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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that the teachers should know how to spell Pythagoras?

87 replies

CharlieEppes · 17/10/2014 21:32

DC had a special maths assembly today. At the front of the hall there was a big topic board and in large letters it said Pythagorus and again underneath in smaller text.

Is it just me or should the teachers have picked up on this even if the kids had helped with it?

OP posts:
Hakluyt · 18/10/2014 09:12

Just that it doesn't mean the same as uninterested. And I seem to be one of the only people left who knows that. Which I suppose means that it has changed it's meaning, which is a huge shame- because disinterested is such a good and useful word.

jamdonut · 18/10/2014 09:12

I was doing a display on "Tutankhamen" last year, when I was told I had spelt in wrong,that it should be " Tutankhamun". I showed my colleague the book I had been using for inspiration,where it was spelt my way .She got books from her class to show me it was spelt her way!!! So I googled it , and apparently there are THREE acceptable spellings, including TutankhaMON ! So to avoid any further arguments, I put up a small notice on the display explaining this!!! Smile

Also...when I was younger, we spelt words like 'recognise' with "ise" at the end, but apparently it is now acceptable to use, " ize" ( which just looks wrong) .This is how it is spelled in the Oxford School Dictionaries we use in class! I and several other TAs and Teachers had been telling children it was wrong - then we looked in the dictionary...

When did it change ?!?!?!?! Confused

NinjaLeprechaun · 18/10/2014 09:13

At least it was spelled wrong consistently.

I have, more or less, no idea what to do with commas or other punctuation. I'm fairly certain that I was taught how to properly use them, and I do have a copy of "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" (a brilliant book) around here somewhere, but I just don't seem to retain the information. I just sprinkle them in where they seem to make sense, sometimes I get it right, and sometimes I don't, but it does cut down my moral high ground on the subject of grammar slightly.

My ultimate pet hate though is misuse of 'literally' - I literally can't stand people who literally use that word for everything without actually knowing what it means. It literally makes me die inside.
Unfortunately for you and others who agree with you, the dictionary definition of 'literally' has expanded, and now also has a secondary meaning of 'figuratively'.
It's nice to think that language doesn't change - but mostly with the original meaning of the word nice. Wink

tilliebob · 18/10/2014 09:20

Some of the best teachers I know I are dyslexic. I take my hat off to them as this job is thankless enough without dealing with that too. However in these days of spellcheckers etc they find life much easier.

I obviously need to keep off mumsnet for a while again as it seems to be open season on teachers yet again. Funny how it seems to come in waves Confused.

PassTheCremeEggs · 18/10/2014 09:35

When you're wondering whether it's "and I" or "and me" you simply take out the other subject of the sentence and see which one fits.

E.g. "DH and I are going out" is "and I" because if you remove DH you get "I am going out". If you put "and me" in instead and removed DH it would be "Me is going out" - clearly wrong.

And e.g. "He sent a letter to DH and me" - remove DH and you get "he sent a letter to me". If you used I it would be "he sent a letter to I" - again, clearly wrong.

It's a very easy way of working out which is right

Stampysladygarden · 18/10/2014 09:42

I pulled a teacher up about corrections made with spelling errors in my child's English book.

It was nothing to do with being smug or catching them out. It was a complete reflection on the shoddy quality of teaching he had that year which is proving a mammoth task with lots of intervention to sort out at his new school.

Tired teachers working late in the night making mistakes are usually obvious and forgiveable. This was not.

JeanneDeMontbaston · 18/10/2014 09:48

Re. 'ize' - it's come up on here before. Apparently, Oxford (university) has always preferred 'ize', claiming it comes from the Greek (which is tenuous, if you ask me, as obviously it is transliterated just like the name in the OP). Oxford famously never changes, and want to make out this is how they always were. And I have seen it in some very old books.

However, it's standard in the US, so a lot of people assume the 'ise' ending is British English and the other is US English, and will judge you for using 'ize'.

hackmum · 18/10/2014 10:17

I know that "disinterested" means "impartial", so that's two of us.

In the I/me discussion, it should be "it made DP and me" because "me" is the object, not the subject. As Pass says, you can work it out by removing the other person from the sentence - you wouldn't write "it made I".

Honeezreturn · 18/10/2014 10:20

A Dr where I worked wrote 'brooze' Shock

ILoveApples · 18/10/2014 14:35

A D&T teacher at DS's secondary school pronounces vinyl as vinyell (vin rhyming with tin)!

jellyboatsandpirates · 18/10/2014 14:46

Shock at the umbrella one. If my primary school child had to write out an incorrect spelling numerous times I wouldn't be able to let it lie. I'd have to go and point it out.
Disgraceful!

martinisdry · 18/10/2014 15:30

Just that it doesn't mean the same as uninterested. And I seem to be one of the only people left who knows that. Which I suppose means that it has changed it's meaning, which is a huge shame- because disinterested is such a good and useful word.

I know it too. A woman after my own heart.

I feel compelled to point out, though, that it should be "its" in your second sentence Grin

darkness · 18/10/2014 15:55

And do the teaches point out the shoddy parenting..? Or are they more polite about how you do your duties ?

darkness · 18/10/2014 15:58

By your, I meant parents generally...not anyone here or specific...its just if you want to have a go, you should also be happyvabout being a target

Mascaramascara1 · 18/10/2014 16:22

Everyone is capable of mistakes.

I was helping ds1 with his homework a couple of weeks ago, about African animals. He asked me how to spell something so I did, whilst half-concentrating on something else - and spelt out 'ELEFANT' for him Blush He actually wrote it down and was very upset when he had to cross it out because he's very particular about his homework book.

I KNOW how to spell 'Elephant', I have a degree in English fgs. It was just an absentminded mistake and no one is immune.

toodledoo678 · 18/10/2014 17:27

When you're wondering whether it's "and I" or "and me" you simply take out the other subject of the sentence and see which one fits.

E.g. "DH and I are going out" is "and I" because if you remove DH you get "I am going out". If you put "and me" in instead and removed DH it would be "Me is going out" - clearly wrong.
And e.g. "He sent a letter to DH and me" - remove DH and you get "he sent a letter to me". If you used I it would be "he sent a letter to I" - again, clearly wrong.
It's a very easy way of working out which is right

Passtheeggs, are you a teacher?
It's the first time I've heard that very clear6 explanation and finally^ understood it Blush
Thanks!Flowers

toodledoo678 · 18/10/2014 17:28

Meant to say clear explanation

toodledoo678 · 18/10/2014 17:29

You explained it in such a way that it became clear to me. (got there in the end)

HappyAgainOneDay · 18/10/2014 18:24

toodledoo78 One does not have to be a teacher to know how to spell words or construct a sentence properly. It just depends on what teachers one had oneself.

I was taught a similar way. My husband and me went to the cinema. Wrong! You can see it by writing (My husband and) me went to the cinema. Me didn't go to the cinema - I did.

The other one: My sister gave my son and I a gift. Wrong! Write it as My sister gave (my son and) I a gift. No, she gave a gift to me. As other posters have said.

CarmineRose1978 · 18/10/2014 18:27

I corrected a supply teacher who misspelled 'archaeology' on the blackboard when I was ten. She wasn't impressed.

Hakluyt · 18/10/2014 18:36

"I corrected a supply teacher who misspelled 'archaeology' on the blackboard when I was ten. She wasn't impressed."
No. And she had a right not to be- although laughing and accepting it would have been more sensible. If she had corrected your mistake in front of your entire class I bet you wouldn't have been impressed either. Civilized people do that sort of thing privately.

EEVEElution · 18/10/2014 19:17

But she was ten, not sure how civilized you'd expect her to be!

CarmineRose1978 · 18/10/2014 19:29

Hak, I was ten! I wouldn't do it publicly now.

CarmineRose1978 · 18/10/2014 19:30

Plus everyone else in the room was writing it down incorrectly... At that age, I was more bothered about that than about her finer feelings.

CarmineRose1978 · 18/10/2014 19:32

In fact, while I hate to triple post, it's highly likely she would have corrected my or anyone else's spelling if we'd written something incorrectly on the blackboard.