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[coffeecat]

Nautical stuff

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[coffeecat]

More Cornish humour

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The irony of the top sign is that the Cornish (along with the Welsh) have a good historic claim that they actually ARE "the British"....if events of >1200 years ago have any relevance now, which obviously they don't really. Currently reading "The Anglo Saxons" by Marc Morris, so it's on my mind.

I like the rules on the bottom sign.

 

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

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EM120239-1 by Harvey Richards, on Flickr

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

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[Steveee]

Where do they think they're going to go......?

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[Steveee]

Not 10 metres from the sign above.

It might, technically, be correct (I wouldn't know!) but it can't be just me that thinks the last sentence in the first paragraph could be better written?!!

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[DeeJayK]

Not 10 metres from the sign above.

It might, technically, be correct (I wouldn't know!) but it can't be just me that thinks the last sentence in the first paragraph could be better written?!!

View attachment 901056

I'm not sure how one would go about teaching poverty, but it seems that some folks have lately cracked the code on the teaching of ignorance.

- K

 

[BosseBe]

"William Wordsworth and his wife and sister, who believed that universal education was the way for children to escape from poverty and ignorance, taught here in the early 19th century."

I see nothing odd with this sentence! (Except that I can't figure out if it was his sister or his wife's sister.)
How do you get from that sentence to teaching poverty or ignorance?
I am not a native English speaker so I might well be wrong.

Sure schools today might actually be teaching that, at least I find most young people both poor and ignorant! But again so was I at their age!

 

[coffeecat]

"William Wordsworth and his wife and sister, who believed that universal education was the way for children to escape from poverty and ignorance, taught here in the early 19th century."

I see nothing odd with this sentence! (Except that I can't figure out if it was his sister or his wife's sister.)
How do you get from that sentence to teaching poverty or ignorance?
I am not a native English speaker so I might well be wrong.

Sure schools today might actually be teaching that, at least I find most young people both poor and ignorant! But again so was I at their age!

I think this is a bit like those classic “bad punctuation” examples people quote on the internet (at least in English, anyway):

Like…

“I find solace in cooking my wife and my dog”

Vs.

“I find solace in cooking, my wife, and my dog”

But then you could fall down the rabbit hole of the so-called Oxford comma, which comes after “wife” and before “and” in the second example above, and about which people have apparently started holy wars.

English is a terribly mongrel language. To my discredit I don’t know enough about any other languages to know if that is unusual…

 

[DeeJayK]

"William Wordsworth and his wife and sister, who believed that universal education was the way for children to escape from poverty and ignorance, taught here in the early 19th century."

I see nothing odd with this sentence! (Except that I can't figure out if it was his sister or his wife's sister.)
How do you get from that sentence to teaching poverty or ignorance?
I am not a native English speaker so I might well be wrong.

Sure schools today might actually be teaching that, at least I find most young people both poor and ignorant! But again so was I at their age!

Yes, there is also confusion around the "wife and sister" bit. Was the third person his sister, sister-in-law or sister wife?

But the second part is also potentially confusing. I don't necessarily read it the way I mentioned previously, but it's certainly possible (even foreseeable) that one could take away the understanding that these three folks were teaching poverty and ignorance.

This sentence (and indeed the entire contents of the plaque) is crying out for even a reasonably competent editor. I have to assume that more than one person read this description before it was sent off to be cast, and as such I'm surprised that it's so haphazard. I'm confident that this plaque would have Mr. Wordsworth turning in his grave.

I've never claimed to be a wordsmith or editor, but one possible way to make this both more clear and more informative would read:

William Wordsworth, who would later be named Poet Laureate of the UK, taught here in the early 19th century along with his wife, Mary, and his sister, Dorothy. The three of them believed that universal education was the best way for children to escape from poverty and ignorance.

I guess that wordiness might require a slightly larger plaque, though.

- K

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

The dude married his sister. Duh.

 

[Panolyman]

Yes, there is also confusion around the "wife and sister" bit. Was the third person his sister, sister-in-law or sister wife?

But the second part is also potentially confusing. I don't necessarily read it the way I mentioned previously, but it's certainly possible (even foreseeable) that one could take away the understanding that these three folks were teaching poverty and ignorance.

This sentence (and indeed the entire contents of the plaque) is crying out for even a reasonably competent editor. I have to assume that more than one person read this description before it was sent off to be cast, and as such I'm surprised that it's so haphazard. I'm confident that this plaque would have Mr. Wordsworth turning in his grave.

I've never claimed to be a wordsmith or editor, but one possible way to make this both more clear and more informative would read:

I guess that wordiness might require a slightly larger plaque, though.

- K

Eloquently written Keith.

Or should that be "eloquently written, Keith"?

 

[BosseBe]

Yes, there is also confusion around the "wife and sister" bit. Was the third person his sister, sister-in-law or sister wife?

But the second part is also potentially confusing. I don't necessarily read it the way I mentioned previously, but it's certainly possible (even foreseeable) that one could take away the understanding that these three folks were teaching poverty and ignorance.

This sentence (and indeed the entire contents of the plaque) is crying out for even a reasonably competent editor. I have to assume that more than one person read this description before it was sent off to be cast, and as such I'm surprised that it's so haphazard. I'm confident that this plaque would have Mr. Wordsworth turning in his grave.

I've never claimed to be a wordsmith or editor, but one possible way to make this both more clear and more informative would read:

I guess that wordiness might require a slightly larger plaque, though.

- K

Thanks, now I can see what was meant, "poverty and ignorance taught here in the early 19th century."!
As I said I am not a native English speaker and some nuances can go over my head.

I am really glad that we have a community here that makes me unafraid to ask about stuff like this.
Thanks to all for being here and being friendly!

 

[Crdome]

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I wasn't bothered by Michael Atwell, on Flickr

 

[John King]

Not 10 metres from the sign above.

It might, technically, be correct (I wouldn't know!) but it can't be just me that thinks the last sentence in the first paragraph could be better written?!!

View attachment 901056

Perhaps a better rendition would be:

"William Wordsworth, and his wife and his sister, who believed that universal education was the way for children to escape from poverty and ignorance. They taught here in the early 19th century."

And, yes, English is a real mongrel language.

I have a 67 page book called "F*cking Apostrophes" devoted solely to the use and misuse of that punctuation mark. It's f*cking hilarious ...

 

[melanie.ylang]

@Crdome the letter to Gary is bizarre, but the one to Laurabelle was very touching.

 

[melanie.ylang]

I have a 67 page book called "F*cking Apostrophes" devoted solely to the use and misuse of that punctuation mark. It's f*cking hilarious ...

Funny you mention it, John, I read that very book a few weeks ago. I f*ck!ng love apostrophes (correctly done).

 

[NoSeconds]

I am not a native English speaker so I might well be wrong.

It's alright, the English aren't native English speakers either...

 

[DeeJayK]

Perhaps a better rendition would be:

"William Wordsworth, and his wife and his sister, who believed that universal education was the way for children to escape from poverty and ignorance. They taught here in the early 19th century."

And, yes, English is a real mongrel language.

I have a 67 page book called "F*cking Apostrophes" devoted solely to the use and misuse of that punctuation mark. It's f*cking hilarious ...

Your version is much improved, John.

I'll have to seek out that book.

- K

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

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