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The Oxford comma

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ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

Allan

Allan Report 31 Jan 2020 23:27

The size of the notice board was limited to what the council could afford

maggiewinchester

maggiewinchester Report 31 Jan 2020 23:42

Allan, excessive letters are definitely a no-no!
It's 'aitch', surely?

Allan

Allan Report 31 Jan 2020 23:46

aitch it is, Maggie, for the letter, even though it has a totally different sound when spoken as part of a word. :-0

supercrutch

supercrutch Report 1 Feb 2020 00:07

An historic, an hotel that’s what I was taught ;-) ;-)

Allan

Allan Report 1 Feb 2020 00:17

An hour :-D

maggiewinchester

maggiewinchester Report 1 Feb 2020 00:21

...so it would be 'an' LSA?

Allan

Allan Report 1 Feb 2020 01:01

Maggie, if using the initials LSA then, yes, 'an' would be used, but if using the full title you would say 'a' :-S

JoyLouise

JoyLouise Report 1 Feb 2020 08:32

Allan, there are some haitch users here too.

Sadly, I have heard teachers say haitch too so what chance do their pupils have unless parents are 'on the ball'?

Dermot

Dermot Report 1 Feb 2020 09:27

It’s not possible to derive a rule of English grammar from logical principles. :-S

JoyLouise

JoyLouise Report 1 Feb 2020 10:08

Ur rite Dermot, cos if we cud we wud. Owr spelling must drive foreners to tare owt thare hare. :-D

Allan

Allan Report 1 Feb 2020 10:41

Totally agree, JoyLouise, whatever you said. :-S

Andysmum

Andysmum Report 1 Feb 2020 12:23

JoyLouise, you are obviously too young to remember the Initial Teaching Alphabet, an invention of Sir James Pitman (grandson of Isaac Pitman, the inventor of shorthand), which aimed to simplify spelling. He was the MP for Bath, where I lived at the time, which may be why I remember it.

Anyway, it didn't catch on, people hated it and it sort of faded into obscurity!!

Dermot

Dermot Report 1 Feb 2020 13:23

Grammer & spilling are regaining there wrightful plaice in some multilingual secondary skools. (Pudsey Ryan.) ;-)

JoyLouise

JoyLouise Report 1 Feb 2020 13:48

Giving away how young I am, AndysMum!

Wrong side of 75 ...

I also remember a short period when one of my nephews was taught phonetically in England. It didn't work either. :-D


Dermot. :-D :-D :-D

Andysmum

Andysmum Report 1 Feb 2020 14:32

I was taught French phonetically for the first term at secondary school and didn't do well at all!! :-(

The next term we switched to "proper" letters and we all suddenly improved dramatically!

As a nation I think we are naturally resistant to change, whether it's decimalisation or new houses in an old village.

maggiewinchester

maggiewinchester Report 1 Feb 2020 23:19

JoyLouise, I remember a new teacher starting at the school I was working in, who had been taught phonetically - we LSA's had to check her spelling :-S

JoyLouise

JoyLouise Report 2 Feb 2020 09:17

Maggie, it was good for her pupils that you checked her spelling. Sad to think that you had to though.

I don't recall any phonetic alphabet/spelling when I was at school. Unlike Andysmum, we were taught 'proper' French from the get-go. Our youngest grandson (now second year seniors) has chosen to do French, German and Latin - none phonetically. I am not aware of any school in our area that still uses phonetics however I don't know about the rest of the country.

maggiewinchester

maggiewinchester Report 2 Feb 2020 23:56

JoyLouise, she was taught English phonetically :-(
Words were simplified, an idea mooted by Noah Webster in the 19th Century - and which led to the spelling differences between American and English (color, colour).
A few example of Webster's 'simplifications'
1. Cloke — cloak

2. Soop — soup

3. Masheen — machine

4. Tung — tongue

5. Greef — grief

6. Dawter — daughter

7. Korus — chorus

8. Nightmar — nightmare

9. Turnep — turnip

10. Iland — island

For a short time, in the 1970's it was tried in the UK.

What is absolutely ridiculous, in the list, is that the 'ught' is removed from 'daughter', but the 'ight' is retained in 'nightmare'.
Surely it should be 'nitemare' :-S :-S :-S

The poor woman struggled to work out the 'proper' spelling of words.
Fortunately, she taught reception class, so only basic spelling was necessary.
However, 'report' time, was busy, all LSA's were asked to check through her spelling in the children's end of year reports.