To wonder how people make it to adulthood without knowing

Staffy1 · 2020-12-08T10:59:40+00:00

That a Christmas tree decoration is called a "bauble", not "ball ball"? Or how they make it through junior school without knowing the difference between "his" and "he's"? What happens in schools these days and don't people ever read anything?

LagneyandCasey · 08/12/2020 11:43

Have you seen the chester drawers thread, op? It's full of these delights.

LividLoves · 08/12/2020 11:45

I’m a teacher. People do this precisely because they never read. I mean, I watch telly with subtitles because I need to know how to spell names etc.

See also: trickle treat.

DianaT1969 · 08/12/2020 12:02

Perhaps all parents should have subtitles on every screen, so that DC see the written words.

SarahAndQuack · 08/12/2020 12:05

Maybe they had a shit education. Maybe they're dyslexic. Does it matter?

Personally I quite enjoy the ones like 'ball ball,' especially if they're creative.

KleinBlue · 08/12/2020 12:07

I saw a baw-ball and baubul on here yesterday.

Meruem · 08/12/2020 12:14

Some people just aren't that bright. I genuinely don't mean that in a nasty way. We all have different levels of intelligence and spelling is really difficult for some people. I feel like there's this assumption on MN that we all start from a level playing field and if we don't learn/achieve xyz, it's our own fault. Some people just aren't as bright as others, and that's ok. Or it should be.

PickAChew · 08/12/2020 12:14

Well he's is more of a dialect thing than a mispronounciation but I've seen so many recipes requiring castor sugar, lately

JovialNickname · 08/12/2020 12:16

There was a lady on the employment board the other day who described her new job as a poisoned carrot.

rainkeepsfallingdown · 08/12/2020 12:17

I don't know where I picked up the correct spelling of bauble, but I doubt it was from school. It was probably from all the reading I did outside of school - I loved books as a child. That came from my parents encouraging me to read, and not all parents take the time to nurture interests like that.

rainkeepsfallingdown · 08/12/2020 12:17

@JovialNickname

There was a lady on the employment board the other day who described her new job as a poisoned carrot.

To be fair, now that I've seen that written down, I might start referring to a chalice as a carrot just for the funsies. :)

Smallsteps88 · 08/12/2020 12:18

There is a massive gap in quality of education across the UK. As always- it comes down to funding.

Sparklfairy · 08/12/2020 12:22

@Smallsteps88

There is a massive gap in quality of education across the UK. As always- it comes down to funding.

I'm not sure you can completely blame education in adulthood though. If I don't know something I Google it. Some people just don't care and then put others down and call them grammar Nazis

KleinBlue · 08/12/2020 12:22

@JovialNickname

There was a lady on the employment board the other day who described her new job as a poisoned carrot.

I think I would have assumed that this was intended as a witticism.

(Wasn't it?)

JovialNickname · 08/12/2020 12:22

@Meruem

Some people just aren't that bright. I genuinely don't mean that in a nasty way. We all have different levels of intelligence and spelling is really difficult for some people. I feel like there's this assumption on MN that we all start from a level playing field and if we don't learn/achieve xyz, it's our own fault. Some people just aren't as bright as others, and that's ok. Or it should be.

I really see what you mean, but it's not the spelling though, it's the total lack of understanding. I can't get too excited about misspellings, desert/dessert etc. But I do find it hard to see how someone hasn't noticed that their Chester draws are comprised of a chest, with drawers in it. Or that doggy dog world makes no sense whatever in any context. It does make me realise that for some people words are just sounds, with no inherent meaning.

JovialNickname · 08/12/2020 12:23

KleinBlue it wasn't.

Europilgrim · 08/12/2020 12:24

I'm not in the UK but in Italy. Had a really weird conversation with someone (not Italian)once who thought I was driving to the US. Turned out they thought it was in northern Europe. Same person has always wanted to go to Florence but has never been (it is about 40 minutes away) because she doesn't go anywhere without her husband which I just find really sad but also made me fully realise that not everyone has the same opportunities.

Summerstorms · 08/12/2020 12:24

You can't google something if you don't know you know it though. I hate this kind of judgemental dickish snobbery

KleinBlue · 08/12/2020 12:24

@JovialNickname

KleinBlue it wasn't.

Ah.

On the upside, it's pretty funny, even if unintentional?

Ohalrightthen · 08/12/2020 12:26

@Smallsteps88

There is a massive gap in quality of education across the UK. As always- it comes down to funding.

That is a fair assessment, but you can't underestimate the importance of reading. Generally, people who read have a better vocabulary, better spelling and grammar, and are better able to correctly extrapolate when they don't know something.

Europilgrim · 08/12/2020 12:26

@jovialnickname For years I thought the expression "to make ends meet" was "to make hen's meat". Made sense to me!

Smallsteps88 · 08/12/2020 12:28

I'm not sure you can completely blame education in adulthood though. If I don't know something I Google it.

Yeah you can. The foundations of learning, wanting to learn and enjoying learning are laid in primary school and reinforced throughout to the end of school life. Some people have such an appalling, and even traumatic experience of “education” that by the time they are 18 they are totally switched off from anything remotely resembling learning. There’s also the massive issue of people not knowing they don’t know something. If no one has ever told them that ball balls is wrong, why would they think to google the correct spelling? they think that’s how it’s spelled.

TommyShelby · 08/12/2020 12:28

I keep seeing people trying to sell ‘Christmas bobbles’ on fb marketplace! They definitely aren’t hair ties, they just can’t spell bloody bauble!

Smallsteps88 · 08/12/2020 12:29

but you can't underestimate the importance of reading.

Oh I totally agree. It’s been well researched and proven to have a massive positive impact.

madcatladyforever · 08/12/2020 12:30

Skelington is my personal favourite.

Chanandlerbong01 · 08/12/2020 12:31

I'm not sure you can completely blame education in adulthood though. If I don't know something I Google it. Some people just don't care and then put others down and call them grammar Nazis

But if they don’t know they are incorrect why would they google it?
Reading does help, but if you aren’t brought up within an environment that allows for this then you miss out. We have kids at school that bring in the same reading book everyday for years, school can’t afford to provide them with a new one and home chose not to or can’t afford to.