Silly site!

robert@fm · 3 Aug 2004, 04:55 AM

I've just done a Google search for the phrase "in onion there is strength" (a parody, of course, of "in union there is strength" — I think it was Abraham Lincoln who first said this), and one of the first results returned is <http://www.mistupid.com/people/page020.htm>, a page of schoolkid howlers apparently taken from real school essays!

Quote:

The sun never set on the British Empire because the British Empire is in the East and the sun sets in the West.

The others are just as funny.

mister · 3 Aug 2004, 10:48 PM

There is no such word as "schoolkid"

teacher · 4 Aug 2004, 12:26 AM

Pedantic, eh?

Mister, as I remember it "School" and "Kid" happen to be in the dictionary. Go back and take a look.

Now what Robert has done is to link two different unrelated words together to create a compound that becomes idiomatic in its meaning..... Still with me?

Like this one, Robert:

Quote:

Napoleon became ill with bladder problems and was very tense and unrestrained

mister · 4 Aug 2004, 04:14 AM

Good work prof,boy is my face red.Glad to see you're still awake.

teacher · 4 Aug 2004, 04:16 PM

robert@fm · 5 Aug 2004, 03:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mister
There is no such word as "schoolkid"

There has been such a word since at least 1968, when London underground magazine OZ used it in describing one issue (which BTW was instantly banned as pornographic, or something); I think it already existed back then, so your dictionary is out of date.

Mind you, the word "mondegreen" has been in use for nearly 50 years, and to my knowledge has never yet appeared in any dictionary; so the non-inclusion in a dictionary is not proof that a word doesn't exist.

robert@fm · 5 Aug 2004, 04:58 AM

Lack of proof is not itself proof (in particular, even the full Oxford English Dictionary — which is said to cost upwards of £3000 and require a lot of very sturdy shelf space — is unlikely to contain every word in the English language)...

From the logical fallacies thread.

teacher · 5 Aug 2004, 04:09 PM

Nice One!

DrStrabismus · 6 Aug 2004, 07:28 AM

It's a matter of propriety; the English language expects a lengthy engagement, chaperoned by a respectable hyphen.

The fact that they appeared together in a dirty book like Schoolkids Oz (without even an apostrophy to cover their shame) only makes matters worse.

Bamb0 · 30 Dec 2021, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robert@fm

I've just done a Google search for the phrase "in onion there is strength" (a parody, of course, of "in union there is strength" — I think it was Abraham Lincoln who first said this), and one of the first results returned is <http://www.mistupid.com/people/page020.htm>, a page of schoolkid howlers apparently taken from real school essays!

Yes pretty hillarious!

Although I shouldnt talk.I cant do much better!!!!!!

3 Aug 2004, 10:48 PM	#2
mister Essential Contributor Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 386	Check your dictionary There is no such word as "schoolkid"

5 Aug 2004, 04:58 AM	#7
robert@fm The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 4,681	Check your logic! Lack of proof is not itself proof (in particular, even the full Oxford English Dictionary — which is said to cost upwards of £3000 and require a lot of very sturdy shelf space — is unlikely to contain every word in the English language)... From the logical fallacies thread.

4 Aug 2004, 04:14 AM	#4
mister Essential Contributor Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 386	Good work prof,boy is my face red.Glad to see you're still awake.

4 Aug 2004, 04:16 PM	#5
teacher Master of the @ Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: UK Posts: 1,167

5 Aug 2004, 04:09 PM	#8
teacher Master of the @ Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: UK Posts: 1,167	Nice One!

6 Aug 2004, 07:28 AM	#9
DrStrabismus The "e" in e-mail Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 2,804	It's a matter of propriety; the English language expects a lengthy engagement, chaperoned by a respectable hyphen. The fact that they appeared together in a dirty book like Schoolkids Oz (without even an apostrophy to cover their shame) only makes matters worse.