Mark O

Who is the last Guy in this Montage?[/i]

Mark

Harleybloke

General George Marshall who helped rebuild Europe after WW2. 'The Marshall Plan'.

Seems to me the USA has as much difficulty these days finding good politicans as we do.........................

.....You couldn't hear it, if they were shooting at me with howitzers!

Marky B

It's lashing down here and I'm off to work. Isn't life grand.
Ta Ta
Marky B

I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas - how he got in my pyjamas,I'll never know

batman

It's nice and sunny here and I've just finished work .... sorry Mark.

Steve Crook

We just had a mini-downpour in South London, but the sun's out again now.
A typical English summer's day

Steve

Dame Starry

I went downstairs this morning to see if there was any post (I'm on three levels) - and I had two letters; the top one was the Gas Bill and the second one was...........the Electric Bill!
What an excellent way to start the week!

DS x.

harryfielder

Well you could of had a third for GROUND RENT..

Aitch,

http://www.turnipnet.com/aitch/aitch/gallery.htm

Dame Starry

Excellent, Aitch!

I'm banking on the, oft misguided, theory that if you start the week that low, the only way is UP - but I think the telephone bill's due soon!

DS x.

Harleybloke

Phone bill? Last year our daughter ran us up a bill of just under a grand for a quarter...............Mrs Harley & I choked on that for a bit!!

.....You couldn't hear it, if they were shooting at me with howitzers!

Dame Starry

If she'd been my daughter, after I'd shot her I'd have made her pay every penny of it - and then sent her to Siberia!

DS x.

Harleybloke

Now we have a lock on the phone! teenage girls? They could talk for England................and text...

Mrs.H. is an English teacher and Graduate of Cambs Uni. (The brains of the outfit!) She reckons kids now write English as they text..............in one generation all will be lost..........................

.....You couldn't hear it, if they were shooting at me with howitzers!

MB

Sorry - note to self - shut up!

Right, something cheerful..going shopping this week and my little business took a positive turn today when a top source deigned fit to ring me back and apparantly, we pass muster - woohoo!

Dame Starry

I would build a safe around the telephone socket on the wall and keep the phone locked in there too............

It is one of the things which MOSTS annoys me these days! We should all refuse to acknowledge such rubbish.
My son, now only 30, has NEVER used 'text language' - he loves the English language too much to do that.

What with: (Freezer + Microwave) vs (Conventional Cooker) as well, we will soon lose the art of Coherent Speech and basic cookery in the UK!

DS x.

MB

Mind you - to be fair - not all teenagers text or use text speak. My son and his friends think it is idiotic too

Steve Crook

Is that rumour still circulating?
A few might, but only a very few.

Most people, even teenagers, don't use many abbreviations when they text.
Our company runs lots of text services including some feedback services for radio & TV stations where people can say whatever they like (edited before being read out on air of course). Most people, the vast majority of people, even on shows aimed at teenagers, write in proper sentences and use proper words.

There are some commonly used abbreviations, like "CU" for "see you (later)". But nowhere near as the rumours would have you believe.

I think it was all started when, some years ago, someone did one of those little books you see by the checkout in bookshops that purported to explain "text speak". They started off well enough with a few commonly used examples. But they soon ran out and just started to make them up.

Then a few lazy journalists (is there any other type?) found this book and assumed that because it was in a book, that's how everyone sent texts.

I think there was one case where a student wrote an essay using the abbreviations found in this book, they did it as a joke. But I'd be very surprised if there were a lot that write with text abbreviations unless they use it as a form of shorthand when taking notes. I've checked this with people I know that work for the networks themselves where they can monitor all text messages, including those from one phone to another. They agree that hardly anyone ever used many abbreviations, certainly nowhere near as many as rumour would have you believe.

And, as I say, this book came out some years ago. Since then, phones come with predictive text (T9) where you only need to press a couple of keys for each word and it will offer you a selection of words that match those first two key presses. So you can put any word into a text with only 3 key presses!

Of course there are some words that aren't in the phone's dictionary, although they're usually quite well populated with swear words. But you still have to spell out real names (people and places)

Steve