Robert Hampton

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16th September 2003

Verbal Diarrhoea
Posted by at 11.31pm | 2 responses | Uncategorised

Spent tonight helping kid sister with her English homework. She’s studying A Christmas Carol, which, according to her teacher, is a didactic novel about the parsimonious Ebeneezer Scrooge.

Didactic? Parsimonious? Are these just words English teachers use to make themselves sound more intelligent than us mere mortals? If so, then it’s working, because I (no intellectual slouch, I might add) had to look both words up.

I feel so stupid, or should I say Benighted?

2 Responses
  1. Comment by Rob
    17th September 2003 at 12:48 am

    As an English student at Leeds university I have to say yes these are words intended to scare the layman into thinking that English is a proper subject. Hell, I’m a 2:1 student and i couldn’t tell you what they meant.

    I couldn’t even tell you what an adverb was. Chreche for adults? Bah!

  2. Comment by Seb
    17th September 2003 at 11:19 am

    The word “didactic” is used all the freaking time by my tutors. I think pretty much everything written pre-Romantics was supposed to be didactic.

    I still only have a vague inkling of what it actually means.