Latest Moan From You and Me 2023

I've noticed it twice until now.

 

I must be a bit slow, I don't understand. What term? I don't normally see any TV, 'cept when I'm visiting me ol' mum.

 

"Twice."
I've now noticed on a couple of occasions that they are saying " two time" instead

 

Oh, I see. I misread your line and thought they'd "dropped something twice"!

Saying "two time"? That has, erm, "connotations".

 

From the BBC Learning English site: When it comes to twice, this is more often used than two times, although two times is also quite common in informal usage. So it is probably the BBC dumbing down for the masses.
On average the masses are pretty dumb and when you realise that 50% of the masses are dumber than the average......................!

 

Try listening to the news on BBC Radio one compared to radio two.

Radio One news is quite insulting with its level of dumbing down. I've heard them explain that NATO is a group of lots of countries that agree to defend eachother. The EU is apparently 27 countries that have agreed things like trade, that's where they buy and sell things.

Radio two on the other hand just gets on with the story, and just assumes people know at least the basics of the world around them.

 

I was thinking it was actually an Americanisation, is that a word?

As I dont think they use the word "twice" over there as much as we do, but then we rarely use "thrice" these days, so I dont know why "twice" has stuck.
Next it will be "two weeks" instead of a "fortnight".

 

Last time I listened to radio 1 it had Tony Blackburn and David Hamilton on it.

 

My new latest moan is this.

Having spoken with a colleague who has decided to move into teaching, I thought I might do that. You get paid thousands to train, tax free. The pay is quite decent, not as much as actually in industry but I'm getting old and tired so I'd accept that. Pension is excellent, and they're screaming out for people in the field of computing.

So I looked into it. I have experience coaching kids, from my other life as a martial artist. I have circa 30 years of industry experience in computing. Great. But... I never bothered to get a degree. I never needed one. In my industry proven skills trump bits of paper every time. But all the knowledge and experience I've accumulated over three decades counts for nothing. Apparently you need a degree to be a teacher. I might even not be too annoyed if they were asking for a degree in the subject you want to teach, but no, just any degree at all will do, as long as you can just about scrape a pass. So rather than having someone that can teach a subject and apply that teaching to real world industrial experience, it's better to have someone with no understanding of how real life works, as long as they can scrape a pass in a degree in a subject that might bear no relation to the subject being taught.

 

Sadly; yes it is a word.
Fewer than and less than are often misused/confused. Also knelt and smelt have disappeared and been replaced by kneeled, as in they kneeled down and smelled, as in she smelled the perfume. Both examples sound better with the older words.
I haven't heard thrice used for decades.

 

You're right Pete, Americans very rarely say 'twice' but two times instead. The same with 'once' , it's 'one time'.

We've already lost the use of 'sennight' (seven nights) meaning a week, so I wouldn't be surprised if 'fortnight' goes the same way.

 

I have used it several times lately on here ... I love the word!

 

Is that "several" times or "seven" times.

 

Once, twice, thrice, .... Four times?

Being a pedantic nitpicker that I am, I never understood the need for thrice, but I guess the same could be said for twice. I see the point of once, because without that we couldn't proclaim that something is a once in a lifetime. Instead we'd have to say one time in a lifetime. Twice in a lifetime doesn't have the same clout, and by thrice, it's just run of the mill.