The Enid Blyton Society

Obviously never heard of the 'I wants - don't get' phrase.

Tony Summerfield wrote:I was looking for this thread as I thought you might like a nice New Year smile from an email I received two days ago:-

Dear Sir,

I want short summary i.e.250 to 300 words of short summary of here's the naughtiest girl. please send it as far as possible.

I sent it as far as my junk box!

You've sent it to the best place, Tony!

The joys of running a website! Over a decade ago I used to run an ex pupils website for my old comprehensive school, and what fun it was. I used to receive all sorts of strange emails, mostly from people overseas seeking employment as teachers at a school that had been closed for almost twenty years!

Then there were the terse two line emails from parents seeking updates on their childrens progress, er wrong school perhaps? It was probably those abrupt two liner messages that annoyed me more than anything else.

I wonder if some of the spelling issues has come from the mobile age when texting from your phone cost money
So people kept it short and sweet. Then predictive texting didn't help so we had wot and plze and ty.
And modern software on computers has American dictionary spellchecking unless your careful and make sure you have an English dictionary.
Twitter has , is it 146 chars to let people know what your doing, ( does that encourage brevity over quality!)
It seems to have become easy not to spell properly, bang out a quick email or word document and let spell check sort it out.

If your going to ask for help or ask a question shouldn't you check grammar spelling and punctuation
Maybe I'm old fashioned!

I agree with your points, Chip, but as you're talking about people needing to spell check etc, I'll point out you've used "your" several times when you meant "you're". "Unless you're careful", "let people know what you're doing", "If you're going to ask for help". Isn't that always the way though? I bet I'll have made at least one mistake here seeing as I'm pointing out yours!

To be really pedantic Fiona, I think 'etc' should have a full stop after it as it's an abbreviation.

One abbreviation that particularly annoys me is 'thanx', it's only saving one letter, so what is the point?

I hate trying to send a text message, as my phone always seems to have to most commonly used letters as the 3rd or 4th option, and I seem to be constantly back-spacing as I've pressed the button once too many times. Either that, or it occasionally gets put onto predictive text, and it NEVER predicts what I need to say.

So my text messages usually consist of the words 'yes', 'no' or 'ok'. Anything longer and I'll phone the person concerned.

Anyone know if 'back-spacing' should have a hyphen?

Katharine wrote:To be really pedantic Fiona, I think 'etc' should have a full stop after it as it's an abbreviation.

You're probably right, Katharine. I don't think I ever use a full stop after it though . Infact I often use 'ie' and 'eg' without any punctuation as well. I'm sure there are grammar nazis out there outraged by that!

I might put a full stop after 'etc.', but I must admit I'd never thought about whether 'ie' or 'eg' should have punctuation. I'll often consult my dictionary just to check I've got the spelling of something correct, but never thought to check punctuation. I've just looked it up, and it lists e.g., i.e. and etc. all with punctuation. I don't know whether I'll remember to use them though.

I've just googled it, it seems that 'i.e.' and 'e.g.' are properly correct (except in the states where it is 'i.e.,' and 'e.g.,') though it's acknowledged that they're used so often without any punctuation that the unpunctuated version has become acceptable in most instances.

You're quite correct mam, laziness on my part

It's not just phones' predictive texting that causes problems. At my office (accountancy) we were within a touch of sending a letter to a client asking him to sign the coconuts.

It seems the typist had mistyped the word accounts, and taken the first suggestion the spellchecker offered without paying much attention. The letter was signed and ready to go when someone spotted the "minor" mistake.

dsr wrote:It's not just phones' predictive texting that causes problems. At my office (accountancy) we were within a touch of sending a letter to a client asking him to sign the coconuts.

It seems the typist had mistyped the word accounts, and taken the first suggestion the spellchecker offered without paying much attention. The letter was signed and ready to go when someone spotted the "minor" mistake.

Sounds like you need a new typist.

By the way, have I mentioned I have good qualifications in typing and shorthand and am looking for a job?

Katharine wrote:Sounds like you need a new typist.

By the way, have I mentioned I have good qualifications in typing and shorthand and am looking for a job?

You've got the j.................. Oh hang on, I'm not the boss and can't give out jobs. Sorry.

I have talked in the past about some of the pointless emails that come into my inbox on a daily basis, but I thought that some of you might be amused by this one. I have cut out the last paragraph as this gives various links to his website etc.

Hi Enid,

With the launch of The Secret Of Spiggy Holes coming up, I wanted to introduce you to a platform that allows you to reach, grow and strengthen your readership community. Give a presentation, conduct an interview, host a Q&A, and share the stage, face-to-face with all of your fans.

The Shindig platform has already been embraced by over 200 bestselling authors, from Joel Stein to Hugh Howey.

I'm currently bringing this opportunity to select authors at no charge. Would you be interested in discussing further?

A bit of quick research might have told him that Enid died 44 years ago!

Tony Summerfield wrote:A bit of quick research might have told him that Enid died 44 years ago!

Well she may be dead but its good to know she has a new book being launched soon. The Secret of Spiggy Holes? I have a feeling I may have read a similar one before somewhere.