J R-M - pernickity pedant?

I’m with Fishpieplease - I occasionally use an Oxford comma and don’t see a problem with it, but I expect he’s really just trying to improve written communication with and between his team.

My spelling, punctuation and grammar are not perfect but like many other Gransnetters, I do like to understand not only the general sense of something but the nuance of it too. The written word comes free of gesture and intonation so needs to be much more accurate.

That said, I still find the directive amusing. It would have to be him!

ahahaha SirC - boom boom lol.

No because he wouldn't even consider Labour MPs as his equals. After all half of them are state educated and probably don't know how to use commas properly.

We will never hear JRM speak as John MacDonald did at the
O2, of his fellow Labour MP’s

‘You f*****g losers’.

...or tailor even. JRM would be most disappointed in you jura

(Sorry - I couldn't resist a bit of pedantry as homage to the Tory prat!)

a wonderful picture doing the rounds on the internet- of Rees-Mogg in a very oversize suit - with the caption 'this is what happens when you give your measurements in Imperial and your taylor works in metric '- mind you, I am sure JRM would no dream of not using an Imperial Taylor and who does not bill in Guineas.

Callistemon - what JRM thinks as a stereotypical Welshman !

If you’re confusing Catholicism with pedantry then that’s very much your problem POGS.

Perhaps some Welsh gransnetters may be able to judge.
Are those jackets made of Welsh wool? I don't see any stereotypical Welshmen wearing anything similar in the picture!

I don't really care about JRM's religious beliefs and yes he probably has got wonderful manners. What I obect to is his political stance. heis a small state Conservative which basically means he wants to get rid of as much social support as he possibly can and cut what little welfare state we still have. Add to that his dodgy financial dealings and that is the man I dislike. The rest is irrelevant.

stereotypical Welshman
I must take a look!

Please ,please please don't put his ridiculous behaviour down to an autistic spectrum disorder. My lovely son has it and he is as far removed from JR-M as chalk is from cheese.
I thoroughly dislike JR-M ; he is a leftover from the 1930's; I don't find him amusing , or gentlemanly or even interesting. He reminds me of a time when the upper classes kept the lower orders firmly in their place, and used religion to do so. I would like to ask him how , if it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven he thinks it's o.k for his family to be worth about £100million? And does he not understand that most young people have never used Imperial measurements?

Give me strength!

Speaking as a catholic, I do not share many of JRM's religious views, let alone his political views or pedantic obsession with good form, whether grammar, language, manners or taste in clothes.

First I've heard that being a Catholic means you must use outdated language. All the Catholics I know (and I know lots!) aren't at all pernickety about grammar.

Hardly JRM’s turn of phrase,but I CBA to explain the Oxford comma rule to him,whereby one can,quite rightly, use a comma after and. That’s five minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Also,how long will it take before letters start arriving addressed Mr Fishpie Esq?

SirC

Of course it is his faith that is at the heart of his views.

If you don't understand that then that's your problem.

I didn’t know JRM was Catholic - I don’t pay enough attention to the man. I just think he’s a boring prat myself

What are you on about POGS? JRM's faith hasn't been mentioned. I don't see any signs anywhere of him being vilified because he's Catholic.

I really like Jacob Rees-Mogg. Yes, he's old-fashioned, privileged, rich......but he's got the morals I admire.

General point.

Rees Moggs views are based on his Catholic Faith and that is another point in question. The Catholic religion has similar opinions to other faiths such as Islam.

I am not particularly religious but I respect others are. Why is Rees Mogg singled out and villified?

Do posters believe ALL MP's should be subjected to this degree of persecution by the media/social media irrespective of their political alliegence if they hold to their Catholic Faith ?

If not why not why not.?

Does a Labour MP who is Catholic get such treatment? Are posters of the opinion there are no Catholic MP's in other parties.?

Or is it the old class warfare/hatred that singles him out because that's how I see it. If the answer is no it is not class warfare/hatred of an individual then it can only be you disagree with the Catholic Faith to which he / they hold dear.

I don't agree with his view or the Catholic view on many things but I wouldn't be abusive, vilify or physically harm anybody who is Catholic because of it. Rees Mogg is ' fair game' to some to be attacked physically, verbally and more to the point have his family and ' children' abused too.

Shameful and that is nothing to with the man's politics it is to do with decency, I would defend ANY politician.

I look at the similarities between Jacob Rees Mogg and Lib Dem Leader Tim Farron who was hounded out by a baying rabel because he too had a Christian Faith, it was pitiful, shameful to see him resign because of ' illiberalism ' ironically.

Even sadder watching hi with his poor young son, dressed as the stereotypical Welshman he imagined - will be intereting to see how he dresses him when going to the wild North.

Poor kid.

I suspect his instructions are less about his grammatical preferences and more about his inner frustrations at the societal changes over which he has no control. This is one small way in which he can wrestle back some of that control - sad, really.

I disagree with virtually all his views, but most of his rules for formal writing seem pretty reasonable to me.

Esq. is an interesting one. I was brought up in the forties and fifties to use it after a man’s name when addressing an envelope, e.g. George Jones Esq.. I can’t remember when I stopped using it, but I didn’t teach it to my children born in the early seventies.

People are rarely all bad so obviously JRM has good points, but his pernicious political views are clouding the world my children are working in and my grandchildren are growing up in. His manners may be impeccable but that is small satisfaction.

Very true, JRM is unfailingly polite, even the rather abrasive
Jess Philips ( who I also like) gets on well with him.
He seems to be getting very thin, and I did wonder if he was
Completely well.