An Adult Should Really Know This - Silly Things You've Had to Tell People

[Katana_Geldar]

Yes, that was Leningrad that did that. It was first St Petersburg, then Petrograd, then Leningrad and now back to St Petersburg. Stalingrad is now called Volgagrad.

[cabbageweevil]

Yes, that was Leningrad that did that. It was first St Petersburg, then Petrograd, then Leningrad and now back to St Petersburg.

Much-told joke from Soviet times: a conversation between a census-taker, and a resident of the city concerned.

"Where were you born?"  "St. Petersburg."

"Where did you go to school?"   "Petrograd."

"Where do you live now?"   "Leningrad."

"Where would you like to live now?"   "St. Petersburg."

[kherbert05]

I just wish it were easier to watch Olympics coverage if you don't have TV.  We don't get a broadcast signal and don't subscribe to cable.  It would be really nice if NBC would put *all* of it online, instead of just the bits and pieces they feel like doing.  I would particularly have liked to show my girls the Parade of Nations.  It's one of my favorite parts of the start of the Olympics, but I can't find it at all.  I don't have a cable account, so I can't log in to see anything.  I'd be happy to watch a bunch of commercials if I could then actually see the Parade of Nations.  I wouldn't even mind it being broken up with a commercial between every few countries, I just wish they'd show it somehow.  We never got to see it at all in the summer Olympics, which was sad as we were in the midst of studying world geography and it would have been really nice.

(And yes, I've seen plenty of directions for how to see the Olympics illegally, but I can't find any *legal* way to do it.)

On the plus side, my parents have a DVR and have been recording, so maybe when we visit them they'll still have it and we can watch it.  Not ideal, as it would be nice to be visiting with them when we're there.  But it's an option.

Are you in the US?  Because everything IS online. I woke up this morning to see that an American had won the first gold medal. So I watched the full event on the Olympic site.

 If you are not in the US then what is available to you may not be up to NBC but May have to do with their contracts in various countries.

As far as I can tell, NBC still does require you to be a cable subscriber to see more than five minutes a day on their site.  There will probably be YouTube clips of things in the future, if you know where to look, but it's not the same as actually getting to watch something when you know what you want to see.

That is the problem. The "broadcast" networks get to use our airwaves for free - then try to force us into cable because they get fees/kickbacks from the cable companies. As far as I'm concerned, they are shooting themselves in the foot. More and more people are cordkilling. There is much better entertainment out there from other legal sources, and I don't get sucked into watching whatever is on - looking up and realizing I've just wasted hours.

[Lynn2000]

I have a feeling that someday we'll be telling (younger) adults about stuff like commercial breaks, scheduling appointments around a favorite show, or finding only reruns on TV, and they'll be like  . Kind of like when my parents tried to tell me about TV being only in black and white, or how once a show aired, that was it, you never had the hope you might catch it again (until reruns were invented, and then VHS).

[TootsNYC]

Yes, that was Leningrad that did that. It was first St Petersburg, then Petrograd, then Leningrad and now back to St Petersburg. Stalingrad is now called Volgagrad.

My husband loves to tell this joke: A journalist was interviewing an elderly man in Leningrad.
Where were you born? he's asked. "St. Petersburg."
Where did you grow up? "Petrograd"
Where do you live now? "Leningrad"
Where would you like to live? "St. Petersburg."

[katycoo]

Today I was talking with two coworkers: one Australian and one American. We were all discussing the Olympics and the Australian said that he was always a little disappointed that he didn't get to watch his own country's athletes on tv: rather he had to hunt for videos online. Our American coworker was surprised that:

A) Australia has a winter Olympic team (But it's summer there now!)
B) That an Australian wouldn't automatically want to watch all the American competitors (But we're the best!)

We set him straight and he left us with the classic line "Huh, I never thought of that before!"

Just us, or did he think the whole southern hemisphere didn't compete?

[katycoo]

It's not so much of a problem with the Winter Olympics, but I'm always irritated during the Summer Olympics that they don't cover all the sports. Fewer 'human interest' stories, more coverage of events like fencing and equestrian events!

Yes! Australia is OK at swimming internationally, I get it. But if you watch Olympic coverage, the first 6 days are the back of someone's head swimming up and down the pool. Heats, semi-finals, finals - every stroke of every race.

I want to see the hammer throw!

They always give priority to our medal-chance events.  I can guarantee if any of our hammer-throwers made the final, it would get televised.  I don't think its a sport we have excelled at in recent.

[katycoo]

Teachers are under a lot of pressure to be "tolerant of different means of self-expression." This means, sometimes, not criticizing students for grammar, spelling, illegible handwriting, or other examples of non-conformity.

I can agree with this, to a point. I would hate to see a student pour out his/her heart in impassioned, and well-reasoned, prose, only to have it returned with "You split your infinitives - C+". On the other hand, it is a disservice to students who will have to write professionally not to teach them how to write in an accepted format. Unfortunately, a lot of graduates hit the working world with the attitude "as long as you know what I meant, it's fine."

Isn't there a happy medium? I'm pretty bad at spelling. And my grammar is pretty wonky. And lots not even start on my handwriting ok? But I've always loved to write and I'm pretty good writer. My teachers wouldn't mark me down terribly for spelling or grammar but rather give me tools to help me. Like insisting we always have someone proof read our work (by the way, it's always been my best friend, her writing isn't the best and dang can she spell and she's pretty good with grammar too. She's been proofing my work since grade school), or telling me to slow down, look words up, ect. And I'd get the same with my handwriting, just slow down a little. It's still not great, but it is legible and neat.

I'm not a teacher, nor do I play one on TV (which is good, because they're all twerking with students, or sleeping with students, really TV teachers have gotten quite terrible), but I'd want my pretend child to be able to formulate a decent sentence and also express themselves. I'm pretty sure they aren't mutually exclusive.

Though I did once have a boss who while checking her step-daughters homework, lost it over it being "sloppy" (didn't look too bad to me) and erased everything she'd done and made her re-do it. It was math homework and I guess her numbers were "sloppy", she really tore the poor girl down. So I could see it getting out of hand. Of course boss lady was not a nice person in general. There's an encouraging way to give criticism and a discouraging way. She was all about the discouraging way.

I think if you enjoy writing and do it even as a hobby, you owe it to yourself to improve your spelling and grammar skills.

And I think if you are in or want to be in a professional career where you will need to engage in written communication, it is a must.  If the lawyer I'm dealing with can't spell, how can I trust them to know the law?

If you have someone proofing your work, are you reviewing the corrections so you stop making them next time around?  Everyone makes mistakes, typos happen, but there's a huge difference in one typo and a letter than reads like a 5th grader wrote it.  Take pride in your work and present it in its best light, I say.

[VorFemme]

I stopped reading a recent book when someone in King Arthur's court was playing cards (possible - although they might have been stained ivory, bone, or vellum rather than paper) and scooped up the horde of that they'd won. 

Sorry - that is "hoard" - not "horde" - it wasn't the first major mistake - but it was the last one.  Four mistakes of letting Spell Check substitute the wrong homonyms in four pages just went over my limit....if you don't know the term you mean...LOOK IT UP!

Get off my lawn, you young whippersnappers...and take your bad grammar & spelling with you!

[Twik]

There's a big difference between coming upon a Viking hoard and a Viking horde.

[Katana_Geldar]

I have seen a Viking hoard, I hope never to see the other.

[TootsNYC]

I have seen a Viking hoard, I hope never to see the other.

And if I'd stolen one, I wouldn't want to see the other either.

[VorFemme]

I'd love the hoard - as long as there were no dragons around.

But a horde, with or without dragons...nope, I wanna hide.

Which is what I did to that Smashwords publication....

[BarensMom]

In my mind:

"Hoard" brings to mind the "Hoarders" and "Hoarders - Buried Alive" series;
"Horde" makes me think of my brothers' family;

Both are very messy and destructive.

[cabbageweevil]

Yes, that was Leningrad that did that. It was first St Petersburg, then Petrograd, then Leningrad and now back to St Petersburg. Stalingrad is now called Volgagrad.

My husband loves to tell this joke: A journalist was interviewing an elderly man in Leningrad.
Where were you born? he's asked. "St. Petersburg."
Where did you grow up? "Petrograd"
Where do you live now? "Leningrad"
Where would you like to live? "St. Petersburg."

TootsNYC -- snap !  See my #2197...