I'm a little pedantic when it comes to spelling, grammar and punctuation, although I'm far from perfect and my vocabulary needs work. However, I think it's important and a necessary part of good communication. And I think society's standards in this area are a fucking ridiculous mess. Just take a look at the frequency of misplaced or, conversely, superfluous apostrophes that pepper public places and offend the eyes.
However, I'm all for the evolution of the language. It can't be stopped anyway and why would we want to? English has been evolving since it was first recognised as a language. It had a Germanic beginning and has since been influenced by French, Latin and, more recently, American and the language of technology. Cyberspace. Terabytes. Google. As much as I hate seeing Australians and Brits write 'color' or 'flavor', I'm afraid the traditional spellings are done for - given time - along with recognise, surprise and, an old favourite, arse. Don't get me started on 'thru'.
The abbreviations of email, instant messaging and texting are catching on. I really hate this because it stems from the lazy fingertips of stupid teenagers. But, if I'm to embrace the evolution, I can't be picky about where the change comes from. LOL. OMG. ROFLMAO.
Even annoying words like 'workaholic' (you can't use a part of the word 'alcohol' which is totally unrelated to your obsession for work...unless you work at the Hofbrauhaus) and 'homophobic' (what, you're afraid of something that's the same...as what?) will endure and become acceptable. After all, the word 'ask' used to be pronounced 'arks'. Now if someone says 'arks' they are rightly mocked. Perhaps they're the pedants. And then there's 'its'. I really want to put an apostrophe in 'its' when it feels like it's a possessive. But I can't because it's wrong. But maybe one day I can, because it might be right. Or perhaps it once was right. In Shakespeare's day. Or something. Speaking of Shakespeare, that wag even invented words. What a character!
So, a note to pedants: go with the flow, dudes.
Posts
94 comments:
Nice post Bob. I'm all for the language to be a fluid thing, and I don't believe losing the u from flavour and colour takes anything away. What we have to avoid is simplifying it to the extent that all the subtlety disappears. That's my main problem with "text message speak". I understand the need for brevity in a text message, but for too many young people now it's their primary form of communication. They sound like Neanderthals.
Correct use of the apostrophe is not that hard. The "its" conundrum isn't that hard either, losing the apostrophe for the possesive "its".
I see where you're coming from, but let's not "dumb it down". Probably on this site more than most, there's a recognition of what a beautiful thing language is. I don't have a creative bone in my body, but I have profound respect for those who do. I'm often in awe at the way some people can express themselves. The language must retain a certain complexity, and with that a certain evel of pedantry is also necessary.
In closing this rather long post, I'll give an example of my son who declared (about 3 years ago when he was still at school). "My spelling's great Dad, I can even spell words correctly that don't exist. Like wouldn't've." Now is that wrong? Can a word have two apostrophes? Or is it technically a compound word made of three others?
I misspelled "possessive". Fuck. Please ignore all the foregoing, I have no idea what I'm talking about.
A lot of pedants don't realise that the American spellings of words like 'colour' and 'flavour' came about as part of a concerted effort on the behalf of teachers in the new colony to reform the mess that was written English, with the goal of making education easier for greater numbers of children, who up until that point had not been educated en masse. A much worthier goal that that portrayed by most grammar nazis, ie. that americanised spelling is the product of an uncultured, lazy people who couldn't be bothered learning the 'correct' way to spell.
We also tend to forget, when slaving to these rules, that written English is intended to convey verbal and non-verbal speech as much as is possible within its limitations. Spelling, punctuation and grammar then become useful tools to achieve that goal, not ironclad rules that must not be broken.
It's at this point I again call for the introdution of 'youse'. I've been calling for this since 1983.
The French have tu/vous, in fact, I think every fucking language on the planet has a plural for 'you', why can't we?
Do youse agree?
No.
You is already plural, brudder. You need to find a singular form of it. 'Ya' perraps?
Ya like its?
By virtue of the fact the great unwashed say 'youse', it means that we, as a tribe, feel the need to find a plural for the singular 'you'.
If you don't like 'youse', how about the American version, 'y'all'?
Maybe spelt 'yourl'.
Shakespeare invented words, so why can't someone else? Yourl is fine. So is devisma, a word I made up a few years ago. It's a noun for 'devise', because it didn't have one.
We already have a perfectly acceptable and widely understood plural for "you".
It's "you".
Although I accept the language is evolving, doesn't mean I want to encourage it with stupidities. It's going to happen, but I don't want to be responsible in any way. I therefore vote against 'youse' in the strongest possible sense. Like when I voted each election against Howard, I marked the paper with much force, thereby registering, in my mind, 2 votes.
I disagree. If I walk up to the band at rehearsal and say, "How are you?" it is unclear as to whether I'm asking all of them, or the one nearest to the direction my eyes are facing. So, we are forced to qualify by saying, "How are you all?"
In French, you can say, "Comment allez vous?" to avoid the ambiguity.
In related news, the next person that says to me "How are we?" when what they mean to say is "How are you?" will be punched in the scrotum.
If it's a woman will you punch her in the ovaries?
Anecdotally, women don't say it. It's a man thing. So is referring to a car as 'she'.
Oh! I love this topic! What a shame I have to go and sit at the hairdressers for nine hours getting my grey whittled away. Which will drive me crazy because they have a little menu of available hot drinks on display, including 'rasberry tea'. I've told them about the p but do they care?
Nine hours, Squib?
Fuckin' hell
At my hairdresser I can get a glass of wine.
Two, if I drink the first one quickly.
Perseus, the you/youse issue doesn't matter. If it comes into common usage then it'll eventually be added to dictionaries. If not, then it won't.
In related news, the next person that says to me "How are we?" when what they mean to say is "How are you?" will be punched in the scrotum.
Best response to this: "Judging by the way you look and the way I feel, I'd say we're both in trouble."
1. 'youse'. Can't stand it. My prejudice against this form of speech is large and without falter. Had my now husband said this during our first handful of dates, that would have been it, I'm afraid. He does say it, I tell him not to, I tell the kids not to, my child who had never used it started using it, I'm like a fucking fishwife harridan, shrieking and beating her breast, when anyone uses it.
It's really just how you are brought up, like the haitch thing. Another of my hates. But that one isn't wrong, it's just different.
Youse is wrong. As is the use of "verse" as a verb, with the meaning of "versus." It's what all the kids are saying now - "We versed them."
2. So Perseus, do you say "youse"? I will admit to feeling upset at the thought that you do. Just a tip. With the date, don't use it. Maybe you could talk about it as a segue from the Oxford Comma, but I'd be very careful about going there with someone you don't know.
I only use it when I'm arguing the point, or in irony.
Oh, and that RSVP girl and I have been emailing to and fro late last night and again this morning. Maybe I should've got on to it earlier.
I'm glad you don't use 'youse' for real. And I'm glad about the emails with the girl.
Take it slowly!
i like to invent new words.
new words that do not use caps.
i am anti the shift function.
sue me.
i have never been offered wine at the hair salon. what kind of fancypants salon do you attend, Lewd Bob?
Thinking about it, when I speak, I use 'ya' to address a person singularly and 'yz' to address a group; with the full pronunciation 'you' reserved only for certain emphasis. That's pretty dismal, but I guess I've been doing it all my life and I've no interest in trying to change now. Having said that, I don't see any need to change the written language to reflect that sort of behaviour. I think that if you try and mirror spoken language too closely in writing, you're probably just going to end up with an indecipherable mess.
And while my English may be poor, I'll probably be dead before I embrace text speak or let go of 'arse'. However, I have noticed words like 'color' slipping in as I spend more time with computer languages.
On the subject of Americanisation, can anyone tell me when 'the finger' officially replaced 'the forks' in this country?
Yeah Bob, what sort of fancypants salon do you attend?
You big girl.
can anyone tell me when 'the finger' officially replaced 'the forks' in this country?
It hasn't in my world Alex. The finger is so crude whereas the fork has a poetry about it.
And thanks for backing me up on 'youse', and I formally accept your spelling... 'yz'.
Pers, first up good luck with the RSVP thing. Although I'm still a little cross about you saying my Baguio girl has a lover in Moresby.
And re tu and vous. One is not plural and the other singular. Tu is familiar and vous more formal. In terms of compairing it to youse, I sincerely hope you don't pronounce the s in vous. Unless of course it is followed by a verb which begins with a vowel. Merde.
Squib was it you or Melba who said you were happy with your grey?
'Twas me, wari. I have embraced it. But it's not grey, it's silver-white, and makes me look blonde. Looks like expensive foils.
And I've gotten wine at hair salons too.
Oh, on the 'fork.' I have never heard of that expression.
Never in all my life.
Is it a regional thing? Or a generation thing? Neither? In a Venn diagram, does 'forks' overlap with 'youse'?
My uncle used to yell at my cousins if they dropped the 'g'.
"It's fuckinG," he would yell. "FuckinGGG!!" It was like the wild west at their place. I loved it.
Sounds very elegant Melba. Not that there's anything wrong with Squib wanting to spend 9 hours (Christ?!) in a chair at a hair dressing salon, no matter what they've got to drink.
I've been accused of dyeing my hair, which I don't. And when it goes grey it goes grey.
And Happy Birthday to me. I wonder if my profile shows me changing to 45 today? I actually put my real date of birth on there.
I attend the Mrs Lewd Bob salon which offers nothing but buzzcuts - an Americanisation if there ever was one. And I'm free to drink as much beer as I want, but I never wear my fancy pants when I go there.
Melba, 'the forks' is the only slightly offensive raising of the middle and index fingers - the reverse peace or victory sign.
I was first introduced to 'the finger' or the American 'bird' in grade 5 in 1981. I remember it distinctly. Cameron Harper sent one to me. Shocked and confused, I fired one back but made the terrible mistake of using the ring finger. It now seems so absurd: it's such a difficult finger to raise. Cameron Harper and his posse of tough kids laughed and mocked. Refusing to admit I made a mistake, I continued using the ring finger throughout primary school, hoping it would catch on. Needless to say, it didn't.
Oh, and happy birthday Wari.
Wari, happy birthday, and I didn't say she did have a lover, I was just saying it might explain why she refused to contact you whilst there.
Bob - Cameron's older brother Paul 'Harps' Harper introduced me to the hot chilli, by rubbing an open one into my face and eyes. I was ON FIRE for hours.
I find it amusing that those brothers, who were clearly in the Top 10 Psychopaths at our school, are both accountants now.
And, despite the chilli and mockery, were actually quite nice blokes.
Ok Perseus, I'll let it go. You're probably right though.
And Ta to you and Bob. I had to stop my bloody staff here from getting me a cake. I hate that stuff. I'm officially closer to 50 than 40. What's to celebrate?
Pers, Bob.
Do you go to school reunions?
I ask because, sometime ago, I was asked to go to my high school reunion.
My response was along the lines of "I'd rather die in a ditch somewhere because you were all a pack of cunts and I hope you all die of cancer".
Too harsh?
Perhaps you could've said "died slowly of cancer". Other than that, pretty much my sentiments precisely Ramon. So, no, I've never been to one.
Happy Birthday wari, and thanks for the understanding re the silver hair, oh Fox that I am. We are of an age, you and I. Are we the oldest?
Thanks Bob for explaining the forks, I had worked it out. I was saying I'd never heard the expression and I pride myself on being a connoisseur of la langue. We used to call that gesture either giving someone the "fingers" or the "finger", and context would clarify the latter when it was to be distinguished from the act that boys were trying to do to girls, before proper sex was allowed.
School reunions - horrible. I'm not going to another until we are in our sixties and then I won't be the only Silver Fox.
I've never been to one. In fact, I don't think there's been one for my year level. I wouldn't go anyway.
I thought you went to one Bob? And Pud and Hughesy were fat.
Well I went to one of sorts, unofficial and unrelated to any type of anniversary, at the M Pub. Oh, they're fat. And still living in M.
Thanks Melba. I've been trying to determine that too. Ramon likes to talk like he's old (God I don't really feel that old) but I think maybe I've got him. There is someone who gets us both though, someone is in their fifties, it got mentioned a couple of weeks ago but I forget.
I recall getting into trouble for teaching my eldest (he's 19 now) about the names for all the fingers. Thumb, index finger, ring finger, pinky. "What's the long one in the middle?" "Oh, that's the bird." He was in pre school (Toddler Junction in Glebe) and told his teacher who told Mrs L. The teacher thought it was hilarious, Mrs L not so. She also didn't appreciate me telling him, when he asked what type of cat we had, "A calendar cat."
I believe Mr E Discharge outed himself as the oldest TSFKAer.
Who's the youngest?
Desci?
My money's on the projectivist with her Gen Y lack of respect for the shift key.
I meant it would feel like 9 hours
I have a finger story! In grade 2, my best friend Tina took a bobtail lizard for show & tell. Her brother Rex made it bite her finger. Anyway, this bobtail was just latched onto her finger and wouldn't come off. Tina was crying and it was recess and I ran around in a flap. Finally found a teacher on duty and she said, 'It's her own fault for bringing a goanna to school' and she didn't even come and assist or anything
It was very traumatic
I think we all know where I stand on the English language, text messages, and punctuation.
Perseus, you might be thinking of Spanish. They have four words for 'you'. Tu (inf. sing.), Usted (f. sing.), Vosotros (inf. pl.) and Ustedes (f. pl.).
While a plural 'you' makes some sense, I just can't accept 'youse' as the answer. It's such an awful word. Maybe if the plural was a completely different sounding word (like vosotros to tu in Spanish). But then, I'm happy to just keep using 'you' as the plural of 'you'. It's like 'sheep' and 'fish'.
Whilst on the subject of 'youse', while I was training my replacement at work before I left (she comes from Ipswich, if that's of any assistance to anyone), she picked up the phone and said something along the lines of, 'Ok, so what message do youse want me to pass on?' I was horrified. I was standing right in front of her and my mouth dropped open. I could not believe she'd just said 'youse' on the phone to a client in a professional office! She also says 'like' too often. She didn't understand when I told her she'd have to work on her speech patterns.
As for high school reunions, mine is coming up this year. I've told them it will be a cold day in hell before I ever willingly attend an event with that bunch of inbred bogans. Seriously, they're inbred. I looked on Facebook and in the town I went to school at, everyone was related to everyone else (because no one ever moves). Some of my classmates have since married their cousins. Gross.
I've told them it will be a cold day in hell before I ever willingly attend an event with that bunch of inbred bogans. Seriously, they're inbred. See that's why I love you Puss. Ramon wants to say something like that to his schoolmates, as would I, but you actually say it.
Squib... so what happened? Did you kill the lizard?
"died slowly of cancer". No, quick is still best. Otherwise they bore all and sundry with remissions or cures, then slink off to die anyway, but they don't advertise that bit, nooooo, they just stop bobbing up on John Faine's show and in the Sunday Age.
Which is probably why you and Ramon both have long lists of friends, Perseus, whilst I wouldn't run out of fingers trying to count mine.
I'm having a dilemma today. The stupid boy has shattered his ankle and requires surgery and now cannot come to Europe. Do I continue the trip without him (bearing in mind I'm kind of over it), or do I come home and forever regret not seeing the good bits, which I had left for when he arrived?
Persey, some burly person opened the lizard's jaws
Forgot to say happy birthday, Wari
Puss, I think we went to the same school?
Happy birthday Wari
The finger is so crude whereas the fork has a poetry about it.
It warms my heart to know that I am not the only person who feels this way. Unfortunately, if you actually give someone the fork these days they're likely to think that you're flashing some kind of gang sign.
Melba, I think white hair is great. Certainly much better than going bald at any rate.
Squib, I think your friend was a bit of a sook. I played with bogeyes when I was little (I feel sorry for those poor lizards now). They don't even have proper teeth.
Seriously, they're inbred. I looked on Facebook and in the town I went to school at, everyone was related to everyone else (because no one ever moves). Some of my classmates have since married their cousins. Gross.
This is exactly the way it was in the town where I went to high school. From what I've seen, it's not that uncommon either. In defence of some of the people I've known though, being inbred does not necessarily make you a bad person.
Puss, you either catch the next flight back to Australia or the boy won't be there when you do get back.
No Ramon, does she have proof that he actually really did shatter (as opposed to simply breaking it) his ankle? Maybe he doesn't really want to come.
Either way, Wari.
Relationship looks pretty rooted, to me.
These long distance things never work out. And what's the poor bloke been doing for a shag for the last six months?
how dare you, Perseus!
i have the thighs of a GenY,
but my brain is all GenX!
i turned 39 in February.
do i get extra points for making the effort to use shift key for the names of things and important words (see February)
hmmmmm?
Puss, are you seriously considering ditching a trip to Europe to come home and play nurse for a minor injury like a shattered ankle?!
I think I must be the youngest. Yay!
Alex, how weird, I just googled them and they don't have any teeth!! It was just hanging there by the gums, apparently
Puss, I would think very carefully about coming home. Is he asking you to? How long have you been apart? And what HAS he been doing for a root? I think you'd regret not finishing your trip, but you say you're pretty much over it, so maybe you're looking for an excuse to come back early?
When I was 26 I met my future husband 4 days out of Melbourne, on my "trip of a lifetime." I didn't abort my trip, I continued on with my plan, leaving him behind, meeting up with my sister as planned, meeting another friend in Greece as planned, going to London and working, as planned. I knew I'd regret it if I chucked it all in for someone I'd fallen madly in love with.
It's not really a minor injury. He's gone in for surgery today, and will need extensive physiotherapy so he can walk on it again. He was supposed to join me in Europe, and there was a 90% chance of a proposal. He has told me he wants me to finish the trip, but obviously also wants me to be there with him, because the alternative is staying with his mother until I get back. Likewise, I want to see the things we were supposed to see together, but I don't want to do the trip without him. When he got here, it was going to be rather intense travelling, as we had a lot to fit into the short amount of time, and I just don't think I'm up for it if he's not going to be here.
I haven't seen him since November. I have no idea what he's been doing for a root. I would hope the answer is 'nothing', like it is on my part.
In any event, I think I have decided to finish the part of the trip up to when he was coming over, then fly to Paris for a few days and fly out from there. I think out of everything, I would really regret not seeing Paris.
Puss, don't take this the wrong way, but is this the same guy who got PTSD after his motor bike crash?
You don't think maybe he's a tad fragile? It sounds to me like you take the lead in just about everything. Is that going to be ok in the long run?
Sounds to me like you're making the right decision. Sorry about my callous inquiries about his private life. If you think you are going to be together for a long time, maybe even get married, then get home, be there for him, and as you say, do that part of the trip later.
You know what's best, none of us meddlers do.
Pers, the youngest TSFKAer award's probably neck and neck with Puss and I – I’ll be 28 in December. Though come to think of it, I think EMS might be younger than either of us.
But I’m a lousy one to ask about language changing, given my past life as an editrix. I'd prefer it if the shift key and 'you' 'are' etc. were used forever (also, I'm still sad about &c. being dropped in favour of 'etc.')
I know it's not practical to wish it wouldn't change, but fuck it annoys me when I hear someone 'dialoguing' on the 'changeability' of something or other. Grr.
In other news, my ten year reunion’s coming up in August and I can’t effing wait – I like weird situations that may end up being horrible; it’s the writer in me. I hated them all then, I rekindled my hate at the five year, and I look forward to seeing how fucking boring everyone has turned out. Muaha.
Editrix sounds like B 'n D dressed as a librarian. Corrr... 'Scuse me, typing one-handed now.
My 20 year school reunion's coming up at the end of this month. Judging by the facebook page, it'll consist mostly of a) people I never even knew at high school, b) people I barely knew at school, except the name slightly rings a bell, c) people I knew but didn't like, which is pretty much most of them.
Of the people that won't go, there will be a) the 1 or 2 people who I would actually be interested in seeing, b) the girl I had a crush on in year 12 and would like to see what's happened to her in the interim.
Anyway, I said I'd go, because I'll enjoy the schadenfreude of seeing the footy players and surfers all fat and balding, and the bimbos and bitches all fat, wrinkled and tired-looking.
All in all, though, I haven't had contact with these people for 20 years. Why break such a good run?
Wari, he didn't get PTSD. I just recognised the early signs of it and headed it off at the pass. But yes, I think he is a bit fragile. He's a mummy's boy at heart. Which is slightly irritating, but I'll get him out of it. Moving to Europe might be a start. He's a lot better now than he once was. And it's not that he wants me to come back and look after him, but his mother is going completely overboard on this and is even threatening to set up camp in my lounge room when I get back, because she doesn't want to relinquish care of him to me. It's a broken ankle. It's not like he needs someone to feed him or anything. I highly doubt he will allow her to stay with us, but it still irritates me.
Oh, and do I mind taking charge for the life of the relationship?! You really don't know me very well, do you Wari? I am a control freak. I like being in charge.
Melba - No worries. I have the same concerns. I want to stay and see everything, but at the same time I'm over the travelling thing anyway and I'd sort of like to stop. I was considering just staying here in Spain for a few more months instead of travelling around, but now that the boy is hurt, I guess going home is not a bad option.
Squib - Didn't you go to school in WA?
Desci - Do people in VIC graduate when they're 18? I'll be 27 in August. But yes, I recall EMS being younger than us. I wish the English language wouldn't 'evolve' either. I doubt we'll get our way, however. I wish we could go back to the days when people knew how to use a semicolon. It's not a difficult concept. Also, I'd never seen the &c. before for etc. Thanks!
You really don't know me very well, do you Wari? I am a control freak. I like being in charge.
Oh contraire Puss, I think I read you quite well. Melba's on the money, whilst you may find our views interesting, you know best what's going on in your life. I'm amazed you've spent so long away. But I'm so over travelling, my ideal holiday now cannot involve hotels or airports.
My ideal holiday consists of a tram trip to my nearest beer garden.
You have a very loose understanding of the concept of a holiday, Ramon.
Works for me.
My perfect holiday is doing exactly what I do now, minus work. Last summer I rarely left the house.
Boogey: go and tell us about it. Garn.
Puss: I say come home; you've got ages to do a retry together of the good places.
Year 12 here is 17, turning 18. I was one of the younger ones in my class, being 17 turning 18 in December.
And I first found &c. in some of my old edition lit novels for uni, and have loved it ever since but can't use it for fear of people not knowing what I mean. Bah!
Mission statement of the Grammar Nazis:
"Unsuccessfully holding back English language evolution since 1066"
Hwæt hæfst þu weorkes, Boogey.
Ic eom geanwyrde monuc, ond sincge ælce dæg seofon tida mid gebroþrum, ac þeahhwæþere ic wolde betwenan leornian sprecan on leden gereorde, Ramon.
Þa se cyning þa þas word gehyrde, þa andswarode he him & cwæð, þæt he æghwæþer ge wolde ge sceolde þam geleafan onfon þe he lærde. Cwæð hwæþere, þæt he wolde mid his freondum & mid his wytum gesprec & geþeaht habban, þæt gif hi mid hine þæt geþafian woldan, þæt hi ealle ætsomne on lifes willan Criste gehalgade wæran. Þa dyde se cyning swa swa he cwæð, & se bisceop þæt geþafade.
Oh, you old honey dripper, you.
Þa hæfde he gesprec & geþeaht mid his witum & syndriglice wæs fram him eallum frignende, hwylc him þuhte & gesawen wære þeos niwe lar & þære godcundnesse bigong, þe þær læred wæs. Him þa andswarode his ealdorbisceop, Cefi wæs haten: Geseoh þu, cyning, hwelc þeos lar sie, þe us nu bodad is. Ic þe soðlice andette, þæt ic cuðlice geleornad hæbbe, þæt eallinga nawiht mægenes ne nyttnes hafað sio æfæstnes, þe we oð ðis hæfdon & beeodon. Forðon nænig þinra þegna neodlicor ne gelustfullicor hine sylfne underþeodde to ura goda bigange þonne ic; & noht þon læs monige syndon, þa þe maran gefe & fremsumnesse æt þe onfengon þonne ic, & in eallum þingum maran gesynto hæfdon. Hwæt ic wat, gif ure godo ænige mihte hæfdon, þonne woldan hie me ma fultumian, forþon ic him geornlicor þeodde & hyrde. Forþon me þynceð wislic, gif þu geseo þa þing beteran & strangran, þe us niwan bodad syndon, þæt we þam onfon.
Abraham þa gecierde sona to his cnapum and ferdon him ham swa mid heofonlicre bletsunge!
Copies of my and Boogey's book Say it in Anglo Saxon, you cunt are now available for purchase.
Copies of my and Boogey's book Say it in Anglo Saxon, you cunt are now available for purchase.
My inner Editrix just cracked her cane, straightened her librarian's glasses, and pointed out that the title should read:
Sæye it in Anglo Saxon, you cnut.
Sometimes I'm concerned that I'm too nerdy for my won good, but then I come across people like Ramon and Boogeyman and breathe a sigh of relief.
*
I turned 17 in Year 12. June 25 is my birthday, and back then I think June 30 was the cutoff, so I scraped into my year level by 5 days. Have they changed it since then?
*
June 25 is my birthday. Same birthday as George Orwell, George Michael and Melissa George. I should have been called George.
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June 25 is my 40th. I may kill myself.
Don't kill yourself Pers. until you buy a copy of Sæye it in Anglo Saxon, you cnut.How's RSVP girl?
Emailing to and fro - long emails. Going well. She's wordy, like me. She's also a policy advisor! So I'm guessing she a left-leaning soak.
Date this Sunday or the next, shall be confirmed later today.
Meanwhile, I missed the cutoff in the opposite direction by 2 days. I am 1 year and 7 days younger than Peresus, but was 2 years behind at school.
Being old in my class meant I was better than most at footy, cricket and maths, and it also meant I had a beard in year 12. Consequently, I was the one buying the beer.
Puss, yes I did go to school in WA. I just meant your school "chums" sounded like mine, except mine were ferals, not bogans
I'm a creature of habit, so much so that there's a restaurant we go to every Thursday night and they don't even bring me the menu anymore
But I like the way our language changes and grows. It would be boring playing with the same words all the time
Just finished 'Defining the World' (about Dr Johnson) which I got via mail from the Readings cheap bin. It could have been better, it read like a PhD thesis, but here are some words that have undergone a change in meaning since 1755:
tabby: a kind of waved silk
sinus: a bay of the sea, an opening of the land
recipe: a medical prescription
orgasm: a sudden vehemence
pug: a kind of name of a monkey, or any thing tenderly loved
calculus: the stone in the bladder (that still sounds about right to me)
orgasm: a sudden vehemence
So what's changed? And I'm with you with calculus.
Boogey, INH: Fuck off back to the Battle of Hastings, the both of you.
I spent a good ten minutes trying to find a decent Old English translator, but failed.
All I learned was that Old English = Anglo Saxon and monuc = monk.
I recall doing a project on the year 1066 in year 8. It was entitled 1066, a Year to Remember. Not only did the Battle of Hastings take place, but Halley's Comet arrived that year. I postulated that this might explain Harold's defeat.
While battling fiercely:
William: Jesus Christ Harold, look at that! (pointing to the sky)
Harold: Don't be ridiculous William, I'm not falling for that old trick.
William: I shit you not, Harold. There's something huge and fiery in the sky.
Harold: If I look, will you promise not to shoot that bow and arrow you appear to be loading?
William: Alright.
Harold looks. William fires.
Harold: Ow! I can't see. Nor do I appear to be breathing.
The rest is history.
Boogey, INH: Fuck off back to the Battle of Hastings, the both of you.
You know, I always used to think Desci was such a sweet gentle refined lady. Turns out she's got a mouth on her that'd make a sailor and a trucker's mad bastard offspring blush furiously. Who'da thunk it?
I always used to think Desci was such a sweet gentle refined lady.
You have Alzheimers, or PTSD.
I’ll be 28 in December. Though come to think of it, I think EMS might be younger than either of us.Desci, close but no cigar, I turned 29 a few months back.
But yes, I recall EMS being younger than us.Puss: I'll take that as a compliment. Or, it just means that I'm heaps immature and stuff. Hmm.
Year 12 here is 17, turning 18. I was one of the younger ones in my class, being 17 turning 18 in December.I didn't turn eighteen until after Year 12. I had to suffer through my first month at uni being underage. I learnt a lot about sneaking into pubs and lying about my age and identity in those early days. And ... seriously, it was pretty easy.
I may be the youngest then...
At 24, turning 25 in October...
I have nothing else to add to the conversation of the evolution of the languages...
Yep, I reckon ShitMBX wins that competition hands down.
And Mr. E is the oldest? What about Catlick? And by the way, where are those two? And where's Loose Shunter? I noticed Social Disaster made a cameo.
And where's Stubb? This is his site after all.
I miss Stubba.
EMS - Boyfriend turned 18 in April of his first year, so he and his brother had to do a lot of sneakin', too.
So Perseus, you can divide us into 'classes' now, based on age.
Or make a list, youngest to oldest, or other way around.
You know you want to.
Melba, as Socrates said to the physiognamist, you know me too well.
Well then, be nice to me in the other thread.
Pers, just do a graph of our age Vs our levels of curmudgeonly cantankerousness. Garn.
Ha, I'll win then 'cause I'm old and a cunt cunt.
I'll win then 'cause I'm old and a cunt cunt.Then you're in a class all of your own and can't be included in the original data set.
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