h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hello, OG.

You were kind enough to enquire after me when I dropped off the radar for a while, and now it seems to be my turn to send out a search party after you.

Rest assured that the St Bernards' barrels will be filled only with the finest single malt.

Seriously, though, hope you are well.

LF

LF, OG is extremely angry with me so much so that I wasn’t even given a chance to apologise. In fact, I should have been the one to leave the MB, instead OG left.

I’ve neither been able to forget anything nor been able to forgive myself. There are people on the board who miss OG, and I felt so incredibly guilty when I read the “I miss OG” messages. Perhaps it was the sheer goodness of heart that stopped people from mentioning my name; someone who was responsible for upsetting just about every respected member on the board.

I sincerely hope your “search party” succeeds in tracking down OG, and then persuades him to come back to the place where he’s helped everyone for such a long time.

Oh crumbs, BP, I clearly missed more than I thought. Perhaps OG will be able to read your apology now. We can but hope.

That said, you are offering a valuable service to the board, and it would be nice if a way could be found for both of you to be posting. The problem on the board is that it's so public, and it's all text based. It's easy to take offence, and it's not easy to discuss it since everything has to be out there in full view.

OG came over to me as a gentleman of the old school (I hope that isn't offensive - it's intended as a compliment), but clearly I missed something quite serious. Let's hope it's not terminal.

Finally - how did you find the thread? I thought this was in OG's private space, but I confess that I have little idea how the h2g2 system works! (I'm not good with technology, really...)

LF

LF, you probably missed it because it didn’t take place on the board, it happened here – in h2g2 and then the stuff was splashed all over the LE message board. It hurt, but it served me right…

It’s very kind of you to say that I’m contributing in some way. In reality, I’m offering nothing significant to the board. It’s one of those few places where I find thinking minds at work, and hence I visit it – so, basically, I’m selfish. We have an impressive group of language experts there including you, of course. On the other hand, there are no reasons why someone should consider me an asset.

It seems I’m not going to be here for a long time, and before leaving I’d really like to see OG’s posts once again. In fact, I sometimes wonder if my participation is keeping OG away from the board.

I myself don’t know much about the working of h2g2 system. I just visit OG’s personal space once in a while, every time hoping to see some signs of activity. Sorry to disappoint you, LF. You must have thought that OG had replied. I wasn’t really planning on saying all this; it just happened. I apologise if I bothered you.

No apology is necessary from my point of view, though I do confess to feeling a slight frisson when I thought it was OG - not that it wasn't equally pleasant to find you here instead, I hasten to add!

I can't think why you wouldn't feel that you are an asset to the board - you bring the perspective of a native speaker which is what most of the questions need. I leave the complicated technical stuff to other unless I'm on very sure ground, or am quoting verbatim from my copy of Swan's English Usage!

It's an odd board in some ways, isn't it. I mean, people come from all over the world and ask questions, and some of the other posters just feel the need to put the learner's down. Just this evening, I found myself looking at a post and wondering why on earth someone felt the need to make it. All it could possibly succeed in doing was making the original questioner feel less confident. Well, what do I know? I've only been teaching professionally for a few months, so I probably should pay more heed to those with more experience. Perhaps I let my students get away with too much just because I can understand them.

Probably the correct course is somewhere in the middle.

Anyway - there's always something to be getting on with in the life of a busy networker

LF

Good morning, LF

Well, you are an English teacher, and, therefore, an authority on the subject. I am no teacher and there are so many things that I just say because they’re right. But if you ask me the reason or the “why”, I am absolutely clueless sometimes. “That’s the way it is” doesn’t seem to satisfy students most of the time.

I remember I was teaching this class of young learners at the British Council (more like voluntary service) some time ago, and a ten year old kid from Switzerland asked me--- “Why do we always do homework? Why can’t we make homework?” Now while growing up, nobody really told me why we only “did” homework, and I wasn’t certainly bright enough to ask why couldn’t we “make” homework? Anyway, I told him that that’s the way it was and he could say something like: “You can’t make me do my homework.” You know what he told me? He said: “The teacher doesn’t know the answer. The question is very difficult”! I was so embarrassed. There were tables in the room; I just wanted to crawl under one of them!

The moral of the story: Teaching is not easy and it isn’t my cup of tea certainly. It should be left only to English teachers or to “busy networkers” like you!

I am more than happy talking about the Israel-Palestine conflict, Columbia clashes, US presidential campaigns...that seems much easier, really.

But there is no other answer to that. One simple DOES homework - that is the correct verb. Just because the French only have one word for make and do is no reason why we shouldn't have two in English.

I'd have shoved him in a lake and got on with the rest of the class!

LF

"I'd have shoved him in a lake and got on with the rest of the class!"



Easier said than done, LF!

Yeah - sometimes, if they're bigger than you, there's not so much you can do...

LF