TOT: edicashon

There's a pillock on this group who can't do plurals of nouns ending in y

Shame they didn't tell you how to pluralise nouns ending in y.

I think I?ve done a pretty good job with my daughters by generally ripping the piss out of them on WhatsApp or Signal whenever they make a spelling or grammatical error.

Of course it works both ways when they deliberately mix up ?less? and ?fewer? just to bait me. ;-)

Tim

Well obviously it is set that way.

Bill

Mine works with every program.

Bill

Burgle: a simple brass instrument Burglarize: To annoy the neighbours by playing the burgle

Bill

I'm from you'rekshire

Bill

I have some of my old schoolbooks and at all stages the standard of literacy in them is higher than my grandchildren produce at comparable ages. I was at a secondary modern* and my fourth form English composition book has virtually no mistakes.

Bill

Ohh I jolly well was. Quite a wild one as well. I only became a curmudgeon when I was twenty.

Bill

We had an ex-RAF chap with a large moustache for history. He started tests with the words, "Chocks away!"

Bill

To, too and two. Peter

I don't think they were, but the problem these days is that we can all fall into the bad habit of assuming the software will do all the work. It won't since even AI is only as good as what it has been told. When I subbed for Micronet, one got into the habit of attempting to group bits of, say a review, together when they were related, and using paragraphs just enough to separate different parts of the narrative, so each made some sort of sense. I have to say though, that when I write I start with a stream of thought, then come back in a day or so and move things around to be more logical and then add anything I missed in the appropriate part. Its only then that I do a spell check as this distracts me from the actual nitty-gritty of the article. Of course in these newsgroups, its hardly going to be taken as an article, its just thoughts, so I do not worry so much. I do get a little annoyed though when pedants come along and criticise the writing style of posters, when in fact, the meaning was perfectly clear. Myself. I am an image hater, since you should be able to convey the sentiment without resorting to ambiguous little pictures. Brian

Same here. My secondary school was bi-lateral, grammar and secondary modern in the same building. The grammar streams took languages while the s/m took woodwork and metalwork and were expected to leave school at 15 and learn a trade. At the end of each school year we had internal exams and I always got top marks and won the form prize - a book to the value of £10, a lot in the early fifties! So at 15 I asked if I could stay on and take some GCEs especially Maths and English Language so I could get a decent job. The head looked at my record and agreed and I actually stayed on 2 years and left with 6 GCE O levels. That showed the bastards they shouldn't have failed my assessment! They awarded me a cup for academic achievement. Just for my own satisfaction I got an Open University BSc Hons 2.1 degree when I was 62!

Bugle: dyslexic erection in trousers.

I didn't pass the 11+ but my wife did, albeit at a different school, in a different area.

My grammar, diction, handwriting and general education standard are much better than hers, so i would not place too much weight on the benefit of a grammar school education.

Quite simple, really. It's and similar are two or more words shortened. So just try saying your sentence using it is - or whatever.

How very crude.

My Scottish Grammar School streamed each subject.

I did English Maths and Physics to higher level (5th or 6th form) but also technical subjects. And also French to O level. There might have been a problem scheduling Latin and Greek along with technical too - but I'd guess if there was a demand they'd have found a way.

It isn't really that simple because the possessive 'its' breaks the rule that possessives have an apostrophe. It came about because printers decided it amongst themselves.

Bill

Be that as it may, "it's" is short for "it is" or "it has", depending on the sentence. This is always true and the possessive "its" never has an apostrophe.

Equally, "who's" is ALWAYS short for "who is" or "who has". Not to be confused with "whose" which is the possessive.