Where will our poor country end up?

On the Andrew Marr show this morning two very small items were mentioned. Both tiny but both of enormous significance.

One by the BBC photographer who with a colleague was attempting to take pictures of a glorious sunset from The Embankment when they were approached by two police constables and warned that under section 44 of the Anti Terrorist Act they were breaking the law and should put their cameras away immediately. The other was one of his guests, who had spotted a sign whilst driving to the studio, which had the word 'Fotoshop". She like me is appalled at the desecration of our language.

I actually had an e-mail from the editor of the Bath Chronicle recently which started "Wether or not......." What hope is there of teaching our kids to spell our language properly?

I hate it when things deliberately spelt wrongly. I hate Xmas!

Are you sure that is the correct spelling for 'desecration', Dave? Also - as far as I understand it - 'whether' can also be spelt as 'wether', just so long as 'or not' is tagged on somewhere in the sentence. Also, if you always refer to children as 'kids', then you've only yourself to blame if they aint brung up properly.

Sorry I can't be so helpful about the security situation.

I agree to some of that Dave, but some people(me included) can't spell very well so i personally dont have a problem with it unless its spelt wrong on purpose.
With the photographer, i think this country is becoming more like communist Russia,
your being watched all the time.
O and Cat. Ba Humbug!

Tom Stephenson wrote:

A Also, if you always refer to children as 'kids', then you've only yourself to blame if they aint brung up properly.

.

Hmmmm, just picking up probably the most insignificant point to this, but I've often deliberated as to whether using the word 'kid' or 'kids' for children is considered somehow inappopriate...I do alot of work with children throughout the year and do regularly refer to them as kids. I kind of know it doesn't sit right but I'm not really sure why , does anyone else think this is an issue and if so why so? Is it because it is essentially a slang name?

La La wrote:

Tom Stephenson wrote:

A Also, if you always refer to children as 'kids', then you've only yourself to blame if they aint brung up properly.

.

Hmmmm, just picking up probably the most insignificant point to this, but I've often deliberated as to whether using the word 'kid' or 'kids' for children is considered somehow inappopriate...I do alot of work with children throughout the year and do regularly refer to them as kids. I kind of know it doesn't sit right but I'm not really sure why , does anyone else think this is an issue and if so why so? Is it because it is essentially a slang name?

Well the Word Kid or Kids has been used for hundreds of years so i don't think it will make any difference to the little buggers or the English language.

La La wrote:

Tom Stephenson wrote:

A Also, if you always refer to children as 'kids', then you've only yourself to blame if they aint brung up properly.

.

Hmmmm, just picking up probably the most insignificant point to this, but I've often deliberated as to whether using the word 'kid' or 'kids' for children is considered somehow inappopriate...I do alot of work with children throughout the year and do regularly refer to them as kids. I kind of know it doesn't sit right but I'm not really sure why , does anyone else think this is an issue and if so why so? Is it because it is essentially a slang name?

Years ago my Dad brought something home from work for me and my brother to play with (some kind of board with magnetic shapes) and he told Mum that it was for "the kids". Mum was furious!!!! She told him off and said we weren't goats, we were children

Yes, you're right Duke, although unfortunately these days when working in 'professional' circumstances with children, it seems that the use of the words kid or kids is deemed somehow inappropriate. I'm not entirely sure why though, but I'd be interested to hear Tom's opinion on it and that of others who also consider it to be 'wrong' somehow.

I use it all the time myself, but I think it's yet another Americanism which came in around 1900, and stuck. I just pointed it out because I wanted to wind up Dave. This spelling business is not as inflexible as people have thought since Samuel Johnson though, and sometimes there really aren't any hard and fast rules. Krekt me if I'm wrong.

I handle children with kid gloves - wouldn't wanna leave incriminating fingerprints on them.

I prefer the iron fist (ing) approach.

That's a bit Over The Top...some may say Overkill.

I think I object most to text speak. U no wen ppl tlk 2 eech ova lik dis

Tom Stephenson wrote:

I use it all the time myself, but I think it's yet another Americanism which came in around 1900, and stuck. I just pointed it out because I wanted to wind up Dave. This spelling business is not as inflexible as people have thought since Samuel Johnson though, and sometimes there really aren't any hard and fast rules. Krekt me if I'm wrong.

Kid Extended meaning of "child" first recorded as slang 1599, i dont think its from america Tom.

Tom's got it about 'im tonight, so beware you Americanisers. One should never desecrate a male wether. The poor sheep's been castrated. But there are two L's in bollocks!

In answer to you Duke. I wasn't concentrating my comments on those of us who find the assembly of letters into words difficult. After all the likes of Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Einstein found that almost impossible. Dyslexia being their problem.

It is the acceptance of mediocrity that bugs me, together with the nanny state and imposition of big brother. Where's it all going to end?

Dave Larkhall wrote:

Tom's got it about 'im tonight, so beware you Americanisers. One should never desecrate a male wether. The poor sheep's been castrated. But there are two L's in bollocks!

In answer to you Duke. I wasn't concentrating my comments on those of us who find the assembly of letters into words difficult. After all the likes of Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Einstein found that almost impossible. Dyslexia being their problem.

It is the acceptance of mediocrity that bugs me, together with the nanny state and imposition of big brother. Where's it all going to end?

In Rebellion or Revolution, They can't take our freedom!!

1599 eh? That's interesting.

Tom Stephenson wrote:

1599 eh? That's interesting.

Its not as if im really clever and know about this stuff Tom, i cheated and looked it up in a online dictionary. Sorry

No need to apologise, that's what we all do I think - if we don't know! I do know that a lot of English Language researchers go up into the Appalachian Mountains to look up old British words which were taken up there, and never came back down again after about 1700. Evidently, there are a load of disfunctional pig-fuckers in the hills which still use Shakespearian words which we stopped using about 300 years ago.

Do you mean, yea perchance existeth a gaggle of psychotic sow creationists?

Tom Stephenson wrote:

I do know that a lot of English Language researchers go up into the Appalachian Mountains to look up old British words which were taken up there, and never came back down again after about 1700. Evidently, there are a load of disfunctional pig-fuckers in the hills which still use Shakespearian words which we stopped using about 300 years ago.

I come from the Appalachian Mountains! While I've never heard of any pig fucking, I don't disagree with the "disfunctional" part of the statement... in fact, that's putting it very mildly. I know that a lot of "Hillibilly" words sound very old.. like contrary or pekid.. words you don't hear anywhere else. People who live deep in the mountains don't have a lot of outside contact... especially 300 years ago... so it doesn't surprise me that they may use old British words that were common when they settled there.

Anyway, to answer the original question... I think your country will end up just like America... isn't that a lovely thought!

I didn't know that's where you came from Crick - honest! At the moment, I think us Brits are at a crossroad as to who we end up like. For the first time since WW2, our prime minister is starting to eat away at the 'special relationship' by telling the Obama administration they should do more about the Palestinian thing, do more to get Bin Laden out of the Pakistan border mountains, etc. etc. Of course, this may not have anything to do with a forthcoming election, and we are looking for an excuse to get out of Afghanistan and Iraq - that a small village in Wiltshire is getting a bit fed up with standing around on street corners every week, waiting to welcome home a load of military body parts.

It might not have anything to do with the collapse of the mighty dollar either, or the collapse of a toy-town in Dubai. We might end up looking like Brussels now that the euro does not have to fight the dollar any more. Most - if not all - of our town centres are pretty much identical to the ones in the State of Europe now anyway, so a total conversion would be a quick and easy thing to achieve. There again, we could end up looking like China.

I was only slightly depressed this morning. Now you've driven me into the depths of despair Tom.

Capitalism collapsing around our ears. Communism a thing of the past. Still the same old bunch of ultra wealthy Oxbridge louts lording it over us. Brown coming out with all sorts of last minute electioneering crap, and Cameron disappearing up his own anus as he tries to convince us all that he will look out for the poorer in our society as he receives millions from his Non-Dom ex uni buddies.

We need a fucking great revolution. Only trouble is the white collared, baton bashin, riot shield swiping private Metropolitan Police army are poised just waiting for the opportunity.

Rivers of Blood?

Yea. Loadsa blood. Where's Oliver when you want 'im? I hear someones just bought his shoes for three and a half thousand quid. Do you think if he put them on.......then again, naw!