I'm "Old Fashioned"

[Lulu]

I learnt to type over 10 years ago at TAFE and we were taught one space, so it's been a while.

Gawd, no wonder that librarian looked at me like that

[TeniBear]

I find mail addressed in the past to Mr & Mrs DH very very uncool... though I also know it was the done thing.

Do you mean (using DH and I as an example) Mr & Mrs Scott Reid? Even though I've only been married three months, it really grates on my nerves getting mail addressed to us like that. Or worse "Mrs Scott Reid" - My name is Tenielle, not Scott. Scott is my husband. I took his surname, not his entire name. I even put it on our "wedding website" before we got married that I'd be annoyed/upset at getting things like this.

Aaaaaanyway, I haven't really addressed anything to do with the OP, but I didn't have much to say about that anyway

[Inanna]

Yes Teni that's what I mean... It "feels" like the wife is identified solely by her husband - which I know was true back then...Grrrrrr

[Bathsheba]

Isn't it just that little bit easier to read text (especially when it's in a large block) if there is two spaces after the full stops? Punctuation should be a reflection of the rhythm of speech... surely people speak with a bit of a pause between each sentence... it doesn't come out as one long flat drone. Speech has undulations. Punctuation is meant to reflect those subtle rhythms. so it's both a visual and aural thing... you "hear" what you read.... don't you?

I type in forums in a very different manner to how I write in other situations. I NEVER use the word 'kinda' in other formats. I "get" that you should use the method appropriate for the audience. However some things should remain constant... or is this old fashioned of me? Some progressive people believe we should alter the English language so that spelling is all phoenetic. Now if they do that i will really dig my heels in!!!! Oh for goodness sake... if you eliminate the 'w' from two then think of the confusion. Right will be "rite" so will write. No and know will be spelt the same... so maybe a person will have "no rite to no their rites" or is that "rights". A right and a rite will be spelt the same... will we lose the subtle meaning of each of these words?

It just makes me so cross. It's really not that i want to be posh or that think i am more polite and "proper" than anyone else! It's just that life is richer with the subtleness that old fashioned ways often preserve.

I've gone on so many tangents that I've probably lost you all... but getting back to clothes at least.

I like wearing thongs... they are perfect at the pool, or pottering around the house on a hot summers day. But maybe shoes and clothes are like food: better when saved for the right season? A time and place? When eaten/worn out of season it can all go very wrong. I know some people like wearing jeans...and that's ok... some people like eating strawberries all year round and don't seem to notice if they taste a bit wrong in the middle of winter? I remember the old days when stone fruit were only available at a certain time of year... when they were in season... and i swear they tasted sweeter for the wait.

Linking back to language: I remember a time when you spoke differently in different situations... more formally at times, more casually at other times. People were ok with the need to change the way they spoke according to the time/place. Now days it seems as if everyone simply wants one mode of speech: casual. They only want one mode of dress: casual. What will come of this in the long run? Will special events maybe not feel that special once our language is fully casualised? Will we be happier if we see the leaders of our country slouching (no need for formal body language either) all over the seats in Parliament House, wearing thongs and jeans, saying "OK guys this is how it's gonna be! i reckon we should (that's spelt "shood" now BTW) just do whatyever... y'know".

Off my soapbox now. I'm not saying we should be sitting upright at our computers with books on our heads to ensure correct posture... i just think language, dress, behaviour is like fruit. Best served and eaten according to the time and place. I guess i'm just arguing against blandness. I like my new suit that i bought yesterday and i like my jeans... call me old fashioned... i just want to preserve the subtleness of life.

Actually... I do know that when it comes to raising babies i am most definitely NOT old fashioned! *hands on hips* Although co-sleeping, BFing to 2+ years, baby wearing is older than modern civilisation My cloth nappies might keep me in Old Fashioned status though... but who knows... it might catch on... you young-uns give me hope in that regard

[Bumperstump Cummerbund]

Yes Teni that's what I mean... It "feels" like the wife is identified solely by her husband - which I know was true back then...Grrrrrr

I must've been born in the wrong era - I loved it when people addressed our wedding gifts to Mr & Mrs T Jones! But I'm old fashioned in a lot of other ways, I really would prefer to be 'looked after' by my husband and not go out to work and spend all day caring for my house and visiting with my friends. I reckon I should've lived around the time of Anne of Green Gables, everything just seemed so romantic then

Gee, I only learned to type about 10 years ago, and I only found out 3 weeks ago not to double tap - but I still do it! And I didn't know about the no state thing, but I'm still gonna do THAT one too, because I want to know what state its going to!

[Inanna]

I hear what you are saying Bath - & I love much that is old...
I like thankyou notes that are hand written - so I always try to remember to post one off..
I like invitations that are hand written - not emailed ones... (though I am flexible enough to be perfectly okay if someone else sends one - I just prefer to send a written one from me)
I like the little doilies with the beads over a jug of milk..
I like tea out of a bone china cup.
I like to dress up - I dress up a lot - sometimes I over dress - but that's me. I like to dress up.
Most days I have a flower in my hair...
I love jeans - but I also love my flowy skirts.
I love lacey trims...(metalicus being a favourite - but that's another topic)

As for language. The english language is quite a ridiculous language with the way it spells many words... I often lament at the difficulty for children trying to learn...

I also like it when a man holds the door for me - rather than letting it go so it flings in my face...
I like a man who pulls out my chair for me...

I wish we wore hats more - I love hats!

Completely off topic post... Sorry...

[Lolli]

Inanna, you reminded me- Thank you notes! Why doesn't anyone do thankyounotes anymore? Especially for this like weddings and engagements. A bombinierre is just that- a thak you note should come after, and preferably in the post

Ever since reading Little Woman, I've wanted to get a letter that starts....

Mrs DH,
Dear madam-

Because I like pomp and circumstance, and that is just waaay cool

ETA- Back on topic- kinda (kind of? ). I never learnt to dounble space. I have actually never heard of that till just now

[sas85]

If I called my boss Mr "...." instead of his firstname he would in all seriousness think I was being sarcastic or coming on to him. My GP's introduce themselves by their first names - that seemed weird to me as was always Dr "...." it's like I'd like to make an appointment with Dr . . . umm . . Jane" it feels wrong to me still.

I double tap - and I learned not to do it and not to indent and to put everything on the left when I first did my business course at 15, but it's easier to read and to be honest - unless we're talking about a subpoena or something of that nature - as long as it looks professional, sounds professional, everything is grammatically correct and easy to read in obvious business format - I don't think it's an issue for most industries. I'm sure they'd rather have that then someone who might slip into 'sms' talk or slang in their business correspondence.

And, I'd much rather have someone come in for a job interview and be a bit more old-fashioned (more formal and polite) then take liberties and be overly casual without being invited to do so. (I would doubt the common sense of a person who came in for an office interview with thongs on - though afterwards some businesses might expess a casual dress code etc) - even my brother puts on at least a business shirt and pants for interview and he's a factory worker) I don't really think it's possible to be too old-fashioned in that sense KWIM. I mean, if you walk into a job interview and say "nice to meet you Mr Smith" and he says "call me John" that's friendly, comfortable and not awkward. If you walk into a job interview and say "nice to meet you John" and he looks at you and says "Mr Smith" or his PA does - well - that'd be hard to recover from.

[suse]

On some of the typographical conventions - some trivia:

- A single space following the end of a sentence has always been used in newspaper and publishing typography. This was predominately to maximise space and reduce publishing costs (for example, consider how many sentences a novel has. In an average book the additional spaces can easily add several pages). Additionally, letterpress typesetting was used in these media and the extra spaces increased the amount of time taken to typeset a piece. Like the QWERTY keyboard layout, the double spacing at the conclusion of a sentence was used primarily as a reaction to the technical limitations of typewriters (older manual typewriters had a tendency to jam after a stop - the extra space avoided this) - rather than being a consideration to reading it was purely a technical workaround. As electric typewriters and then word processors have phased out manual typewriters, the convention has been brought into line with other typographic forms.

- The convention of including the state when writing addresses has not changed, accepted postal formatting should always be used.

- It is still usual practice to include sender address details at the top of correspondence unless a letterhead is used, in which case it is redundant.

[~MummaBear~]

Wow, there is so many things in there that i have never even heard of. I had no idea you ever double tapped after a full stop and no one ever addrssed anything to me as Mr and Mrs DH .
BW- when I was in high school we always said sir or miss to and i never had a second thought about it, maybe you should start calling your students, student, it has certainly given me something to think about.
I do see that there seems to be a certain level of respect lost when all of these old fashioned ways went out the window. Just didnt realise how much things had changed so fast.

[Bathsheba]

Not OT at all Inanna happy for this thread to be a celebration of all that is "old fashioned"

With regard to English spelling: it's tricky but I have noticed (with the basic knowledge I have of LOTE) that often the complexity results in a richness. I'm not saying English is the best/most beautiful language (I think French sounds/looks more beautiful )... but often we have 10 synomyms to another languages 5 (words with similar but subtle difference/nuance).

Suse: that paragraph looks like it has doubble spacing after each full-stop LOL Very interesting though.

[Kazbah]

ooooh good topic!

I hate thongs and ugg boots in public "dressed up". Thongs are casual wear and ugg boots belong off the shopping centre! And crocs! THEY ARE JUST CLOGS! Wear lace-up shoes!

Language - I like the subtleties of the English language. I like that I identify as Australian as I use an "s" instead of a "z". I still use 2 spaces after a full-stop even though the auto-correct function takes it out. I don't use spell check, and still I have the best spelling in my team. (coincidence? I think not!)

I like being addressed as Mrs Trev ... and get annoyed when people ask why I changed my name - well, I'm a Mrs and proud of it! I call my doctor Dr B... and my son's carers as "Mrs Jane" and "Mrs Nicole" and still get confused when my boss says "just call me Phil".

[Astrid]

I am sure when I submitting business reports for Uni that they stipulated double spacing after a full stop along with many other things. Always had a fight with a ring in lecturer from another Uni as she did not want bullet points in assignments, but the Uni requirement was that we used them. I can't help it I still double space, but then again it was only in the last week that I found out that things had changed.

I am interested Bath in what they meant by your Resume being old fashioned. Mine using format from about 6 years ago and was seen as a very good resume back then, I wonder if I need to change it.

I am a bit old fashioned. I am surpised at how casual many people are when they go out to dinner. Dinner out used to be something special, so even if wearing jeans, they were your best one with your best top, hair done nicely etc. Now some people almost seem dirty with how casual they are. Coming from me that is saying something, as I do tend towards being scruffy, it is in my genes.

I remember going to school camp and having to write the letter home. It had to have the address on the right etc. They spent a lot of time with us making sure we got the format completely right.

[Bathsheba]

Regarding my resume... apparently it needs to start with "Skills" not the old fashioned "Education" (this goes further down). You also must not put in hobbies and interests. Just two examples that spring to mind... that the agent mentioned today.

[Tish]

Thanks for the news about the two spaces after a full stop being 'out' now. I started a thread on that and the majority of BB girls who replied agreed that only one space was needed - and you've doubly confirmed that for me!

Apparently computers automatically put a large enough space after a fullstop to not require 2 spaces

[Astrid]

Thanks for that. I have my education and additional training courses listed near the end. Don't bother with hobbies either. So mine is looking fine then.

[Kazbah]

They also don't like volunteer work such as CFA / SES as this implies they may need to cover you during fire / cyclone season, instead of seeing you as an upstanding community member.

[Floweryfields]

I am clearly old fashioned as I didn't even know that you don't put two spaces after a fullstop. How do you possibly change that in your brain anyway and why don't you?
I have a number of young girls work for me and am regularly reminded how 'old' (I'm 33) I am! I just cannot for the life of me use predictive text, just can't do it!