J R-M - pernickity pedant?

craftyone no more or less boring than the minutiae of house buying/selling/moving.
Each to their own.

WadesNan No one objects to understandable English, but English is a living language and, much as he might want to, not even JRM can turn the clock back and use the language of Dickens. All a report or letter needs to be is clear and understandable-all the rest including pet hates, favourite punctuation etc. is just pedantic and unnecessary.

There was a phone in about this on local radio this morning, the majority of callers agreed with him and gave lists of words and phrases they would like banned.

Can someone explain to me why they object to a Minister wanting his correspondence to be written in understandable English rather than meaningless phrases.

Should be or would be?
Methinks it could be should be

Yours sincerely

Jura - I think that Jakey - sorry, the Right Honourable Jacob William Rees-Mogg Esq. - has already taken up the issue with the BBC as said Corporation has been converting the recent air temperatures from Centrigrade to Fahrenheit for the benefit of the viewing public.

I'm sure someone will correct any grammatical errors in my post, for which I would be most grateful.

Why is the word equal to be banned?
Does that mean that two can no longer equal two?

Your post was a bit mean craftyone we all enjoy different topics surely?

Due to the fact that I find JRM and his views totally unacceptable and, as far as I can ascertain, he has no powers to actually dictate the wording of his communications. I'm afraid I would make every effort to make sure my reports got as many of the forbidden items in as possible. (At least it would keep him occupied and stop him spreading his reactionary ideas)

MaizieD, now that makes sense. But which Gallon shall we adopt- and are we moving on the Fahrenheit too?

I think perhaps JRM is a time traveller from the 18th century and has got himself stuck here . Poor man it must be so confusing for him.

I've seen it suggested that he's preparing for us to be aligned to the US, who still use imperial measures.

I find I don't agree with his politics but nevertheless find him quite amusing. I like his wit as evidenced on HIGNFY. I'd call him quirky. Quirky is fine, generally speaking. As this is apparently a list of likes and dislikes as guidance to his office staff surely that's fine too.

Agree it should be under Pedants Corner, though. JRM's natural home, I'd have thought

I thought this was a joke when I heard it on the news this morning. What a pillock he is!

I find him a bit of a joke but hope he never becomes PM because then we won't be laughing.

Do his staff have to use typewriters then? Or maybe quill pens and ink?

Two spaces after a full stop was the rule for typists. Ever since computers and word processing came along, it is one space.

Which is why someone retro like JRM would insist on two spaces.

Anyway, I read that article and thought (a) the man is bonkers and (b) I pity his poor secretary.

I agree with growstuff even though the pedant in me has a sneaking admiration for him.

Good job we have you craftyone to balance our pointless lives.

Add comment | Report | Private message craftyone Sat 27-Jul-19 07:29:37
So boring!!! The pedants on this thread, the same old same old, over and over again. Obviously nothing to do except spout rubbish on public forum. What utterly boring pointless lives they lead, like broken records

Yourself excepted presumably?

I like him he's a proper English gentleman a tad eccentric but that adds to his charm. Listen to his LBC radio show on a Friday.

So boring!!! The pedants on this thread, the same old same old, over and over again. Obviously nothing to do except spout rubbish on public forum. What utterly boring pointless lives they lead, like broken records

Perhaps some GNs would prefer government letters and documents be written in textspeak?

It is important that communications with government departments are clear. Still I suspect that whatever he says or does will not meet with the approval of some GNs.

Yes 2 spaces for me too.

I was always taught 2 spaces after a full stop. I don't usually abide by that though.

I’m with you on this one Minniemoo. His command of the English Language is excellent IMO. It will be interesting to see how he fares (I need him here now to confirm if it is fares/fairs) as The Leader of the House.

However I do feel sorry for his sons who wear suits and must be laughed at by other children.

He was good on HIGNFY and can definitely take a joke.

I thought there should be one space after a full stop not two. Right?

Imagine living with it! Makes me shudder to think he's pre-occupied with such banal issues when the country is in dire need of dynamic ideas to resolve the issues we face.

^Banal | Definition of Banal by Merriam-Webster
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/banal

Definition of banal. : lacking originality, freshness, or novelty : trite.^