Starting a new thread, as the old one has been locked.

I was half-amused and half-irritated to see a man in the town centre yesterday with a high-viz jacket bearing the slogan 'town centre environmental warden'.

Since he had the appropriate equipment with him, I assume this is what they now call street cleaners (or sweepers) at least locally.

Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against these people; indeed my late brother-in-law worked as one for several years towards the end of his working life.

But why give them such a fancy title? Except that it's the general trend.

Incidentally, in Madrid, there is a magnificent life-size statue of a street cleaner/city centre environmental warden, so that's clearly a city that appreciates them. It's not on any tourist trail, as far as I know; I found it by accident.

At least I was able to show a photo of it (in the pre-digital camera days) to my brother-in-law shortly before he died.

Edited to amend thread titles, since we're all pedants!

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''He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Jim Elliot

Shouldn't that be "pedants" rather than "pedantics" ?

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We really must stop eating like this ...

Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open.

http://setinthepast.wordpress.com/

Possibly but who cares? (Steps back very hastily to avoid the rush of outraged pedant/ics )

I still cherish one particular job I saw advertised by a local council in London who were seeking a "Social Unrest Facilitator".....

I feel that isn't quite what they meant.

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Cestina's dolls houses - Bringing Ospreys to Bavorov

But it would explain quite a lot!

I'm sorry if I've mentioned it before, but when I worked for HMRC I came across the job title 'Fish Offal Receptionist' - this being the one who swept away and disposed of all the 'fallout' from the fish-gutting.

Our local tip is called a 'Resource Recovery Centre'.

I have just read a book which uses the word 'annunciation' for 'enunciation' and 'upmost' instead of 'utmost'. It was self-published though. And, to be fair, the rest of it was quite enjoyable.

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"And I'm sure there was blood in the gutter from somebody's head, or else it was the sunset in a puddle."

Ours is called the "the Household Waste and Recycling Centre".

At least, that's what the council call it. Everyone else calls it "the tip" .

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We really must stop eating like this ...

Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open.

http://setinthepast.wordpress.com/

Yes, in a chain sandwich shop, you are a "sandwich artist" and there was an admin job where your title would be "keyboard warrior" (I don't even know where to start with that!)

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Every life is both ordinary and extraordinary – it is the respective proportions of those two categories that make that life appear interesting or humdrum.
William Boyd//Any Human Heart

At work they changed our job title to 'Customer Support Executive'. It was better than the alternative, which was 'Customer Service Angels'.

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"And I'm sure there was blood in the gutter from somebody's head, or else it was the sunset in a puddle."

I would willingly go back into admin if I got to have that as my job title!

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'I'm sorry, I only play for sport.' - Lara Croft

ANGELS!? What the...? Urgh, so demeaning. And what about male admins?



It was for a very trendy (Scottish) craft beer company, all their titles are like that. It would personally do my head in

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Every life is both ordinary and extraordinary – it is the respective proportions of those two categories that make that life appear interesting or humdrum.
William Boyd//Any Human Heart

It's the female staff it doesn't work for....don't forget that all the angels we know by name are male.

Given how often people shorten such titles by just using the initial letters I think the Citizens Advice service chiefs were thinking of something else when they came up with the title Advice Service Supervisor....

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Cestina's dolls houses - Bringing Ospreys to Bavorov

Ah, yes Cestina I forgot about the angels we know and was more focusing on Charlie's Angels - it's still horrid though!

As for the CAB oh dear.

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Every life is both ordinary and extraordinary – it is the respective proportions of those two categories that make that life appear interesting or humdrum.
William Boyd//Any Human Heart

I draw the line at "angels", but I'd actually rather have an affected sounding title than the patronising "one of the lads/girls in the office". Or, worse, "clerk" - sounds like something out of Dickens.

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We really must stop eating like this ...

Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open.

http://setinthepast.wordpress.com/

Isn't keyboard warrior usually used in a derogatory sense?

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"[Reprint means] word for word, comma for comma, not a mutilated updated version revised to take account of current fads and vocabulary." Antonia Forest

On revisiting this thread after a few days' gap, that was precisely my thought, so I've changed it!



There is a temping agency here called Office Angels. Not sure whether it's just North West, but its Head Office is in Liverpool.

I am registered with them, but they've never offered me any work, in spite of telling me nearly a year ago that they were 'desperate' for audio typists who could use the old-fashioned dictaphones!

And I had to register twice with them, because my original registration got 'lost' in their internal computer system.

ETA Just realised that I can't edit the main heading, maybe a kindly mod could do it for me, if they read this post. Thanks.

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''He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Jim Elliot

Go back to your first post and edit that - think that works

I used to work with two very nice ladies who both came to the office via Office Angels , but that was a long time ago.

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We really must stop eating like this ...

Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open.

http://setinthepast.wordpress.com/

Me too - but I could have done without my then boss saying that, if they were angels, I must be the Office Devil!!

Very frustrating English lesson today! The basic concept was rewriting sentences to change the present tense into the past tense, which is all very well in principle... except the example paragraph the teacher chose to show the children how to do it was not in the present tense at all, but the past progressive.
Now, changing the past progressive into the simple past is a perfectly valid exercise... but please do not refer to it as the present tense in the process!

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"In the absence of knowledge, it is easier to judge than to understand."
James Axtell, 'Moral Reflections on Columbus'

Thanks, JS. After I'd logged out, I remembered that was the way to do it from the days when I posted stories on the old SDL.

I have now done it.

ETA But apparently it only works for the original title thread, not for subsequent posts.

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''He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Jim Elliot