Job Discussion Forums

[Old Dog]

Roger, stand up until the end of the lesson by way of punishment.

If you meant what you now claim you meant, then you should have written:

my name (which I had never allowed him to use and which, at that time, I couldn't read in Chinese).

Instead you wrote,

my name (which I had never allowed him to use) in Chinese (which I at that time couldn't read

Oh, you foreign users of English! You do get yourselves in a tangle when you wish to communicate a specific meaning. It sometimes comes out all wrong and the poor old native speaker is left with the impression that you've been trying a little sleight of hand - which I should have known would be unlike you.

I must confess it looked to me as if you were making rather grander claims to your Chinese prowess than you now claim. I do hope you haven't made similar errors in earlier posts. We'd have to correct any wrong impressions, of course.

Would Roger gild the lily? Not bloody likely!

But, back to the "Bouquet of Memories" and the stats.