Hmmm, interesting. In my first appearances on the forum, I did not use colours or exclamation marks or capital letters, but smileys  to show my playfulness, my jocular mood and YET was accused of being "sarcastic" and "caustic" only "trying to cover it up" with those little yellow faces ... Luckily, people have gotten to know me better and i ´m happy for it. I don ´t have to weigh my words (too much) before posting, but can speak my mind ... Kisses and ice cream to all of you! (now, i ´m being slightly mean here, re ice cream and dieting )

Caroline to all.

 

are there any specific rules apart from the normal ones or something? I mean, like the use of colors, capitals, exclamation marks, smilies, etc?Official ones that we must follow, you know. :) I know it ´s my fault for not knowing it, but if there are, I´d like to follow them so as to get along with everybody here.

 

anyway...  Thanks again.

 

cheers.

Caroline

Just a thought ... if only we could have an insight into some of the pm´s between the rival parties .. OUCH!

 

When my ss get into an argument between/among each other, i insist that they turn a deaf ear to the insult (whatever it is, even if it is about their mother) and deal with it with a "bah!" instead of an insult back. I tell them that in that way they will drive the insult-er even madder because he/she did not achieve the goal of making them lose the cool. Now they joke about it and i heard a few weeks ago a girl (who ´s in my class) reply to a boy ´s insult that she was fat (now imagine that! calling her ´piggy ´) with "I love you, too."  It made everyone crack. Even the boy who tried to tease the girl.

I say, laughter and giggle and tickle can save the world... AND eslprintables! 

 

Yes, people do have different opinions on nearly everything, and anyway, isn ´t the forum a special place to exchange them? But on the net it ´s so easy to break any rules... When I post something or write a comment, I try to imagine how my words would sound if I said them aloud in a real conversation. And one more thing: one can get insulted only if he/she lets him/herself to be insulted

 

 I know as stated I can be a little hard to understand and my form of sense of humor/sarcastic comedy nature does not type out well but still try to use it.  It is interesting that my students pick up on it even the low level English ones, but when it comes to adults it is either the old school "military type" or individuals from certain neighborhoods usually low income or artistic ones. 

 

Yes Ivona some even when we try to be as nice as possible view critics as enemy and take it personal.  What did old saying go, "Opinions are like brains everyone has one..."  Well actually it is another word than brains but didn ´t want to use it.

 

Sanchan just try to be as natural as possible.  No matter how hard we try we do have a tendency to offend someone even in the nicest method so be natural and don ´t worry the best speakers in the world have offended people but that hasn ´t stopped them from speaking their mind.

 

See if you catch the joke in the dialogue, student caught it and they had to explain it to the co-teachers.

A) Hey, __________ do you have a family day?

       B) What spend time with my family?

       A) Yes, with your mother, father and everybody in your family.

       B) Yes, we do and we chat about everything.

       A) We do too, ours is on Sunday.

       B) My dad works on Sunday, so we do it after school on Friday

 

When Insults Had Class
 
  These glorious insults are from an era when cleverness with words
  was still valued, before a great portion of the English language
  got boiled down to 4-letter words, not to mention waving middle
  fingers.
 
  The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were
  my husband I ´d give you poison," And he said, "If you were my wife,
  I ´d drink it."
 
  A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on
  the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, Sir,"
  said Disraeli, "on whether I embrace your policies Or your mistress."
 
  "He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr
 
  "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."
  - Winston Churchill
 
  "A modest little person, with much to be modest about." - Winston
  Churchill
 
  "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries With
  great pleasure." Clarence Darrow
 
  "He has never been known to use a word that might send A reader to
  the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).
 
  "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come From big
  words?" - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
 
  "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I ´ll waste no time
  reading it." - Moses Hadas
 
  "He can compress the most words into the smallest idea Of any man I
  know." - Abraham Lincoln
 
  "I didn ´t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter Saying I
  approved of it." - Mark Twain
 
  "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." -
  Oscar Wilde
 
  "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new Play;
  bring a friend.... If you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to
  Winston Churchill
 
  "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... If there
  is one." - Winston Churchill, in response.
 
  "I feel so miserable without you; it ´s almost like having You
  here." - Stephen Bishop
 
  "He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright
 
  "He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness In
  others." - Samuel Johnson
 
  "There ´s nothing wrong with you that reincarnation Won ´t cure."
  Jack E. Leonard
 
  "He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." - Robert Redford
 
  "In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always Yielded
  easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand
 
  "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without Any address
  on it?" - Mark Twain
 
  "His mother should have thrown him away and kept The stork." - Mae
  West
 
  "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, Whenever they go."
  - Oscar Wilde
 
  "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts.. . For
  support rather than illumination. " - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
 
  "He has Van Gogh ´s ear for music." - Billy Wilder
 
  "I ´ve had a perfectly wonderful evening but this Wasn ´t it." -
  Groucho Marx