Princess Entitlement

[firecat88]

I am merciless on issues of grammar, spelling, and punctuation. If you want to be taken seriously as a professional, you MUST sound professional in your writing.

I tell my students, "If you sound like a hick from the holler or a homie from the hood in your writing, no one will take you seriously."

All of the professors here are like that. They will ding you anywhere from 5 to 15 points, depending on who it is, for excessive typos, bad grammar, and incorrect punctuation. And netspeak? God help you if you use it on a homework assignment.

[protege]

I tell my students, "If you sound like a hick from the holler or a homie from the hood in your writing, no one will take you seriously."

Exactly. These kids are going to be in for a world of shock when they enter the 'real world,' and wonder why they can't get a job. In the corporate world, if people can't understand you...you won't get very far. Sure, some of us understand "moron," but I'll be damned if I'm going to act like a translator

[dragon_wings]

Exactly. These kids are going to be in for a world of shock when they enter the 'real world,' and wonder why they can't get a job. In the corporate world, if people can't understand you...you won't get very far. Sure, some of us understand "moron," but I'll be damned if I'm going to act like a translator

99% of the time I'm really quite articulate. I've had a handful of customers comment on it in the last almost 2 years at <my drugstore>. And yet more have commented on my extensive vocabulary. Still I'm a vocab/slang/accent chameleon, sometime I pick stuff up unintentionally.
Nonetheless I'm annoyed by the abuse of the English language I hear everyday. Though it's to be expected when living in the ghetto.
Hasn't stopped me from picking up the occasional ghetto slang word or phrase.
(Hearing a punkish white suburban girl saying some of the ghetto slang is amusing sometimes.)

[fireheart]

Better than a Prozac mister?

One of the strategies that I found interesting came in two parts: tacit approval and making the classroom a "sanctuary". I know it sounds kinda hippie-ish, but here's how it worked:

tacit approval: if someone is trying to act up in the class, nobody gives them attention. It takes a bit of finagling but it does work eventually.

sanctuary: students brainstorm on what a sanctuary involves and then when someone else acts up in that class, they are simply reminded that the classroom is a sanctuary.

[Sapphire Silk]

99% of the time I'm really quite articulate. I've had a handful of customers comment on it in the last almost 2 years at <my drugstore>. And yet more have commented on my extensive vocabulary. Still I'm a vocab/slang/accent chameleon, sometime I pick stuff up unintentionally.
Nonetheless I'm annoyed by the abuse of the English language I hear everyday. Though it's to be expected when living in the ghetto.
Hasn't stopped me from picking up the occasional ghetto slang word or phrase.
(Hearing a punkish white suburban girl saying some of the ghetto slang is amusing sometimes.)

There's nothing wrong with the occasional slang term in spoken English. I use "that dog don't hunt" from time to time.

Written communication is another matter entirely

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Understandable. My parents refused to let me get a "real" job until I was 18 for the same reasons . . . and I'm the oldest. I struggled in school. My brother didn't; he was allowed a job at 16.

I was treated the same when I was growing up . . . although I helped to keep the housework done since the age of 8 or 9, Mom and my then stepdad wouldn't let me get a part time job after school when I was in HS.

Besides, my school schedule during senior year was killer . . . first class was at 7:30 am and my last one was around 2:30ish. I left out between 6:30 and 7 every morning and didn't get home until right before 4 in the afternoon. I'd have had no time for a job.

Only thing I struggled in school with was math . . . but I was trying my best to get through that so I'd at least have the credits needed for college (which sadly didn't work out.)

[Nemesis44UK]

Nah, she's probably certain her parents will disown her for finding out she's furry, and had planned on hiding the suit under her bed if she got it, so she'll never mention it to them. (I run into this a lot. Melodramatic teenagers treating being furry like it was some huge deal, and they need to be "in the closet" or "come out" or whatever about it.)

Ummm, sorry, but I don't understand what you term as "furry?" I'm not trying to be a douche, but there appears to be a perceived stigma of it?

[emax4]

I'm also told that many schools have been told the only important thing is that teachers "understand what the student means"; the actual grammar/spelling/sentence structure issues are seen as "cramping their free expression." And, I need not add, their self-esteem.

If that were the case, I would add:

"Yes, you're free to express yourself. But if you continue expressing yourself in this manner in the real world with netspeak, then expect to always make minimum wage or less, if you're lucky, and never be taken seriously..."

Have them look at a credit card offer in the mail and see if there's any netspeak. Take a letter from a lawyer, point out how much they make and where they're at in life, and see if they can spot any netspeak on it. Have them go to the nearest fast food restaurant or Abercrombie & Fitch, and see if they can count the number on netspeak words on the wall or the signs. When they realize they don't want their self esteem to be hurt the rest of their lives, they'll take notice...

[Sapphire Silk]

Ummm, sorry, but I don't understand what you term as "furry?" I'm not trying to be a douche, but there appears to be a perceived stigma of it?

"Furries" are folks who are fans of characters that are either animals or human-animal hybrids. Sometimes the animals are real, mythological, or just plain fantasy. They like to dress up in "fur suits", costumes that recreate their characters.

If I understand the genre correctly, it is preferable to get a fur suit of your own character, in part due to copyright issues, in part due to creativity issues.

Some fur fans will get partial costumes such as masks, ears, or tails because full fur suits are so expensive.

They're like any geek group: most are fairly normal folks with a unique hobby. Some are downright weird, and some are flat out assholes.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I was really shy as a child/teenager and rather afraid of people...so I didn't get my first job until I was 17, and that was because by then I had a car and needed to pay my share. Before that I really didn't ask for (or get) much material stuff. My brother, on the other hand, wanted money so he started mowing lawns and delivering newspapers at about 13, then got a job at a supermarket at 16 and worked there a long time.

To go back to the original topic...the girl seems to be fairly up to speed on things a girl her age might know but awfully clueless in others. She may have some disabilities. I do hope someone teaches her why things cost what they do, though.

[AmethystSquirrel]

I want a Squirrel costume. I deserve one for free. my business has squirrel in the name, I live in the squirrel city, and I am a special person. NOW GIVE IT TO ME.
I expect to be shot in the head now!

[Jay 2K Winger]

"Furries" are folks who are fans of characters that are either animals or human-animal hybrids. Sometimes the animals are real, mythological, or just plain fantasy. They like to dress up in "fur suits", costumes that recreate their characters.

If I understand the genre correctly, it is preferable to get a fur suit of your own character, in part due to copyright issues, in part due to creativity issues.

Some fur fans will get partial costumes such as masks, ears, or tails because full fur suits are so expensive.

They're like any geek group: most are fairly normal folks with a unique hobby. Some are downright weird, and some are flat out assholes.

This is pretty much a good summary of it.

For whatever reason (the assholes of the community being viewed by outsiders as "typical" of the community as a whole, perhaps?), "furries" have got a major stigma attached to them as being "weird perverts" or something.

But then, I tend to think everyone's a "weird pervert" in some way or other, so who am I to judge if someone wants to put on a $1000+ costume in order to get their kink on? What they do to get their rocks off is their business.

[Andara Bledin]

For whatever reason (the assholes of the community being viewed by outsiders as "typical" of the community as a whole, perhaps?), "furries" have got a major stigma attached to them as being "weird perverts" or something.

The problem arises partly because the main source most people (or an unfortunate percentage, at least) know of is a "sexpose" show done on HBO about fursuit sex (very rare, as they're hot and hard to clean) by a guy who has done nothing but produce sexpose shows, an article from Vanity Fair that focused on plushophiles (again, very rare, but high freak factor, so it makes good copy), a program on BBC about furries where the person doing the show was weirded out about it but refused to tell anyone she was uncomfortable then said on the show how weird it all was (), and a single episode of CSI: Miami titled "Fur and Loathing" that took much of it's base information from the afore-mentioned sexpose and would have been completely fantastical if it wasn't for the fact that one of their consultants actually is a furry and he managed to get them to rewrite most of the script for that portion of the episode.

Generally speaking, as mentioned, furries are like any other fan group. Most are just your typical geeks with the same percentage of freaks and assholes you get with any other fandom.

^-.-^

[Nemesis44UK]

Ah, thank you all for the replies. I hadn't heard the term before, so was a bit confused.

Sounds like harmless fun IMHO

[Jay 2K Winger]

The problem arises partly because the main source most people (or an unfortunate percentage, at least) know of is a "sexpose" show done on HBO about fursuit sex [[snipped]] and a single episode of CSI titled "Fur and Loathing" that took much of it's base information from the afore-mentioned sexpose and would have been completely fantastical if it wasn't for the fact that one of their consultants actually is a furry and he managed to get them to rewrite most of the script for that portion of the episode.

Generally speaking, as mentioned, furries are like any other fan group. Most are just your typical geeks with the same percentage of freaks and assholes you get with any other fandom.

Not just any other fandom, any group of people, period.

It's another case of "minority is taken by the mainstream to be typical of the majority."