Jury Duty in Heels, anyone?

[Gige]

1 hour ago, Puffer said:

I am delighted to hear that you say 'zed', in common with the great majority of the English-speaking world.   Now, please concentrate on using 'different from' and using the 'loo/bog/toilet' rather than the bathroom or restroom.   😉

I agree that care must be taken in using certain words or expressions - not that this should really be necessary in intelligent society, and certainly not just because certain groups have hijacked perfectly good words and given them a new meaning that is now sacrosanct, and often for use only by other group members.   But, in the UK at least, we are still able to use 'queer' in its established sense and context.   And 'queen' likewise, which reminds me of a tale attributed to the late Queen Mother (widow of Geoge VI).   Whilst waiting to be served her gin and tonic, the Queen Mum could hear two openly-gay members of her staff arguing in the hallway outside her sitting room. Impatient at being kept waiting, she eventually called out 'When you two old queens have finished arguing, this old Queen wants her gin.'.

Not to get too far off topic - some words that have crept into my vocabulary...Trousers, zed, water closet, and CV in place of a resume.

Just now, Gige said:

Not to get too far off topic - some words that have crept into my vocabulary...Trousers, zed, water closet, and CV in place of a resume.

Oh, and to add, "lift" from the to the 1st floor, which in America, is actually the second floor. Horribly confusing, I know. 😁

[Puffer]

1 minute ago, Gige said:

Not to get too far off topic - some words that have crept into my vocabulary...Trousers, zed, water closet, and CV in place of a resume.

Interesting that you should comment, Gige.   I have read (and enjoyed) most of your posts and got the distinct impression from your writing style that you could be British.   It's just the odd word or (mis)spelling (e.g. 'realize') that suggests the wrong side of the pond.   Please maintain your high standards! 👨‍🎓

Compromise in language differences is no bad thing - but meeting halfway would doubtless mean both of us would drown.

[Gige]

5 hours ago, Puffer said:

Interesting that you should comment, Gige.   I have read (and enjoyed) most of your posts and got the distinct impression from your writing style that you could be British.   It's just the odd word or (mis)spelling (e.g. 'realize') that suggests the wrong side of the pond.   Please maintain your high standards! 👨‍🎓

Compromise in language differences is no bad thing - but meeting halfway would doubtless mean both of us would drown.

Thank you so much for the compliment! My greatest weakness in writing is my proofreading - I am horrible at it and even my supervisors at work are aware of it. I could write something as brilliant as the great authors similar to Chaucer to Orwell, but it would be full of typos! 

I lived in The Hague for a number of years and prior to that had visited the EU numerous times. Den Haag is home to a tremendous ex-pat community and I came to know so many people from all over the world. When talking with these individuals, I could never get enough of their stories about living in other parts of the world. Thus, I consider myself to be highly cultured and well educated, and hold myself to very high standards in all that I do, even the heels/boots I wear.  I would love, for example, to have a single pair of boots from Fernando Berlin rather than a dozen pair found on Amazon.  Likewise, my stepmother is English Canadian and I learned the English spelling of words such as labour vs. labor. 

Thanks again!

 

7 hours ago, Puffer said:

I am delighted to hear that you say 'zed', in common with the great majority of the English-speaking world.   Now, please concentrate on using 'different from' and using the 'loo/bog/toilet' rather than the bathroom or restroom.   😉

I agree that care must be taken in using certain words or expressions - not that this should really be necessary in intelligent society, and certainly not just because certain groups have hijacked perfectly good words and given them a new meaning that is now sacrosanct, and often for use only by other group members.   But, in the UK at least, we are still able to use 'queer' in its established sense and context.   And 'queen' likewise, which reminds me of a tale attributed to the late Queen Mother (widow of Geoge VI).   Whilst waiting to be served her gin and tonic, the Queen Mum could hear two openly-gay members of her staff arguing in the hallway outside her sitting room. Impatient at being kept waiting, she eventually called out 'When you two old queens have finished arguing, this old Queen wants her gin.'.

God Save the Queen (now King)! 😁

[Puffer]

I note, Gige, that you lived in Den Haag for some years.   I am not surprised, as most Dutch people have a very good command of the English language ('as she should be spoke') which is often better than those who claim British citizenship.   I'm sure some of their skills rubbed off on you, in addition to the obvious influence of your stepmother.

You are right about the importance of proofreading (or is that 'proof-reading'? 😜 ).   Too many worthwhile posts, here and everywhere else, are let down by sloppy errors - often caused by the keyboard gremlin but always correctible.   (I now see that, in my last post above, I failed to correct 'Geoge' to 'George'.   I would chastise myself for that failure to spot and correct but I think I might enjoy it too much. 😏

[Jkrenzer]

23 hours ago, Puffer said:

Did you mean to put 'queen' (twice) rather than 'queer'?   I am no expert (nor a practitioner!) but I don't think they mean the same thing.

Autocorrect strikes again, sorry. The two words have a world of different meaning in the context.