Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 3 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
And, appropriately enough, the new area code for Cape Canaveral area is 321



TEd
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
understand the printers and stationery stores all love it!

But the printers and stationery stores must have taken a beating from the photocopiers and computer printers. I helped in my daughters medical office for a while, and found I could cut trips to printers way down my making all sorts of forms on the computer, or on photocopier.


#40908 09/07/01 01:49 AM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
B
veteran
Offline
veteran
B
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
I like the French system for telephone numbers -- they go in pairs, e.g., 32.71.96 and are given out verbally as two-digit numbers, e.g., trente-deux/soixante-onze/quatrevingt-seize. Makes it much easier to understand someone giving you his number.


Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
Offline
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
re: "i (sic) hate it when companies give out there number as all letters.."

You may be interested to note that this way of stating phone no's is only just starting to take hold in Australia (well in Western Australia at least - but we are a mite behind the rest of the country). So much so that in my job (selling corporate satellite communications), we get a lot of Brownie points for innovativion by offering our clients a number such as this.

One (wo)man's trash, another man's treasure!!

stales


Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
Offline
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
re: "i (sic) hate it when companies give out there number as all letters.."

You may be interested to note that this way of stating phone no's is only just starting to take hold in Australia (well in Western Australia at least - but we are a mite behind the rest of the country). So much so that in my job (selling corporate satellite communications), we get a lot of Brownie points for innovation by offering our clients a number such as this.

One (wo)man's trash, another man's treasure!!

stales


Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
Offline
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
re: "i (sic) hate it when companies give out there number as all letters.."

You may be interested to note that this way of stating phone no's is only just starting to take hold in Australia (well in Western Australia at least - but we are a mite behind the rest of the country). So much so that in my job (selling corporate satellite communications), we get a lot of Brownie points for innovation by offering our clients a number such as this.

One (wo)man's trash, this man's treasure!!

stales


#40912 09/07/01 09:04 AM
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609
R
addict
Offline
addict
R
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609
trente-deux/soixante-onze/quatrevingt-seize
Most of my French conversation has been in Switzerland where they use septante, huitante, and nonante. The Belgians also use these I think. Easier for my small English brain to follow.


#40913 09/07/01 11:30 AM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
M
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
M
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
mm, I agree, the French system is good - it is at least logical and uniform!

I have a typical business letterhead in front of me at the moment for someone who has just quoted for some printing (!): it has a telephone number grouped XXX YY ZZZZZZ, a fax number grouped XXXX YYY ZZZZ, and a mobile number grouped XXXXX ZZZZZZ. Is this a system, or just an extended joke?


Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
G
old hand
Offline
old hand
G
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
BIgelow 4-1255! Ain't memory an Odd Duck

Murray 48 - spoken to an operator, in York, South Carolina, ca 1948. No stinkin' "O"s to worry about!


Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
W
wow Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
the new area code for Cape Canaveral area is 321

3-2-1 BLAST OFF !!


To add to the list : All of Massachusetts used to be 617 then they added 857 for Boston (just 10 years ago or thereabouts) then they just went totally mad ... breaking out areas left and right...adding prefixes willy-nilly.
The dozen town within the Boston area alone (within 50 miles of the flagpole on Boston Common) now have a staggering proliferation of prefix numbers (AREA codes). Other parts of the state have multiple AREA codes.
And the code "districts" are weird.
Within one year they twice added new AREA codes and changed the "districts" to which they apply!
After one such change a lady I know now has to dial a different AREA code than her own for her neighbor who lives three houses down the street!
Technology gone mad!
Yes, she could walk down but we have these storms, blizzards, hail, snow, sleet ....Shameless plug for writing real letters ... The mail always comes through.

From Google search at http://www.infoplease.com/index.html in Ask The Editor:

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
This is commonly misidentified as the creed of our mail carriers, but actually it is just the inscription found on the General Post Office in New York City at 8th Avenue and 33rd Street.

Here's how the official Web site of the U.S. Postal Service describes the origin of the inscription.

"This inscription was supplied by William Mitchell Kendall of the firm of McKim, Mead & White, the architects who designed the New York General Post Office. Kendall said the sentence appears in the works of Herodotus and describes the expedition of the Greeks against the Persians under Cyrus, about 500 B.C. The Persians operated a system of mounted postal couriers, and the sentence describes the fidelity with which their work was done. Professor George H. Palmer of Harvard University supplied the translation, which he considered the most poetical of about seven translations from the Greek."





Page 3 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,326
Members9,182
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV
9,182 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 739 guests, and 1 robot.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,539
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5