Job Discussion Forums

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Good Day Forum:

Here's a sentence taken verbatim from the grammar reference of Unit 13 of the English textbook entitled "Matters", Upper Intermediate level:

"He handed the papers to the invigilator."

Well, I'm no genius, I'll admit it. But I do take a certain amount of pride in knowing the meaning of most words which pop up from time to time in these English textbooks, but ... to be perfectly honest, "invigilator" has me stumped.

So I did the logical thing and searched the word on www.wordsmyth.net; Nada. Then I opened my mini Oxford dictionary; Nada. Looks like nobody's heard of invigilator. Sort of sounds like something you'd find in a bad porn film?

Then I said to myself, (in an irritated and frustrated tone) "What the hell is this word doing in a textbook for EFL students?"

Anyway, I'm sure someone out there will shed some light on this little mystery, but it reminded me of just how many times I've been stumped over the years by the little differences between British and American English vocab.

Like, "Put your suitcase in the boot." huh ??

or

"Teacher, can I borrow your rubber?" ummm ... Are you sure you want to do that?

and so on...

Anyway, I thought it might be fun for everyone to contribute their favorite textbook bloopers and/or weirdest British/English vocabulary anecdotes for all of us to enjoy.

So, have fun ... and be sure to turn off the invigilator before you come to bed honey.

Yours,
keNt

_________________________________

If I don't know what it means, it can't be important.

[scot47]

KENT K :

"invigilator" in Britspeak is someone who supervises an examination. I believe the Yankspeak equivalent is "proctor".

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Howdy scot47:

Thanks for the speedy and informative reply. So, can I use it as a verb and an adjective too?

Regards,
kENt

[R]

I worked one summer as an invigilator. I invigilated! I spent part of the summer invigilating! I had a job in which I had to invigilate! I guess I'll have to call it something else on my CV...

BritRob (tm)

[johnslat]

Dear kENt,
If a British gent tells you he's going to knock you up, don't get too alarmed. It means merely that he'll come by to visit.
Regards,
John

[richard ame]

Hi the word you searched so hard for does come up all the time in my neck of the woods there seems to be a boat load of Americanisms flying around the place which I have to teach and usually give the (correct) British English equivelant one of my least liked words is "semester" which I always avoid using and "student"which I can't avoid except when I slip in "kids" or "muppets" they seem to prefer the British vocab more and admit that the cross Atlantic way of speaking is a lot more difficult to follow as most U.S residents have difficulty enunicating their speech correctly but thats a different thread and I don't feel obliged to go down that road just yet . cheers !

[baby predator]

British gent? Excellent oxymoron.

Where do you come from Mr Slat? Where I come from, if a British gent tells me he's going to "knock me up", that means he's going to put a bun in my oven (and I'm going to give him a Glasgae Kiss).

[R]

Where I comes from, it be meaning both, that what you be saying 'bout knockin' up, like.