+3 votes
303 views
in Fun & Humor ☻ by
The following conversation took place between a visiting American and an Eton schoolmaster.

"Do you allow your boys to smoke?" the American asked.
"I'm afraid not," was the reply.

"Can they drink?"
"Good gracious no."

"What about dates?"
"Oh, that's quite all right," said the master, "as long as they don't eat too many."

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Link: http://www.language-translation-help.com/british-english.html

4 Answers

+3 votes
by

I love both kinds of dates! Well, I'm partial to the female dates but I love to eat dates too! Another classic Marianne! :D :D :D

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by

Lol, thank you, Rooster - these dates look indeed delicious!

:):D:D:D


+3 votes
by

Wait a minute

Why didn't the visitor ask about caning?  :O

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by

Lol, T(h)ink, that is strange indeed. :O:angel::D:D


+2 votes
by

Good one, Marianne! I will tell you, I would prolly have gotten thrown out of the British aristocracy had I been born into it, because I would never allow a boarding school to raise my children, if I had any which I do not...

by

Lol, Virginia - does that mean that you have been studying in a boarding school?


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No Marianne, my working class family of loggers we always raised our children ourselves!

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Virginia, I can only confirm my first impression: you have an excellent education in any case. :)

Lol, that reminds me of certain old songs, in which the author asks, with much humour, and very innocently, some extremely pertinent (often uneasy) questions ...

:):D



by

By the way, the girl's boarding school was very strict, not so bad, as several of my former class mates are among my oldest friends.

by

Marianne, I think I have learned something new about you? You were educated in a girl's boarding school? Was it religious-based by chance?

by

Yes, Virginia, it was a religious convent (today, it is an open church).


by

Hmmm...it DOES seem that you have mentioned this before, and maybe I forgot...

If I may ask you, how do you feel about your education, and how do you feel about the impact of living away from home? Would you be willing to educate your own children in a boarding school, away from family?

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Actually, the education for girls in these times was basing on rather sexist mentalities, and focusing on typically "feminine" jobs, duties and "servitude", while the cultural rebellions and conflicts among the youth were spreading and raising lots of uneasy questions, controversies and conflicts. Boarding schools for girls (higher education) were an alternative for professional preparation, even if they were very strict and old-fashioned. But wait, among the devoted nuns, there were some very intelligent, rather "rebellious spirits" (who were and still are studying and questioning certain "man" made "principles" of male "superiority") - and they inspired us.

But in our times, girls (from the common groups, of course) were not taken seriously (though schooling was/is, in most regions and places, compulsory, while higher education was/is expensive and involves often greater distances), as they were expected to devote themselves to family, charity, church and domestic duties or industrial and/or rural labour ... (It looks as if there was a certain tendence to send working girls and women back to low pay or unpaid "duties".)

On our side, some boarding schools had/have a good reputation, though religious schools were often considered as too strict and, somehow, as quixotic.

Actually, it is still difficult to say which education system is better: public schools, boarding schools (for higher education), home education, or other systems, as situations and circumstances vary much between regions, places, systems, mentalities, resources, beliefs, living conditions, families and the individuals to be educated.

By the way, wasn't home education also a solution to reach families living in remote or isolated regions without local schools? The lessons were/are transmitted "live" directly over broadcasting, radio, TV or video systems and, more recently, on-line connection, and teachers could communicate directly with parents and children.

I saw an Australian documentation about this form of home schooling long ago, and it was inspiring.




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Marianne, as to your Q...in Western Washington homeschooling is very popular now, however it is often parents of the far conservative Right who want to protect their children from liberal views.

Actually, I myself might homeschool my children if I were raising young ones now...but the concern for me would be more that 

1) the public education is often not good quality, and 

2) US public schools tend to be centralized and crowded and too often brutalizing.

by

Yes, Virginia, sadly enough, that reflects the widespread "mass processing" ... Additionally, too many adults are giving the wrong signals; they impose rules and principles, but they don't follow them, like "Do as I say, not as I do" ... Additionally, in many households, both parents must work, or there is only one single parent.




by

:( (tears)

by

Yes, it is rather sad.


+2 votes
by

Dates the fruit: I like them a lot.


These days I don't go on too many dates.

Just covering all bases in the response.

by

Lol, hello ajmsituation! Welcome back, and I hope that you are enjoying a good chuckle with some good old friends. :):angel::D


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Thanks :)

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You're welcome, ajmsituation.


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