Am Dram group.
Not bad for an illiterate. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Su
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:o Su and i thought you were a simple lass !! ;D ;D
I'm all shook up
- Elvis Presley, All Shook Up
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When the computers went down and we had to add up and take away manually, I often went into a coma due to fright.
Su, I think you will like this one .....
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They don't come any simpler G ;D ;D
Bob, Love it ... LOL.
Su
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PS Life's too short to spell check - my real motto...
Pam - that's very similar to my own motto:
Life's too short to spell czechoslovakia
:)
I was directed to this thread from another... and needed to give it a bump... just to tell Paul E: "Beer hurts when snorting through your nose!"
Seriously... I love being able to type: wanna, canna, dunna. I love smilies and Blimey, LOL... yada. I understand that I may have to ask my kids (20ish) to interpret the lingo, but, I gotta move with the times. :)
Certainly there are times to respect proper English. (Gosh! I won an English award from high school when I graduated!) But, :) I often forget about the 'proper' language (on the Internet) and tend to drift to the easier style of typing. Please forgive. :)
Sincerely, Donna
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on one of my visits to America, I was in a bar with some friends, a brummie,geordie and a Scot (with my Yorkshire accent it was quite a mixture),
an american gentleman who must have been listening came to our table and said something like this, "Wotsamarrer chuguys doncha speak english ?".
Hey Ho
peter
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Or, as the Geordie later told the tale, peter...
On one of me visits te America, ah wez in a bor wi some marras, a brummie, a yorkshireman an a Scot (wi me Geordie accent it wez quite a mixture).
An american gentleman whee must hev been listening cyame te wor tyebble an sez summat leik this: "Wotsamarrer chuguys doncha speak english ?"
Translation courtesy of http://www.geordie.org.uk/index.htm
And as for YOU Duckcharm ... as a child I bet you used to delight in getting your friends to re-open old wounds to settle old scores! :) ;)
cheers
Paul
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Way aye hen ;D
peter
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Referring back to spelling, I spell-checked one of my daughter's GCSE modules and, though the spelling was ok, the grammar was appalling - words in the wrong order and hardly any apostrophes, commas or semi-colons. Apparently, this isn't a priority for the teachers so they fail to correct the children, thereby leading to the deterioration of written English over recent times.
My work colleagues laugh at my emails and text messages as I tend to write everything in full, and with grammar and spelling checked.
I can't help it - it's the way I was brung up!! ;D
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If we all started using Gendocs, Old maps, Googling, Subscribed to censuses etc. There wouldn't be any need for sites like this.As for Grammar and punctuation.......... if your happy with yours then why worry about someone else? Personally I'm horrified that most of mine in Eng. & Wales were illiterate in the 1800's! CI
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Flipster,
It's the same with maths, I once asked one of my sons teachers why they were allowed to use calculators, his reply!
"In this day and age people don't have to work in their mind or on paper, so we think it is more important that they learn to use an implement which they will come into contact with in every day situations"
I said nowt!
peter
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have been reading this thread and every reply has merit of its own. I feel it was just something that Suttontrust felt and made a remark on. To my son we are old parents ..having him late in life but he does remark that we are younger than some of his friends parents. I am one of those people that does try and chat in "lingo". thats life move on but we should appreciate that everyones view
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These are purely my observations on this topic, they are not intended at anybody.
I have no objections to using "text speak" or any other derivative of our colourful language, however I do feel there is a right time & place for each variant.
I have received job applications written in such a manner and, unfortunately, these candidates were not considered as they would be responsible for corresponding with clients.
I was also taught to use correct spelling, etc but I do use "lingo" when sending a text and occasionally in emails (depends upon the recipient). My Mum, at 76, also uses it to "talk" to my daughter & son who think their Nan is "cool".
On another note, it is the lack of originality in speech that winds me up. How many times while watching TV do you hear some-one begin a sentence with "Basically". If it's basic why are you explaining it???? Also the abundance of adjectives that begin with the letter F.
I'll get off my soapbox now
Dinie
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One of my pet hates is text talk and I'm the grand old age of 26, the worst offender that I have encountered is in fact my mother (the woman who would always correct my spellings and grammar), I have yet to receive an email from her in plain old fashioned English and when she does text a two page story can be condensed into five lines (it's quite amazing really), but I still love her for she is my Mammy.
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Whatevva....................
Al