(29-11-2021, 02:59 PM)Howard Wright Wrote: Hi All
Am I the only one that feels a bit uneasy about this thread? Maybe I’m too sensitive but it appears that poking fun at those individuals that haven’t had the opportunity of good education or may have dyslexia or do not have English as their mother tongue is not in the best of taste.
I’d prefer it if we could concentrate on Austin Seven matters.
Cheers
Howard
A little, Howard. I fully accept there are those who simply can't handle grammar, spelling and punctuation, just as I'm completely useless at all sorts of other things; and I don't look down upon those people one bit. I'm less sure about those who can do it but can't be bothered. We are blessed with a sophisticated and beautiful language and I'd like to think that defending it against erosion and attack is justified.
One of the greatest disservices ever done to mankind is the widespread notion that engineers don't need language skills. There can be few professions today where language skills are more important. I work daily with people from Turkey, Romania, Spain, Italy, France, India, Japan, Russia, China, Korea - yes, even Geordies - and the ability to communicate clearly and unambiguously (in English) is absolutely essential.
p.s. I wish someone would teach Radio 4 that "and, so, but and because never begin a sentence".
There's scarcely a sentence on the whole channel which doesn't start with "So..."