Reform, and the death of the Tory Party

[Ian H]

No, it doesn't - just serves up a 'internal server error', which is not what 'mallemaroking' is.

Chambers gives it as carousing on an ice-bound ship, which is weirdly specific.

 

[briantrumpet]

I just log in at home with my library password.

Or rather your library card number, I think? Or maybe you don't dive in via oed.com...

Genuinely, I think it's a good reason, all by itself, to have a library card, as the OED is like a word archaeology, being able to dig down through the layers of English. It's also ace for ruining jokes.

 

[Mr Celine]

Or rather your library card number, I think? Or maybe you don't dive in via oed.com...

Genuinely, I think it's a good reason, all by itself, to have a library card, as the OED is like a word archaeology, being able to dig down through the layers of English. It's also ace for ruining jokes.

I think you need a new hobby. How about studyinging ants, bees and the like?

 

[briantrumpet]

I think you need a new hobby. How about studyinging ants, bees and the like?

I did that when I was about 5, and they taught me to read words.

 

[Mr Celine]

I did that when I was about 5, and they taught me to read words.

View attachment 15260

I think my brother took the family copy of Kind Dog's Birthday Party when we cleared out the parental house.

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

Or rather your library card number, I think? Or maybe you don't dive in via oed.com...

Genuinely, I think it's a good reason, all by itself, to have a library card, as the OED is like a word archaeology, being able to dig down through the layers of English. It's also ace for ruining jokes.

I had a Uni Lecturer who despised text speak. He (quite rightly) argued that as a civilisation we had spent thousands of years developing language to communicate the complexity of the human condition, to name and create a shared understanding of the physical and so on. All of this work to develop the most sophisticated vocabularies and etymologies, only for us to be reduced to "r u ok hun?" 😂

 

[briantrumpet]

I had a Uni Lecturer who despised text speak. He (quite rightly) argued that as a civilisation we had spent thousands of years developing language to communicate the complexity of the human condition, to name and create a shared understanding of the physical and so on. All of this work to develop the most sophisticated vocabularies and etymologies, only for us to be reduced to "r u ok hun?" 😂

Throughout history, oldies have worried that language is going to the dogs, that youngsters are spoiling this wonderful, miraculous thing called 'human language' (just contemplate for a moment that each one of us on NCAP is communicating 'thoughts' and 'ideas' via pixels in the shapes of letters and words – and emojis – to strangers).

Language never dies though, it just evolves into different forms, just as expressive and inventive as it was before. Humans have an absolute need to communicate verbally to other humans, be it humour, grief, joy, questions, whatever. It'll do fine, even if we can't keep up and don't like the direction it's going. I might partly sympathise with your university lecturer, but humans are unlikely to find text-speak and grunts sufficient to express their inner thoughts, when they need to, or to explain how the universe came to exist. They'll find a vocabulary for that in time.

 

[Ian H]

Throughout history, oldies have worried that language is going to the dogs, that youngsters are spoiling this wonderful, miraculous thing called 'human language' (just contemplate for a moment that each one of us on NCAP is communicating 'thoughts' and 'ideas' via pixels in the shapes of letters and words – and emojis – to strangers).

Language never dies though, it just evolves into different forms, just as expressive and inventive as it was before. Humans have an absolute need to communicate verbally to other humans, be it humour, grief, joy, questions, whatever. It'll do fine, even if we can't keep up and don't like the direction it's going. I might partly sympathise with your university lecturer, but humans are unlikely to find text-speak and grunts sufficient to express their inner thoughts, when they need to, or to explain how the universe came to exist. They'll find a vocabulary for that in time.

FCK YEAH!

 

[briantrumpet]

FCK YEAH!

Oh grow up!

 

[C R]

FCUK YEAH!

FTFY

 

[Ian H]

FTFY

u korrectg mytxt spk?

 

[C R]

u korrectg mytxt spk?

IKWYM

 

[briantrumpet]

I'm no more going to try to join in this than I am going to try to strike up a conversation with French youth on a bus using my very imperfect (1970s) schoolboy French. I'll stick with my slippers, smoking jacket and meerschaum, thank you very much, gentlemen.

 

[Ian H]

I'm no more going to try to join in this than I am going to try to strike up a conversation with French youth on a bus using my very imperfect (1970s) schoolboy French. I'll stick with my slippers, smoking jacket and meerschaum, thank you very much, gentlemen.

You forgot the deerstalker and magnifying glass for discovering recondite items of language, innit.

 

[briantrumpet]

You forgot the deerstalker and magnifying glass for discovering recondite items of language, innit.

Smoking jacket *and* a deerstalker? I'm not sure that that's good manners, deer chap.