Quoting:
I've noticed in several Ovaltine adverts over the past few months that some of the kids in the adverts can't read!!!  :o
There always seems to be one kid who has to ask another if this is either "Nesquik" or "cocoa" when they are standing in front of a stand that clearly states that it is Ovaltine!

Are they maybe trying to say that if they drink Ovaltine it will help the kids to read big stands properly?? :D
End Quote

Ovaltine was originally designed as a weight-gain aid for those between the ages of 13-19. The aim was to make anyone who drank it an "Oval-Teen"... :P

Quoting:
Ovaltine was originally designed as a weight-gain aid for those between the ages of 13-19. The aim was to make anyone who drank it an "Oval-Teen"... :P
End Quote

Sorry, but not even close!

Ovaltine is yet another one of those products that came from another country, but suffered through a translation error (like "Monkey Kong", which became "Donkey Kong").

Ovaltine was made in Switzerland in 1904 as "Ovo-Maltine".  One of it's promary ingrediants was eggs, hence "ovo".  And it was a malted beverage, so "maltine".   When it was first exported to England in 1909, they translated the name wrong, and got "Ovaltine".

For a more complete history of this, check out:
http://www.ia.net/~gheller/ovalgon/ovaltine.htm

Quoting:


Sorry, but not even close!

Ovaltine is yet another one of those products that came from another country, but suffered through a translation error (like "Monkey Kong", which became "Donkey Kong").

Ovaltine was made in Switzerland in 1904 as "Ovo-Maltine".  One of it's promary ingrediants was eggs, hence "ovo".  And it was a malted beverage, so "maltine".   When it was first exported to England in 1909, they translated the name wrong, and got "Ovaltine".

For a more complete history of this, check out:
http://www.ia.net/~gheller/ovalgon/ovaltine.htm
End Quote

But the jar is round.  Shouldn't they call it RoundTine?  :P

Quoting:

We can't do simple math questions because we are used to have a calculator in our hands during math classes.
End Quote

Ok, this just drives me insane.  When I was in high school in the 80's we had calculators with all the nifty functions but we weren't allowed to used them unless it was in calculus.  Why do the teachers allow calculators to be used in class?  It seems like it defeats the purpose of teaching math.

Quoting:


Ok, this just drives me insane.  When I was in high school in the 80's we had calculators with all the nifty functions but we weren't allowed to used them unless it was in calculus.  Why do the teachers allow calculators to be used in class?  It seems like it defeats the purpose of teaching math.
End Quote

When I was in high school we had these little abacus thingys but we were never allowed to use them either...  :P

On a side note, what drives me cuckoo is the way all these so-called music artists have to misspell every single song title not to mention their own names...talk about illiterate!! It just seems so cliché now.

Quoting:


Ok, this just drives me insane.  When I was in high school in the 80's we had calculators with all the nifty functions but we weren't allowed to used them unless it was in calculus.  Why do the teachers allow calculators to be used in class?  It seems like it defeats the purpose of teaching math.
End Quote

A lot of math teachers don't know how to teach math anyway.  I don't know if my math *disability* was innate or came about through incompetent teaching.  What I do know was that I didn't catch on to math as fast as other kids, so I fell further and further behind.  I never even learned to do basic algebra, but still managed to graduate high school.
When I tried to get through algebra in college, I found I literally COULDN'T do it.  I had a tutor and I would try and try and try, but my brain just couldn't make the right connections.  Math beyond arithmetic is gobbledy-gook to me to this day.
Maybe I had a math disability from the start, but maybe with adequate teaching in the formative years I could whipped it.  The brain organically becomes less and less receptive as we age.  I'm not getting into the politics of public education, but when we don't get the basics in the formative years, we may never be able to.
You can reason that most adults do math on calculators these days, so there's no real need to know how to do it in your head.  However, doing math in your head, like learning a foreign language, increases the brain's analytical and reasoning capacity--it makes you SMARTER, pushing keys on a calculator does not.

Quoting:


Ok, this just drives me insane.  When I was in high school in the 80's we had calculators with all the nifty functions but we weren't allowed to used them unless it was in calculus.  Why do the teachers allow calculators to be used in class?  It seems like it defeats the purpose of teaching math.
End Quote

When I was in High School they let us use calculators, but then I got to college and except for calculus the professors won't let you come with in 100 feet of a calculator.  Atleast thats been my experence.  To be honest I find math easier when not using a calculator because if you imput something wrong in a calculator and you get the answer wrong you cant really got back and see where you screwed up, but working stuff out on your own you can go back and look at what you did wrong and fix it much easier.  So now I only use a calculator as a last resort.

Quoting:


But the jar is round.  Shouldn't they call it RoundTine?  :P
End Quote

sorry,LB doesn't even click. :)


Howard

Quoting:
I think people let it slide today alot more than they used to. There's a new restaurant opening in my neighborhood, and there's a big sign outside the place that says "COMMING SOON!".  I had to bust out laughing when I saw it.  You mean to tell me that no one that looked a the sign before it went up realized that coming has only one "m"?  

There's also a big debate going on in NYC over passing children on to the next grade when they haven't mastered the basic skills of the grade they are currently in.  Some feel the child will be embarrassed if he or she is held back. I think it would be way more damaging to a child to pass them on from grade to grade and then find they can't read or write on the day they graduate high school.
End Quote

LOL!  It's not just youth.  I've seen middle aged folks make some real gaffs as well.  F'rinstance, there's the confusion over the apostrophe.  A lot of kids don't (dont) use it all.  Confusion is greater when it comes to ownership rather than contraction.  
I'll never forget the sign I saw on a hardware store before Fathers Day.  The sign suggested shopping there for your father becase "Dads Love Tools."  Only they wrote
"Dad's Love Tools."  Now, there's a big difference between "Dads Love Tools" and "Dad's Love Tools"!
:o

Quoting:
I'll never forget the sign I saw on a hardware store before Fathers Day.  The sign suggested shopping there for your father becase "Dads Love Tools."  Only they wrote
"Dad's Love Tools."  Now, there's a big difference between "Dads Love Tools" and "Dad's Love Tools"!
:o
End Quote

"Dad's Love Tools" - does it? (or possibly tools, plural?)
"Dads' Love Tools" - probably oughtn't to be mentioned here

Maybe someday, I'll get this one onto the syllabus...

Quoting:

But I would say today's youth (that's me) aren't illiterate, we are just technology dependent.

We have poor handwriting because we've typed on the computer for such a large portion of our life.

We can't do simple math questions because we are used to have a calculator in our hands during math classes.

End Quote

As a parent, with 2 kids in school now, I have to disagree with this.  My oldest (who's in 3rd grade) is in an advanced math class and they aren't allowed to use calculators for the most part.  They have them, but rarely use them.

As far as the handwriting, it IS a top priority in the schools, at least here.  My sons DO take a computer class, but other than that, they are not allowed to type anything.  My oldest has done 3 reports this year, and all had to be printed.

Granted, my sons are still young, and maybe the use of calculators & computers will change as they get older, but for now, they aren't allowed for the most part.

Quoting:
Getting back to spelling, what is this American obsession with ending certain words in "-ite?" You know, like "lite," "tonite," "brite," etc.? Even "rite" is used as in the word "right" instead of "rite" as in "rite of passage." Why is this? It's even caught on to Canadian culture, and I've noticed people from other countries with a very limited knowledge of the English language adopting this fallacy as if it's supposed to be correct because it's part of American language!! Do people have something against ending words in "-ight?" Is it one too many letters to write or type? Because it doesn't look good at all!!!

Absolutely Vile
End Quote

The first ones listed are not "actual" words, they are mostly used for promotional purposes.  As far as "rite", it's not an alternate spelling of "right", that's the correct way to spell it.  It means a ritual or ceremonial act.  The basis of it is in Christianity.

Quoting:


The first ones listed are not "actual" words, they are mostly used for promotional purposes.  As far as "rite", it's not an alternate spelling of "right", that's the correct way to spell it.  It means a ritual or ceremonial act.  The basis of it is in Christianity.
End Quote

So do they practice Christian or Pagan rites at Rite-Aide pharmacies?
Commercial interests have always used catchy spelling.  There was a doughnut shop called The Koffee Kup.  Oh, the correct spelling is doughnut, but it's gradually being replaced with "donut," as in Dunkin' Donuts.  The AP style guide still shuns "donut," but even they'll have to relent.
Then there's the moving company U-Haul, which used to be
U-Haul-It.  There's a self service car wash somewhere around here called U-WASH-IT.  Who's the genius who came up wit that one? :P

Quoting:


The first ones listed are not "actual" words, they are mostly used for promotional purposes.End Quote

I never said they were actual words. They are blatant and very popular misspellings of words, and no, they're not just used for promotional purposes. There are people who spell them that way!! And anyway, even used for promotional purposes it's unacceptable because, as is already happening, people will deem the "-ite" spelling as correct, when it's not and it just looks ugly.

Quoting:As far as "rite", it's not an alternate spelling of "right", that's the correct way to spell it.  It means a ritual or ceremonial act.  The basis of it is in Christianity.End Quote

I never said that either. Read my post. I've seen people misspell "right" as "rite" thus using "rite" out of context when it's supposed to mean something else!

Absolutely Vile

Quoting:


I never said they were actual words. They are blatant and very popular misspellings of words, and no, they're not just used for promotional purposes. There are people who spell them that way!! And anyway, even used for promotional purposes it's unacceptable because, as is already happening, people will deem the "-ite" spelling as correct, when it's not and it just looks ugly.


I never said that either. Read my post. I've seen people misspell "right" as "rite" thus using "rite" out of context when it's supposed to mean something else!

Absolutely Vile
End Quote

Sorry, I did misunderstand your post.  I thought you were saying that it should be "right of passage" but now that I reread it, I see what you meant.

As far as the "-ite" words being spelled that way, phonetically, that's how they should be spelled.  It's one of the reasons the English language is the hardest for non-English speaking people to learn.  It goes hand in hand with to, too & two; live (as in "I live in a house") and live (as in "livewire") and I could go on and on.  As a former English major in college, it drives me batty when people can't spell or punctuate properly, so I know what you're getting at.

Quoting:

So do they practice Christian or Pagan rites at Rite-Aide pharmacies?
End Quote

Judging from their selection of Easter paraphernalia, I'd say pagan...  :P

Quoting:


Judging from their selection of Easter paraphernalia, I'd say pagan...  :P
End Quote

Bunny rabbits and chicken eggs, Pagan symbols of spring and fertility.  My Puritan ancestors wouldn't have stood for it for a second.  On the other hand, I don't know how they would have felt about a big chocolate Jesus, so....

Quoting:

Bunny rabbits and chicken eggs, Pagan symbols of spring and fertility.  My Puritan ancestors wouldn't have stood for it for a second.  On the other hand, I don't know how they would have felt about a big chocolate Jesus, so....
End Quote

Oh, man...I saw lollipops on the back of a catalog the other day and they were cross shaped!! The image in my head is pure torture...sticky faced kids sucking on crosses... :-X :-X :-X

Quoting:
I'm not illiterate, I know who my father is!!!
End Quote

You can know who your father is and still be, er, illiterate.  
I used to work as a telephone transcriptionist for deaf people. I once had to correct a clerk in a financial aid office.  She said my client was "illegible" for financial aid.  So much for English as a second language classes!