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johnslat · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 5:30 pm Post subject:

Dear NCTBA,

Oh, you grumpy, old prescriptive grammarian, you - you're going to like this; Homer Simpson is mentioned.

"Is Ain't a Word?
by Martha Brockenbrough
What makes something a word?

I started pondering this after pawing through the mountains of e-mails I've received since writing a Grumpy Martha column that said irregardless isn't a word.

"It is!" my detractors cry. "It's in the dictionary!"

And you know what? They're right. It is in many a dictionary, prefaced by the qualifier "nonstandard."

On my grumpier days, I'd say no. You might as well hollow out two loaves of bread and put them on your feet, because what you'd have then would be a pair of nonstandard loafers. If you like the looks you get when you walk down the street in them, then great! It's your loaf to live.

On giddier days, though, I take delight in the flexibility of our language and the creativity of nonstandard word usage.

I liked it, for example, when my daughter called cinnamon buns bottoms. And when bling bling made it into the dictionary, I said, "Awww yeaahhhhh!" I am personally lobbying for the inclusion of frathlete, a noun that refers to that class of good-looking jock who can sometimes be irritatingly popular.

So word nerds fall into two basic camps: prescriptive and descriptive. The prescriptives are the grumpy ones, who insist on proper usage. The descriptive camp, on the other hand, observes how people actually use words, because actual usage drives meaning.

So which am I? And more importantly, which are you?

Personality quiz: Are you prescriptive or descriptive?
1. True or false: Irregardless is a word, irregardless of how many people say otherwise.
2. True or false: Homer Simpson's catch phrase--d'oh--belongs in the dictionary.
3. True or false: Don't bother me. I'm putting bread on my feet.
If you answered true to two or more of these, you're a descriptive. If you answered false, you're a prescriptive. And I have some bad news for you: D'oh has been in the prestigious Oxford English Dictionary for about five years now. (It's not in Encarta's dictionary--d'oh!)

Either way, there would be room for you in the exclusive club of worldwide lexicographers. As Encarta's own Richard Bready puts it, "Descriptive lexicographers don't judge words, they only report them, using standards of frequency and importance."

On the other hand, "Prescriptive lexicographers seem, in my personal view, to enjoy being grumpy. They spend a lot of time denouncing words and explaining what the rules used to be."

This could be why French, with its persnickety language police, has a declining number of users, Bready says. If language doesn't evolve with the people who use it, people find other ways of saying things.

Suddenly I find myself ready to ditch the grumpy attitude. When you look at it his way, being descriptive sounds like a whole lot more fun--especially when you learn how words get into the dictionary. Believe it or not, this can be a good excuse to watch TV."

Regards,
John Very Happy

lazycomputerkids · Joined: 22 Sep 2009 Posts: 360 Location: Tabuk

leez · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 6:07 pm Post subject:

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 6:08 pm Post subject:

and...let's not forget, "King Abdullah rocks!"

No, really, I'm laughing with you now.

NCTBA

EnglishDoYouSpeakIt · Joined: 19 May 2009 Posts: 151 Location: Saudi Arabia

I've read the whole thread and it has created more questions than answers.

I've received an e-mail from Vicki in which she stated that she is 'pleased to let [me] know that [my] visa has now been issued.'

I haven't heard about anything I need to do beyond wait. There has been an e-mail about a �letter of invitation� that is supposedly to be e-mailed to us soon that we are (I think) suppose to present to the embassy, which leads me to...

I received a list of documents (visa, contract, etc) along with passport photos I am suppose to 'take to the embassy,' which - unless there is one in LA I am unaware of - is across the country.

Everything I've seen so far indicates no medical check is needed stateside as it is a business visa.

As I don't have my original diploma I have used a 'letter of completion' received from and stamped by the university registrar. That letter was enough to get my this far, will it be sufficient to bring that to Saudi?

I received my TEFL cert. a few months ago and this will be my first tour of duty teaching abroad. If it happens. It is unnerving to know that I can wake up to an e-mail saying that everything has fallen apart and my plan for the next year is dead in the water.

I just want to be on top of everything I need to handle. No one has told me I need a criminal background check. This was more of a ramble than a question, but it helped to write everything out.

lazycomputerkids · Joined: 22 Sep 2009 Posts: 360 Location: Tabuk

lucreziaborgia · Joined: 19 May 2009 Posts: 177

The bottom line is that you take your chances anywhere you work in this industry. Oxford, Edinburgh and Melbourne to name some that one would have thought were more uplifting employers. I have been living in a pleasant country and suddenly - life is becoming tough. In fact, it won't be very long before the requirements and accompanying confusion associated with the KSA will happen here. We have had confusion and until recently it has been benign. Not so anymore.
The KSA offers an experience that is extraordinary. I am curious and prepared to take the risk. If it collapses in on itself - work wise - then I will be happy to leave or be shipped out. I don't have any expectations and may well be pleasantly surprised. Or not. Either you accept the offer; or you don't. Should you believe you are being manipulated or exploited by your 'recruiter'; then make your decision accordingly. None of us can possibly know what working and living there will be like. Either you want it or you don't. I have met some pleasant people on this forum and I hope to meet them in person soon. Hi girls!

EnglishDoYouSpeakIt · Joined: 19 May 2009 Posts: 151 Location: Saudi Arabia

Oh, I didn't know a consulate can substitute for an embassy.

Kalima Shahada · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 6:36 pm Post subject:

Just a word of warning, you should not tell the Saudi embassy that you plan on working under their business visa or you will likely be denied and maybe blacklisted from ever applying again in the future. You don't need all that paperwork for the business visa as you would for a work visa. So why even consider sending things like your degree with you business visa application?! Seems you'd have a lot of explaining to do if you did something like that.

johnslat · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 6:37 pm Post subject:

Dear lazycomputerkids,
That's a consulate in Los Angeles, not the embassy. I very much doubt it will be of much (if any) help.
But EnglishDoYouSpeakIt should be able to mail all the required documentation to the embassy in Washington, D. C. He/she should just make sure - by contacting the employer/recruiter - exactly what needs to be sent.
Regards,
john

lazycomputerkids · Joined: 22 Sep 2009 Posts: 360 Location: Tabuk

lazycomputerkids · Joined: 22 Sep 2009 Posts: 360 Location: Tabuk

Englishish · Joined: 01 Oct 2009 Posts: 78

The Lathe of Heaven · Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:49 am Post subject:

Englishish wrote: