Job Discussion Forums

[007]

[veiledsentiments]

Give it up 007... again you have little or no idea what you are talking about. It is obvious that you know little or nothing about the US education system, so best to be quiet and stop making yourself look foolish.

VS

[Balzac]

[scot47]

It was not actually 'privatised' but was sent down the road of making a 6 percent notional return.

[Bebsi]

So, at the moment, does anyone know if it is owned by shares or is it run by trustees. I suspect the latter, but wonder who the trustees are????

[Balzac]

[Bebsi]

That's exactly how I suspect it's done: they don't have dividends cos they don't have shares. They're also forbidden to have a profit as a charity, any net revenue is ploughed back into helping...well, charities!! However, a net revenue (i.e. profit) is what you are left with after paying expenses...how dashed shameful if after paying the trustees and senior management, there are no profits left.

Now, I'm a very suspicious and cynical person by nature, so I stand to be corrected on this, if someone representing the BC, for example, could enlighten us as to how the whole thing is indeed managed e.g. how trustees are appointed, and what their corporate/legal structure is. Of course, if I had the time or inclination I could check it out for myself, as charities are after all, public bodies and their annual accounts are, as far as I know, a matter of public record. Certainly, their legal status is, as is the structure, in the companies registration office.

Still, I have more to worry me. I think it's largely a question of Caveat Emptor (buyer beware).

[Balzac]

[007]

[Balzac]

[Bebsi]

Balzac and 007, you both sound like you're actually on the same side (more or less anyway) so why not shake and make up?

I think the BC tends to arouse a response of considerable scepticism on the part of most people...from the British Isles at least.

I can see the whole thing being run by a board of trustees in a leather-and-teak boardroom, at a large conference table occupied by a dozen Sir Humphrey Appleby lookalikes.

God, I so loved that series. Who remembers it? Can't you just see Jim Hacker trying to force more openness in the BC worldwide, and Humphrey reacting with utter horror.

"Ah, but don't you understand, Prime Minister, the very essence and indeed raison d'etre of this venerable and ancient organisation lies in its secre...I mean, in the wholesome and uniquely British discreteness by which its affairs are conducted, in the noble and altruistic pursuit of commendable aims, which include but are by no means confined to the promotion and perpetuation of our rich cultural and social values, whose essence indeed rests on the very same principles of discreet, closed-door discussion and debate that you now so keenly wish to undermine and dare I say, destroy. Priiiiime Minister, it is precisely the mystique and impermeable aura which surrounds the British Council that gives it is richness and bestows upon it the very validity of its existence and which creates in us all the justifiable pride that we feel in respect of the said institution; with all due respect, Prime minister, to suggest that the BC become more transparent would be akin to asking your wife to stand naked in Piccadilly Circus the Saturday before Christmas. It is preposterous!!".

[Balzac]

[Balzac]

A quick google reveals that the technique used in Yes Minister and others is called the 'Expospeak Gag' or sometimes 'Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness'. (Yes, that is correct!)

A joke based on describing something mundane using such technical language that it takes the audience a while to work out what's being talked about.

Here's another example:

The Simpsons spoofs this in the episode "Homer's Triple Bypass", as Homer not only misunderstands the doctor-speak, but also the normal-speak:

Hibbert: Homer, I'm afraid you'll have to undergo a coronary bypass operation.
Homer: Say it in English, Doc.
Hibbert: You're going to need open heart surgery.
Homer: Spare me your medical mumbo-jumbo.
Hibbert: We're going to cut you open and tinker with your ticker.
Homer: Could you dumb it down a shade?

There's plenty of other examples if you want to look and among them my favourites:

Speech like this was the key joke in many Monty Pythons Flying Circus sketches. John Cleese is known to use this in other roles he has held since.
And speaking of John Cleese, in the Fawlty Towers episode, The Hotel Inspectors, he finds himself having to contend with a guest whose use of flowery, overcomplicated language renders him nearly incomprehensible.

Here's the link: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExpospeakGag

Balzac

[desultude]

So much for looking to this thread for information about this particular university, or Saudi Arabia.

Sorry, but I was not looking for information on the B.C.

[Balzac]