From: McKay family (music@fl.net.au)
Date: Thu Apr 30 1998 - 06:32:20 EDT
These stories beg to be followed by my brother's experience in Grade 3. His
teacher had just defined the word "ebb" with the sense of "flow" and
Christopher felt he should show Mr Walmsley the error of his ways, and
proceeded to point out that the Concise Oxford Dictionary said that "ebb"
means to recede, and that "flow" meant the opposite.
Mr Walmsley told the class that this demonstrated how even the Concise
Oxford Dictionary can be wrong!
Which, of course, necessarily leads to my late colleague, Roy, who was a
nervous English immigrant sitting in a class where the teacher was waxing
eloquent about the River Thames [pronounced as it looks, and rhyming with
"James."] Roy timidly put up his hand and said "Sir, I think it should be
pronounced TEMS," at which, he was immediately called to the front of the
classroom and caned for impertinence!
David McKay
music@fl.net.au
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