Good Manners vs Member bashing

[Guest brinn]

perhaps at this time of year we could all do with lightening up a little  

Too bloomin' right, mate.

Endofyearitus?

The site is doing OK. Nil Carborundum Illigitium.

You didn't ask, but if I can have an opinion - it's a good site already and can only get better.

[That's not to say it won't get more bothersome, of course! ]

[Guest]

You didn't ask, but if I can have an opinion - it's a good site already and can only get better. 

[That's not to say it won't get more bothersome, of course!  ]

Cheers

I rather hope it will ( do both that is).

Too many forums and weblogs are either constant flaming or populated by a small group of "nice" people who never disagree about or discuss anything

I guess my preference is somewhere between the two!

[Guest brinn]

I don't take offence easily - but I am a good mixer and don't spend all of my time talking to other teachers. I visit my local pub at least three times a week, which is frequented by a wide range of people, from bricklayers and road sweepers to accountants and lawyers. We have very lively discussions, where the level of debate often descends into "Come off it, you're talking a load of b*ll*cks!" After a few exchanges of a similar nature we usually end up buying one another pints. How about inventing the "virtual pint"? It sounds like a great idea 

Please forgive my over-familiar tone, but I have read your posts from the beginning and already I feel as if I know you (even though I clearly don't)!

So just how do most of us say 'bollocks' to fellow posters without

a) being banned

and with

our message being seen as friendly banter?

It sounds daft, but it's a serious point - the fact is that we are NOT in the local pub and we are NOT dealing face to face with people, surely? (No paralinguistic factors to help here mate, except the odd smiley.)

I am playing with your expectations here, Graham, but be a sport and go along with me....

Also - you say you 'don't spend your time with other teachers'. How is that meant to be an asset on a teachers' website?

But I DO agree - a virtual pint (or in my case a double whiskey) would help here a LOT, eh?

[Guest brinn]

Too many forums and weblogs are either constant flaming or populated by a small group of "nice" people who never disagree about or discuss anything

I guess my preference is somewhere between the two!

Nice one, Andy.

I was worried that you may be a bit too serious. I am glad you are not - although I do accept that boundaries (implied in your post rather than threatened) are important too!

[Graham Davies]

Brinn asks:

Also - you say you 'don't spend your time with other teachers'. How is that meant to be an asset on a teachers' website?

I didn’t say that. I said “all of my time”. I have spent most of my life (from 1968 to 1993) as a full-time teacher in secondary and in higher education. From 1985 I spent at least half my time training other teachers, from all sectors of education to use ICT. I am now semi-retired and spend most of my life writing materials for language teachers and training language teachers in ICT. When I relax I like to get away from teachers - no offence meant.

See the ICT4LT training materials site that I maintain: http://www.ict4lt.org

See my CV: http://wwwcamsoftpartners.co.uk/cvgd.htm

Yes, you are right in pointing out that misunderstandings often arise in email correspondence because of the lack of paralinguistic factors. Smileys and other “emoticons” are supposed to help, but they don’t always work.

See: http://www.askoxford.com/betterwriting/emoticons/

“Netiquette” is one of the points that I refer to in my ICT4LT training materials in Module 1.5, Section 14.1.4: http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_mod1-5.htm

Basically, I don’t know how to say “bollocks” in an email without causing offence.

[Maggie Jarvis]

Basically, I don’t know how to say “bollocks” in an email without causing offence.

I don't think there is any way of using a word indicating disagreement with some individuals on the net without causing offence! I had the timerity of saying that someone's view was, in my opinion, 'claptrap' ... quite a mild word one would have thought, but apparently it warrented a serious lecture by way of response!

Perhaps you could refer to 'small spherical objects'??

[Graham Davies]

It's very difficult to indicate in writing that one is not being offensive. There are many words that look offensive on paper but are harmless when said in the right context and with the right intonation.

A friend of mine who taught English as a Foreign Language to students studying at a British university was approached by students from Asia concerning the "bad language" used in lectures given by one of the staff in the Civil Engineering department. My friend knew the lecturer well - who was a nice guy, born in Ireland, and not known to use "bad language" in the lecture theatre. So my friend listened in to a couple of his lectures. All became clear once the "bad language" was put in context:

"Take gravel - gravel is bloody marvellous stuff..."

"Always wear a hard-hat on site, as a bloody great load of bricks could fall on your head at any time..."

When I visited Australia I was amused by the varying uses of the word "bastard", from offensive, as in "rotten bastard" or "Pommie bastard", to highest praise, as in "he's a hell of a good bastard" and "a good-bastard acquaintance of mine".