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soapdodger
Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 203
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 Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 4:16 am Post subject: |
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| Heh,heh,heh!!! Still have to get back to you on a previous discussion John, not forgotten, just v. busy at the mo ! |
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jwbhomer
Joined: 14 Dec 2003
Posts: 876
Location: CANADA
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| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 12:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Chancellor wrote: |
| it's lazy the speakers that win in the end as American society continues to devolve; and the only people who really care about good grammar and using the right words are people who, in the eyes of the average Joe, don't matter because they're all a bunch of nerdy geeks. |
My sentiments exactly. I am happy to say, though, that I have found that being a "nerdy geek" has paid off in my work over the years. I earn my living, now, writing correct and coherent English because no-one else in our organization can do so. I sign myself, with pride, NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE. |
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jwbhomer
Joined: 14 Dec 2003
Posts: 876
Location: CANADA
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| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 1:50 pm Post subject: |
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Maybe we could turn this thread into our own version of Eggcorn. Egregious errors by our own members would, of course, get top billing, but mistakes quoted by our members in things written by others would also be fair game.
Spotted today, written by Scott Morrison (a Canadian) and quoted by Guy in the hockey thread (China Off-Topic forum)...
Weaknesses � They have already been through the emotional ringer,
I suppose journalists should have a little more leeway than English teachers when it comes to correct word usage, but still...  |
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Chancellor
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 1337
Location: Ji'an, China - if you're willing to send me cigars, I accept donations :)
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| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 1:54 pm Post subject: |
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| soapdodger wrote: |
| A few years ago the "Average Joe" would have had some grudging admission that becoming a "wordy geek" might result in an improved standard of living, a better salary and so on. Thanks to enormous amounts of money carefully invested in such things as rap music, Superstar ( there's even a version of Superstar in Slovakia, for God's sake!), and MTV " culture", the accepted philosophy is that being an oaf actually pays. Buffoonery is IN, to stay.... |
Well, I don't know if they'd say that about wordy geeks but they probably would say that about the nerdy geeks to which I referred in my previous post. And, yes, buffonery has achieved permanent cultural icon status. |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 1:55 pm Post subject: |
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Dear jwbhomer,
Ask not for whom the emotional bell tolls.
Regards,
John
P.S.
Dear soapdodger,
No rush - I await your pleasure. |
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soapdodger
Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 203
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| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 4:31 pm Post subject: |
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This is a beauty from an article in today's Financial Times ( well, somebody's got to read it!) entitled "We Are Seeing A Generational Literacy Shift":
A third -year student looked in disgust at the corrections the lecturer had made to her thesis. No-one had ever complained about her spelling and punctuation before, she said. "I don't doubt it" the lecturer wrote.
Golden! |
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Chancellor
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 1337
Location: Ji'an, China - if you're willing to send me cigars, I accept donations :)
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| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:02 pm Post subject: |
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| soapdodger wrote: |
This is a beauty from an article in today's Financial Times ( well, somebody's got to read it!) entitled "We Are Seeing A Generational Literacy Shift":
A third -year student looked in disgust at the corrections the lecturer had made to her thesis. No-one had ever complained about her spelling and punctuation before, she said. "I don't doubt it" the lecturer wrote.
Golden! |
So, how about a link to the article!
A co-worker was talking to her oldest boy's college English professor and one of the boy's papers came up in conversation. My co-worker was shocked to find her son had received a good grade for the paper as the paper contained numerous spelling and grammatical errors. The professor told her that they don't bother with spelling and grammar. |
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soapdodger
Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 203
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| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Sorry no link, that was a print edition. I have to have something to line my iguana's cage! |
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