What does 'se'nnight' mean

[Top-of-the-hill]

  Obviously not as mature as me if he was using this in school! They were d's in my days at school.

   "Using 'p' when it should be 'pence'."

[AllanUK]

  Obviously not as mature as me if he was using this in school! They were d's in my days at school.

   "Using 'p' when it should be 'pence'."

Also 'ds' when I was at school (born just before ERII came to the throne) -- the use of 'p' when it should be 'pence' is used a lot, especially on TV - both dramas and factual programmes. I first noticed 'them' being used instead of 'those' way back in the 1980s when I was interviewing applicants for a junior office position. Unfortunately this was only the start 

[Mike in Cumbria]

Using 'p' when it should be 'pence'

Where does the "should" come in, and who would make such a rule?

[AllanUK]

Using 'p' when it should be 'pence'

Where does the "should" come in, and who would make such a rule?

When talking about a price of something that ends in a penny or pennies, I was always taught that a single penny would be 'a penny' and multiples would be 'pennies' -- these days it appears that the use of 'pennies' when talking plural has disappeared.

[arthurk]

I first noticed 'them' being used instead of 'those' way back in the 1980s when I was interviewing applicants for a junior office position. Unfortunately this was only the start 

But 'them' for 'those' isn't exactly a new or modern usage. It's been around since long before you were born as part of the everyday speech of most of northern England; I believe in some parts of the country they prefer 'they'.

What may be new-fangled here is someone using a regional term or a colloquialism in a fairly formal situation. I tend to agree that different settings may call for different ways of speaking, but it might not be an applicant's fault if they have never learned many of these. Shouldn't it rather be celebrated that (a) an ancient usage of these islands has been preserved, and (b) someone feels able to apply for office work in spite of not knowing how to talk proper? Rejecting someone because they don't speak King's (or Queen's) English could lead to all kinds of issues...

[JohninSussex]

When talking about a price of something that ends in a penny or pennies, I was always taught that a single penny would be 'a penny' and multiples would be 'pennies' -- these days it appears that the use of 'pennies' when talking plural has disappeared.

The plural of 'penny' meaning a specific coin is 'pennies'.
The plural of 'penny' meaning a unit of currency is 'pence'.
So I could buy something costing 50 pence by handing over fifty pennies.  (but the shopkeeper might get annoyed).

And I am old enough to remember sixpences (not sixpennieses)

[Andrew Tarr]

  Obviously not as mature as me if he was using this in school! They were d's in my days at school.

   "Using 'p' when it should be 'pence'."

It is now 50 years since the UK went decimal, so plenty of people have no memory of the old coinage.  Many, probably most, only use 'p', but when they choose to use the full word, it may be '5 pence' but also 'one pence' - which of course is silly 

[brigidmac]

If the language didn't slowly develop  we d still be using thee/thou.

I dont like "should of " but expect it will become the norm .

In 1980s we were fed up of masculine pronoun being used for all objects and profession's we used s/he for anyone who looked away

[BumbleB]

If the language didn't slowly develop  we d still be using thee/thou.

I dont like "should of " but expect it will become the norm .

In 1980s we were fed up of masculine pronoun being used for all objects and profession's we used s/he for anyone who looked away

Apologies for this BUT "should of" is rubbish - the correct wording is "should HAVE" 

ADDED:  Apologies brigidmac - you are definitely NOT the only person in the world to make this "assumption".   Please forgive me for seeming to pick on you.