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sheesh. common enough word in my circles. buy the guy a dictionary... 
formerly known as etaoin...
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How many did you survey in your office, bel? I can't believe no one was familiar with slovenly; I don't think it's unusual at all, but will do my own survey. Maybe I'm giving credit where none is due.
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old hand
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I'm with nancyk and the others above - I know what slovenly means. I never would have thought there could be anyone English-speaking and, ahem, "educated" enough to work in an office environment, who WOULDN'T know....but then, what do I know! I wrote an introduction to the local daily's back-to-school supplement and I quoted Angela's Ashes (that wonderful "Stock your mind" speech the headmaster gave). My editor had never heard of Angela's Ashes - neither (nyether!) book nor movie - and was very confused. I was very confused by HER confusion, since I'd thought the tidal wave of publicity on which Angela's Ashes surfed for so long could hardly have failed to overcome everyone in North America, at least, if not the English-speaking world. Sometimes you just git surprised by what people do and don't know....It's a funny ol' world. Edit: just read wwh's post below and now suddenly hope I didn't help to inspire it....nor anyone here, really. I didn't get the sense people were criticising belM for asking...? that certainly wasn't my intention. And I don't know where you work, belM - are you in a mostly French-speaking office? if so, that might be the reason why your colleagues were unfamiliar with the word - but I know a few francophones whose English is better than that of many anglophones, so being a francophone might not be a legitimate excuse either (eeether!)! - Anyway - no offense meant and I hope none taken?
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I am concerned that questions about this post may hurt feelings of belMarduk. Since French
is her primary language, I think it is in poor taste to criticise her asking our opinions.
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Sometimes you just git surprised by what people do and don't know
Too true! This reminds me of a little incident this morning... actually, I think I'll make this a seperate post...
EDIT: Did it! It's in Miscillany under 'Is it just me?'
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I'm glad BelMarduk asked our opinions, wwh. We're backing her up. She used the word slovenly and expected it to be a somewhat known word. And we agree with her. Slovenly would be a pretty easy word on the SAT, for instance, and a shoo-in on the GRE, I'd bet. Hey, maybe I should write to the Princeton people and see what they think! WW
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belM did say she asked the Anglos in her office, not the population at large in her office. Dr. Bill, I don't think anyone was criticizing her. I know her and I doubt very seriously she'd take any of this as anything but solidarity. It's the kind of thing that happens to many of us -- which is why we take refuge here. edit: 6 seconds, eh, WW?
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I know this word too. Where I work, people always look at me funny regarding the words I use. Based on this, I think most of the people I work with probably don't know what slovenly means either, but then most of them also think guacamole is nasty. *sigh*
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I, too, apologize if I said anything that hurt anyone's feelings. what I meant was bel's husband needs a dictionary. we don't learn anything is we don't ask questions!
formerly known as etaoin...
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Good Grief Yall, "slovenly" doesn't just mean unkept, (except by extension) "slovenly" also means "sloth like"...as in... "slow...lazy" Sometimes I wonder where you yankees boys get your notions.
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