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Post by anxiousmom on Aug 2, 2014 11:27:48 GMT
And yet it is so prevalent. I got written up on a previous job because I used the word "exacerbate" and the supervisor thought it was a form/tense of masturbate and was appalled that I used it while talking to a parent. The formal reprimand said something about using sexually inappropriate language. Fortunately, she wrote it up using the actual word exacerbate and the HR director did nothing with it. This, sadly, was at a college and went through at least two, possibly three supervisors before the HR director. Nuh uh. Seriously? I just read a Georgette Heyer book from about 1950 and had to look up five words while reading, and I consider my vocabulary to be pretty good. It was quite the bummer, I must say, and made me feel less than proficient in the English language, but at least the words I had to look up are rarely used. (ex. conventual) But to be in education & not know the meaning of homophone & exacerbate? Unacceptable. I wish I could say it is a joke, but it really happened. I have a pretty decent vocabulary and am like you, if I hear or read a word I don't know, I look it up (and then try to use it 10 times so I remember it.) When it first got mentioned by the direct supervisor, I wrote it down for her to look up (which is how it ended up in the report correctly) but I guess she never did. I left that job shortly afterwards.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Aug 2, 2014 11:47:58 GMT
Proof positive you have to wonder how in the wide world some people make it to top positions. WHO puts them there and how the heck do they get those jobs? The Administrator is probably paid 6x the teacher and he's a total idiot. All you need to do is read what the teacher wrote. Yep that was a blog post about gays. This. But man, you just can't be that dumb and somehow make it to an administrative position. It should be illegal.
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grinningcat
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,663
Jun 26, 2014 13:06:35 GMT
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Post by grinningcat on Aug 2, 2014 12:42:24 GMT
This is such a ridiculous story. I can't believe it, but I can.
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Post by brina on Aug 2, 2014 12:52:23 GMT
Are you guys too young to remember the city administrator in Washington, DC, who was fired for using the word "niggardly"? It was impossible to convince people who didn't want to hear it that it had nothing to do with a similar-sounding racial slur. People can be complete idiots. Education (real education, where it, like, sinks in ... not just where you earn a degree but don't remember anything the teacher said) is a very good thing. Here's a story about it.
And a follow-up story.this is the exact story I thought of, and similar earlier story of an economics professor fired when a student complained of his use of niggardly.
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AmeliaBloomer
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,842
Location: USA
Jun 26, 2014 5:01:45 GMT
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Post by AmeliaBloomer on Aug 2, 2014 13:08:50 GMT
I had no idea there were special phones for the gays.
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Post by grammyj64 on Aug 2, 2014 13:25:42 GMT
Are you guys too young to remember the city administrator in Washington, DC, who was fired for using the word "niggardly"? It was impossible to convince people who didn't want to hear it that it had nothing to do with a similar-sounding racial slur. People can be complete idiots. Education (real education, where it, like, sinks in ... not just where you earn a degree but don't remember anything the teacher said) is a very good thing. Here's a story about it.
And a follow-up story.I thought of that episode immediately. Ignorance is rampant in this country.
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Post by peasapie on Aug 2, 2014 13:57:18 GMT
The comments on that article are so darned funny.
"Homophonaphobia"
"Can someone say maroon?"
"Doubtlessly the school would claim that the firing was propholactic in nature."
Bwahahaha
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Post by anxiousmom on Aug 2, 2014 14:08:49 GMT
This rem "Doubtlessly the school would claim that the firing was propholactic in nature." Bwahahaha This reminds me of a conversation I had over dinner last week with a couple of friends. I asked my friend if she had taken any ibuphron as a prophylactic measure before getting a cortisone shot and she looked at me like I had grown a second head. Both of my friends started giggling and it took a minute for them to admit that neither one had heard that word used in any way besides an alternative to condoms. They suffered through my vocabulary lesson giggling like 12 year old boys and I am grateful that they still like me.
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Post by phoenixcov on Aug 2, 2014 14:17:53 GMT
I had a boss once that was so bad at his original job as a Draughtsman that they promoted him to Print room manager. Think that might happen all too often in the workplace.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 7, 2024 12:35:44 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2014 14:44:43 GMT
Good gravy.
There are so many things wrong with this, including that an education "professional" doesn't know what homophones are.
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Post by houston249 on Aug 2, 2014 14:50:59 GMT
Sad, but funny. I wish I could think of something cleaver to say, butt a lass I can knot.
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Post by originalvanillabean on Aug 3, 2014 1:27:13 GMT
I think the wrong person was fired. That is total My thought exactly.
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cycworker
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,387
Jun 26, 2014 0:42:38 GMT
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Post by cycworker on Aug 3, 2014 6:03:52 GMT
Ridiculous!
That said, I have a confession to make: I have never heard the term homophone. When I was growing up, the term was homonym. We learned about synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms.
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Post by lucyg on Aug 3, 2014 19:05:23 GMT
Ridiculous! That said, I have a confession to make: I have never heard the term homophone. When I was growing up, the term was homonym. We learned about synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms. Well, they're not exactly the same thing. homonym vs. homophone vs. homograph
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cycworker
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,387
Jun 26, 2014 0:42:38 GMT
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Post by cycworker on Aug 3, 2014 20:40:11 GMT
Lucy that is fascinating. I swear, we never learned that growing up. Am I showing my age? Is this stuff new?
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Post by lucyg on Aug 3, 2014 21:33:18 GMT
It's probably not new, but more related to what is in style to teach at the time you're in school. I will admit, when I went looking for a link to explain the difference between homonym and homophone, I didn't realize there also homograph in the mix. I might have learned about it at some time, but I'd long since forgotten.
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Post by heather on Aug 3, 2014 22:26:05 GMT
I keep waiting for the gotcha and proof that this isn't a real story. Because I desperately don't want it to be true.
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Post by hawkeyegal on Aug 4, 2014 0:28:40 GMT
Hell, even VeggieTales sing about homophones and don't get flack for it!
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MaryMary
Pearl Clutcher
Lazy
Posts: 2,975
Jun 25, 2014 21:56:13 GMT
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Post by MaryMary on Aug 4, 2014 0:30:24 GMT
This story might be my favorite ever. So hilarious.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 7, 2024 12:35:44 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2014 0:34:41 GMT
So unbelievable, it's almost unbelievable.
If he'd been fired for actually writing about homophobia/homosexuality (I'm confused as to what the admin actually thought he was writing about), I'd be pissed off. But this... this is just... sad.
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