Thread: How educated are you?

^ and I loved Dougal

As a young boy in the mid-late 70s, I stole a Thorndike Barnhart Advanced Dictionary dictionary from Byram Middle School, Stanhope, New Jersey. I use it almost everyday. I feel terribly guilty and would gladly pay for it (in 197? dollars).

The justification that eases my mind is my teacher, Mrs. Neugabauer, who practically pleaded with her students to read. I'd love to place a wager on whether any of her books, in her 20-? year teaching career has been read more than this one. It still has the This Book Is the Property Of ... stamp inside the front jacket.

Hope her pay wasn't docked for the missing book.

English is a fairly precise language and those that use it well, load their quiver with a daunting array of very specific lexicon. That said, I also consult my Roget's International Thesaurus ocassionally. If you can say it, rather than explain it, communication occurs more easily.

I'm not an expert and think people who berate others for trying to be precise, do an injustice to the forum.

(I really wish the TD Englishpersons would learn to spell )

Originally Posted by Texpat

I'm not an expert and think people who berate others for trying to be precise, do an injustice to the forum.

Well, yeah, but usually it's the other way 'round, some clever dick picks on the spelling or grammar instead of the argument.
I am all for being precise, but you need to realise that there are a number of people whose command of the English language is not highly developed in here(including native speakers).
Btw, my formal English tuition gave me a good foundation, but was by no means extensive. It takes time to actively involve oneself, learn the subtleties of a language and obtain a range of vocabulary.

An argument is just -- despite warts, callouses or mispeliings.

Carry on.

Being a none native speaker is a hard burden, sometimes I cry myself to sleep.....

Originally Posted by Texpat

An arguement is just -- despite warts, callouses or mispeliings.

Shut the fok up Tex....

I have a few pieces of paper hanging on the wall, the most important to me are the photos of my daughters.

I qualified in the only thing I'm good at.

I'm a diploma interpreter and translator.
Everything else I leave to the the clever folks.

Education is a complete waste if the recipient has no imagination. It is one thing to know that e=mc(2) but what use is it if you can't figure out what to do with that information?

I have worked freelance most of my life, often alongside people with similar qualifications who couldn't figure why I earned twice as much as them. I obtained the basic qualifications necessary to do my job and then concentrated on learning how to do the unusual stuff not covered in exams, rather than adding more paperwork.

My sister is one of the most highly educated people I've ever meet. To my knowledge she has 3 undergraduate degrees, 2 masters and a phd. She works for the NHS with kids that have "emotional" problems.

She'll admit to you she has no idea about why you need to put water and oil in her car. In fact she sometimes forgets to put petrol in the car.

She'll tell you it's a game of "horses for courses". You need someone to get inside your mind, she's the person. Need someone to look at you car engine, go to a garage.

As she once said to me: "information is exactly that - information. Knowledge is the ability to apply that information."

In my life to date, I've not seen it expressed better.

I think the cleverest person is the one who can answer all my questions in the Games Section ! In fact we are talking Genius levels here , have a look !