Again, I beg to differ. Other reputable and up-market London newspapers such as The Observer and The Financial Times as well as broadcasting media such as the BBC use ‘referenda’ and ‘fora’.

[Daphne – No, they don’t. Media organisations of that calibre have style guides which they are bound to adhere to, so they will not switch between two forms of the same word – referenda/referendums, fora/forums. I don’t have time to check The Observer and I don’t read it. But a quick check of The Financial Times and the BBC, The Economist and the official UK electoral information and government sites shows the use of ‘referendums’ and not ‘referenda’ and ‘forums’ not ‘fora’. Fora and referenda are used mainly by foreigners speaking and writing English – in other words, they are no longer properly idiomatic.]

Citing the word ‘fora’ instead of ‘forums’ be it in a conversation or per a written rendering would certainly imply that the individual uttering or writing such, is erudite and way ahead of the uninitiated.

[Daphne – It actually implies the opposite, Zorro. It implies pedantry, misplaced pretension and a lack of familiarity with idiomatic English. And it marks you out clearly as somebody who has ‘learned’ the language and not quite properly. So I wouldn’t, if I were you. I can’t remember how many times I had this argument with politicians and others in the run-up to the 2003 referendum, when the pages of our newspapers were literally encrusted with references – mainly by speakers of an archaic form of Indian English – to referenda.]

Again, I must humbly emphasise that the reason for writing at length about this matter is not to be snobbish or to patronise but to modestly aspire to attain a high standard in the quest of elusive perfection. Not doing so would result in making do as minimalists. We should never rest on our laurels as we should constantly bear in mind that the competiton is a pathetic seventh-rater. The latter should never, at any time, be resorted to as our benchmark.

[Daphne – I can’t understand what you’re trying to do, honestly. Teach The Financial Times that it’s referenda and not referendums?]

http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Always-Returns-Its-Vomit/dp/0978660625

In fact, was this not the MEP who pressed the Yes button, when he meant to say No, and pressed the No button when he meant to say Yes?

Hilarious yet sad, especially since Maltastar is THE Labour news site.

No, we’re not the same person. He’s got the balls to reveal his name and surname, and I don’t.

As his former boss famously said, he was learning on the job.

I rather like the look and sound of MaltaRaTS. It describes their approach to news perfectly – take something, turn it around and sprinkle liberally with capital letters.

Iva. Kien sar low-budget German flick (le, MHUX “German Scheisse movie”) hemmhekk. Taht hajt tas-sejjieh u bajtra tax-xewk.

Props? Nah. We’ll let the raw, smouldering, Mediterranean ambience shine through.

“Igsma tal-Pariri” – The searing tale of a Maltese civil servant in Brussels. Coming to a partially roofless theatre near you.

I think that the MUT and the Ministry of Education should stop squabbling over money and concentrate on the quality and outcomes of the increasingly expensive education bill. It can’t be that there are still students, children, coming out of the system with barely any basic general knowledge or the basic ability to read and write.

The removal of streaming from primary and secondary education, the lack of continuous assessment of both students and teachers, the simplification and reduction in the number of subjects taught up to ordinary and advanced level matriculation, the continuous reduction of days making up the scholastic year and the hours spent at schools are but part of the problem which no one wants to face.

Sure, one can blame society and parents but we’re in a situation where society is paying through its collective nose for a very expensive educational system but society is not getting an adequate return. The least said about parenting skills of certain parents the better especially when one considers that the students in our skills come from parents who themselves were members of the ‘sin party’ generation which never really grew out of the party mentality (as shown elsewhere quite evidently in this blog).

Oh… and, of course, I haven’t forgotten the ‘useful’ (ahem) contribution of the party media and certain production companies in instilling in the minds of young people on the need and ease of becoming media ‘per-son-al-it-aj-iet’ as if shoving graceless and untalented kids in front of cameras and microphones is enough to make it ‘big’! And if one wishes to ridicule this had better check various career surveys carried out amongst secondary school children…

This is the Malta of the future… Smart indeed!