Britain one step closer to Newspeak... (8)

1 Name: Citizen : 2008-11-03 16:09 ID:lDOh5BPX

Councils ban use of Latin terms

"A number of local councils in Britain have banned their staff from using Latin words, because they say they might confuse people.

Several local authorities have ruled that phrases like "vice versa", "pro rata", and even "via" should not be used, in speech or in writing.

But the ban has prompted anger among some Latin scholars.

Professor Mary Beard of Cambridge University said it was the linguistic equivalent of ethnic cleansing.

Some local councils say using Latin is elitist and discriminatory, because some people might not understand it - particularly if English is not their first language."

More:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7705922.stm

Oh, Britain. As a continental European I hope your stupid is not contagious.

My favorite part of the article is this: "A Campaign spokesman said the ban might stop people confusing the Latin abbreviation e.g. with the word "egg"."

Mind = blown

2 Name: Citizen : 2008-11-03 18:00 ID:n1f43+qQ

That article made me rage so much OP.
Some local councils say using Latin is elitist and discriminatory because some people might not understand it

What's this? People aren't capable of learning or asking questions any more? God I loathe this fucking nanny state.

particularly if English is not their first language.

Welcome to ENGLAND. Learn the language or GTFO.

3 Name: Citizen : 2008-11-03 20:45 ID:pCoK1U/t

People who are angry about this sort of thing have never had a job in which they deal with the public. Every serious enterprise has guidelines demanding clarity and simplicity in communication.

4 Name: Citizen : 2008-11-04 03:01 ID:n1f43+qQ

>People who are angry about this sort of thing have never had a job in which they deal with the public.

Nice straw man there.

>Every serious enterprise has guidelines demanding clarity and simplicity in communication.

Yes, this doesn't change the fact that these Latin phrases have been in use for quite some time and are well known. Deliberate dumbing down to appease a small % is ultimately counter-productive. For instance, where do you draw the line? mono-syllabalic words? I'm sure you'd get pretty angry if your tax return was in explained in baby talk.

People are going to come in contact these phrases or words at some point in their lives, be it books, magazines or the Internet. Really is it that hard to look it up in a dictionary? Is our society already dumbed down enough to not care about the value of education and knowledge?

5 Name: Citizen : 2008-11-05 02:36 ID:8dz2ugvK

And people complain about the US...

6 Name: 18 : 2008-11-05 06:20 ID:Heaven

> Nice straw man there.

i do not believe that "straw man" means what you think it means.

7 Name: Citizen : 2008-11-22 19:41 ID:HspSHp2L

>>2

> Welcome to ENGLAND. Learn the language or GTFO.

And all this time I though they spoke English in England. Seems logical... I guess I'll have to start learning Latin... and just when i was so sure that all the native latin speakers were fucking dead!

8 Name: Citizen : 2008-11-25 09:09 ID:Heaven

>>7
What does "logical" mean? It's a word that originally came from Latin so I don't understand it. The same with "just", "sure" and "native".

You're a dick for using foreign words that I don't understand. This is an Anglo-Saxon speaking messageboard.

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