http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7705922.stm I'm all for inclusion and all but these Latin phrases are as much part of the English language as the French ones, the Celtic ones or any other words English has accrued over the years. Shall we ban Abuse, Academy or worse Whisky. Avoiding confusion is a fairly worthy goal but so is seeking help if one doesn't understand. Surely we should strive to include people not by reducing every thing to new speek but to try and raise every ones level of language to the highest it can be, especially if one is going to live in a country where the spoken language is not ones first.
Wait what?! How can you ban people from using everyday words. If they were profanities, I'd understand. A more worthwhile pursuit would be providing all their employees who get confused, with primary school English textbooks...
I'm guessing that they're talking about using those phrases to people whose first language is something other than English. But those phrases/words (and other foreign ones like menu, restaurant, bungalow and so on) are so much a part of the English polyglottal language that they might as well be considered to be English anyway. Is it wrong to believe that if you move to a foreign country, you should learn the language of that country? I think it's wrong of people who move here, I also think it's equally wrong that English people who move to Spain make no attempt to learn Spanish. (I do practice what I preach: I live in Wales, and I'm learning Welsh because I live in an area where Welsh is the first language of most people here.)
What the hell. Why? They're common terms, I use at least one of those every day. If you don't understand them, how hard is it to ask? Is it so hard to assume the meaning of a phrase based on context? I mean, quite a number of latin words used in otherwise English sentences are very dependant on context - Making a false assumption would be pretty damned difficult..
What a bunch of glitter! I guess it's not as bad as that British group that seeks to simplify the spelling of most words so that they better resemble their pronounciations.
I had to explain modus operandi and magnum opus to someone recently after using them in conversation.
From Plain English Campaign I don't see the problem with councils avoiding terms that may well be unfamiliar to the target audience. Let's face it, the majority of people in this country score pretty low on literacy. On Latin terms in particular, a quick search of these forums shows hundreds of examples of 'ect' as a mistake for 'etc.' It's also commonly used where 'et al' is the correct term. And 'etc/et cetera' must be the commonest Latin term in English. It's easy enough to substitute a plain English phrase for Latin terms and avoid possible problems. Take the Sun as your vade mecum.
Damn I had written a nice long rant and then accidentally clicked a link instead of a new tab and lost it all. Moral of my story was, BBC sensationalising a guide not a "Ban". Not everyone knows these terms you don't always grow up with them, all of us will have had to learn them after we had a pretty good grasp of the English language. It is not unreasonably to expect non English speakers will need a little help from time to time. Sure they can ask, but they may feel embarrassed and why should they have to suffer. But one thing that grinds my gears is the quote that says certain people only use these words to make themselves feel important. Yes I only express my opinion in the easiest and most straightforward way I know how because it makes me feel big.
causa huic rector est valde simplex. Plures locus authorities es waking usque quod , suus vilis cogo quispiam quisnam est intelligent ut stolidus down , tunc is est ut postulo locus schola ut docui rectus English quod pro concilium themselves ut suggero suum opus quod vel locus defero potestas disco rectus English. EGO agnosco ut pro plures populus in UK hodie ut English est non suum primoris lingua. EGO quoque appreciate ut is may causa nonnullus problems tamen postulo illic opus moderor terms ut they utor est nefas. Si quispiam opus pro locus authorities postulo ut a member of medium subsisto usura illa terms illic would exsisto an vociferatio sic quidne vitium poema poematis. or to put it another way The reason for this guide is very simple. Many local authorities are waking up to the fact, that its cheaper to force someone who is intelligent to dumb down, then it is to require local schools to teach correct English and for the councils themselves to provide their workers and or local community the ability to learn correct English. I understand that for many people in the UK today that English is not their first language. I also appreciate that this may cause some problems but requiring there workers to moderate the terms that they use is wrong. If someone working for the local authorities required that a member of the public stop using these terms there would be an outcry so why not vice versa.
Nonsense. Having been taught to read basic English at an early age you pick up the extra vocabulary by reading for pleasure. The fault, if any, is parents and a whole background culture that doesn't encourage that. Plus an internet culture that just passes on bad English. btw, there != their, then != than
True you're right on your spelling but I never claimed to be perfect And you may even be partially right about some of it being the parents fault. However I don't believe that when primary schools are having classes of 35 pupils and in some cases even higher, to every one teacher and one teachers' assistant that are present in the class that the level of education isn't going to suffer. Even if you believe this to be nonsense, it's my opinion, which I'm entitled to.
If I'm talking to my little grandkids I sure as hell don't use terms like 'quid pro quo' and 'caveat emptor'. When they're a little older, maybe. And I wouldn't use such terms talking to the lads on the shop-floor. We all (should) adjust our speech according to our audience; most children speak three dialects - one to their peers, one at home, and one to other adults. Horses for courses.
What irks me is people pronouncing "et cetera" as "eck cetra". No, 'vice versa' is correct; the wealth of Google results are from the people who don't know any better.
