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stranger
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stranger
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 7 |
I know this is an old thread but it just reminded me of something.
I used to get very annoyed when asked to write such things as "I am currently working towards my GCSEs" for personal statements and the like in school.
It wouldn't have been General Certificate of Secondary Educations, it would have been General Certificates of Secondary Education.
I took to writing GCsSE and was severely reprimanded several times by teachers for my "cheek" and lack of co-operation.
Eventually I conceded and took to writing out the full version in stead, or simply wrote "exams".
Rach.
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AOL IM: RachelEDugdale
Rach.
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AOL IM: RachelEDugdale
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
Re: GCsSE
It's tough being right.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 10,542 |
on the other hand, wwSftd not only looks silly, but is nearly unpronounceable.
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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
In reply to:
On the other hand, there's a very simple answer - don't use acronyms.
Now, this raises a point that has been bugging me on and off for years. What is the plural of curriculum vitae? CVs doesn't look too bad, but if you write it out in full should it be curriculum vitaes, curricula vitarum, or what?
"We have received applications from 20 candidates with excellent ______________"?
Bingley
Bingley
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I think the term Curriculum Vitaes is used more than anything, based on the fact that the word has been loaned and is now treated as if it were English.
I've always wondered about the plural of agenda (agenda) for the same reason.
Any other plurals from words derived from Latin?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
Data, now I know it's plural in Latin, but why do some people insist that it has to be plural in English when most people use it as a collective/uncountable noun (like information) which therefore takes a singular verb:
The information/data we have suggests ......
Does anyone actually count data? I can't imagine saying "We have one datum/two data etc."
Bingley
Bingley
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Does anyone else recall seeing the word "genii" as the
plural of genie? I thought I'd seen it in an older book,
but can't verify it now.
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addict
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addict
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679 |
> Does anyone else recall seeing the word "genii" as the
plural of genie? I thought I'd seen it in an older book,
but can't verify it now.
It seems to be more appropriate as the plural for 'genius'. Like the plural of Radius is Radii.
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newbie
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newbie
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 28 |
I know I'm just an old fasioned girl and probably the boringest pedant, but at my institute we won't allow our students to use 'data' as singular. Moreover, we issue them with lists of lots of words which come from Latin and which are commonly used in their disciplines AND which we insist on them using according to their Latin plural/singular status. The usual words such as: criterion/criteria, medium/media, addendum/addenda, quantum/quanta, genus/genera, formula/formulae etc. Are we hopelessly out of kilter and fighting a losing rear-guard action?
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
>>Are we hopelessly out of kilter and fighting a losing rear-guard action?<<
Lucy, I sincerely hope you are not fighting a losing battle! Since I have no first-hand experience with the mind-set of the people of Australia, I may be wrong, but
I have the impression that you are a nation full of go-our-
own-way-and-be-damned-to-you-in-authority types. If that is
the case, you may be fighting for a lost cause.
I myself have all but given up on the masses in the United
States. It just sickens me to see and hear the way our
population is being "dumbed down". This is happening in
every aspect of life that I can think of, from music to the
media, to (shudder) books (i.e., you-name-it for Dummies).
What really scares me is that a great many people are happy with this level of quality! They are aware that
there is a higher way of learning and experiencing things, but are quite content to let others "handle it", and to
live their lives without checking that the "others" are well-intentioned.
However, I won't give up the fight. I see to it that my
children use correct language (I, too, hear that prevert
word from the other thread, and much more). I have fought
a four-year-and-complete-loss battle to get rid of some so-called music that has been brought into my church, but all I
keep hearing is that these jingles are popular all over the
country. I teach my kids the difference between well-written books and poorly-written ones. In my opinion, there
is a widening gap between the intellectual people and the
rest of the country. Somebody, please post that I am wrong!
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