A shocker from our MP! (NB, for pedants only!)

My friend drew a teacher's attention, very discreetly, to the mistakes she had made in a list of spellings for the children to learn . She was met with a cool retort that 'Perfectionists have a very hard time in this life'.

clip round the ear should do it.....ouch .!!

On the reverse side, a dd (who usually had excellent SPAG) was bemused to have had a mark deducted for an error in an essay for her MA. She couldn’t see what was wrong.

It was because of a dangling participle - and once I pointed it out she realised why it was wrong.

However I was pleased and reassured that her tutor not only a) noticed such things, but b) was bothered enough to deduct a mark.
This was quite a while ago now, though.

When I sat my GCE 0 level exams in the 1960s, there were 2 separate subjects: English Language and English Literature. Does anyone else remember that?

It’s funny when people correct others’ spellings on Facebook, but spell a word wrongly themselves! These are the only times when I like to point out the error.

* Grammaretto* I too remember the two subjects being separated. I only took English Language as, another subject I needed more than Literature, clashed on the timetable.

We were able to take the subject as a lesson but, without the exam. We were able to choose which books the class took.

Tweedle24 Did the two Englishes count as subjects by themselves? I passed about 9 O levels but I think some of the subjects were decidedly dodgy
I had to have a science or maths and was really bad so took Physiology & Hygiene as an easy option!
Sorry to go off topic.....
btw my username is nothing to do with grammar. It's more a merging of Grandma and Amaretto

Grammaretto Yes, they did. My English Lit clashed with Maths, which I needed.

Alexa

Scottish speakers simply don' t make errors like that . A Scot pronounces kerb and curb very differently.

I remember, many years ago, watching Top of the Form featuring a Scottish school. There was a round on homonyms and the answer to the question was 'flaw' and 'floor' - the team were all still looking at each other with puzzlement when the quizmaster was half way through the next question.

The one that drives me to distraction is american novels that refer to someone being "coronated". GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Petra, what about whales and Wales. My English daughter in law thinks my Scottish "Whales" is hilarious.

Sinn Fein leader McDonald talked about the "heart rendering" cases of those victims denied pensions.

and a classroom tray labelled "stationary" for paper, envelopes etc!

that was to kerb their tendency to go walkabout.

soon all this will be as obscure and baffling to the majority of the populace as classical allusions have become...

welbeck

soon all this will be as obscure and baffling to the majority of the populace as classical allusions have become...

With the greatest respect, welbeck, there's another of my gripes.

Where has the word 'most' gone?

The 'majority' is the numerical difference between votes cast for the winner and votes cast for the loser. As a percentage of the population it probably be actually very small. Even a 'vast' one will represent nowhere near most of the population!