Mark Whiley at the Echo | Page 4 | Vital Football

Mark Whiley at the Echo

PerthImp said:
Afraid I have to disagree. In my lengthy experience people seem less educated, even those with some degrees, and struggle with a lot of basics these days - moreso than when I was younger. I have been appalled at people's very poor English - both written & spoken. I just keep quiet most of the time as I don't want to be seen as too much of a moaning old fart ?
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Compared to when? Pretty sure that current literacy and education rates are better than the UK in the 17th century for instance?

The plural of anecdote isn't data...
 
"The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress."

(From a sermon preached by Peter the Hermit in A.D. 1274)
 
Sincilbanks said:
Compared to when? Pretty sure that current literacy and education rates are better than the UK in the 17th century for instance?

The plural of anecdote isn't data...
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The post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy
the internet is great for finding this kind of thing. although the romans probably thought of it first.
 
NottyImp said:
"The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress."

(From a sermon preached by Peter the Hermit in A.D. 1274)
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From and about the last century:

"My name is of no importance. You see, I'm a product of a century which started at the height of class-conscious imperialism and ended with a society so reduced to totalitarian commonness that in my final years at college the saying 'mediocrity rises' became very popular. And being mediocre, I rose. My generation has been taught to be so in touch with the latest fashion that we have become faceless; we're victims of design. But, oddly enough, although I was taught to think of myself as a man with no face, somewhere inside my soul I believe that one day I'll become an individual."
 
NottyImp said:
"The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress."

(From a sermon preached by Peter the Hermit in A.D. 1274)
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He should definitely get out more.
 
clive ford said:
Political manipulation Notty, rather like unemployment figures.
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Through my whole life I have only ever known 1 adult that couldn't read and write. He still can't.

I daresay if it were a hundred years ago I would know many, quite possibly including myself.

Not sure how anyone can think the opposite could be true.
 
PerthImp said:
I have been appalled at people's very poor English - both written & spoken. I just keep quiet most of the time as I don't want to be seen as too much of a moaning old fart ?
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I've recently had a look through some of my early articles and winced several times at my language and sentence construction. But that doesn't mean I was borderline illiterate in my earlier years - I've just learned more.

Age breeds experience, experience breeds standards and a 20-year-old is never going to write like a veteran journalist.
 
GreenNeedle, it depends where circumstances and work have placed you throughout life, if you had been at my side through the last 50 years you would have seen a lot more totally illiterate folk. More worringly, however, in the last 30 years, you would have interviewed AND employed people who struggle to spell the name of the street/road where they live! My parents were born into relative poverty in Lincolnshire villages, left school at 14 to go into employment with no further education, and had a good command of the English language and helped to instill this into their offspring. I've employed kids waiting for uni offers who would not have achieved 6th form in the 50's and 60's. Right, rant over, I'm off for a beer.
 
clive ford said:
GreenNeedle, it depends where circumstances and work have placed you throughout life, if you had been at my side through the last 50 years you would have seen a lot more totally illiterate folk. More worringly, however, in the last 30 years, you would have interviewed AND employed people who struggle to spell the name of the street/road where they live! My parents were born into relative poverty in Lincolnshire villages, left school at 14 to go into employment with no further education, and had a good command of the English language and helped to instill this into their offspring. I've employed kids waiting for uni offers who would not have achieved 6th form in the 50's and 60's. Right, rant over, I'm off for a beer.
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I am of that age where pubs used to be community places rather than a one stop of many where you knew no-one. So I have known all sorts of people rather than just those who I would find "affinity" with.

I understand what you are saying. I am just saying that through my life, knowing lots of people I only ever knew one that couldn't read or write. Yes loads that couldn't spell or had poor grammar.

Even I have developed an annoying habit of hitting ; instead of ' for some reason even though I can touchtype. I even researched, on google, just yesterday if keyboard layouts had changed because this has only started to occur in the last 2 or 3 years but no, keyboard layouts are still the same.

Searching through my posts you might notice lots of this. didn;t won;t can;t etc.

Absolutely no idea why this started and it is every time an apostrophe is needed. On another forum someone picked me up on it and I just told them I am using a foreign keyboard :)
 
GreenNeedle said:
I am of that age where pubs used to be community places rather than a one stop of many where you knew no-one. So I have known all sorts of people rather than just those who I would find "affinity" with.

I understand what you are saying. I am just saying that through my life, knowing lots of people I only ever knew one that couldn't read or write. Yes loads that couldn't spell or had poor grammar.

Even I have developed an annoying habit of hitting ; instead of ' for some reason even though I can touchtype. I even researched, on google, just yesterday if keyboard layouts had changed because this has only started to occur in the last 2 or 3 years but no, keyboard layouts are still the same.

Searching through my posts you might notice lots of this. didn;t won;t can;t etc.

Absolutely no idea why this started and it is every time an apostrophe is needed. On another forum someone picked me up on it and I just told them I am using a foreign keyboard :)
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As someone once said ;it"s an age thing;.
 
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