Room 101 - what single aspect of modern life should be consigned to oblivion?

[cloughie]

And an extremely inaccurate map of Britain, making Scotland appear the same size as Devon & Cornwall.

And most of the time they either deny the existence of Cornwall, or stand in front of it. There's also this political correctness where they have to quote temperatures in the Capitals. Living in West Cornwall, anything happening weather-wise east of Eden is irrelevant.

[MrGongGong]

There's also this political correctness .

??

Can I add the phrase "political correctness" as it seems to mean "something nebulous that I don't like, oh how I wish it was the 1950's again" !

[Flosshilde]

Be grateful that, with less than 10% of the total population of the UK, Scotland gets on the forecast at all. Actually, living in the south I am constantly berating the forecasters for starting their forecasts with NI or Scotland. The South is invariably the last place to get a mention, despite being the most populous part of the UK.

Perhaps the BBC should call itself the EBC then? But until then, the 'national' broadcaster should cover the nation equally. In the case of the weather, the symbols cover much more of the area of Scotland than they do of England, making the forecast even more inaccurate.

After all, it can be of little but academic interest what the weather is doing in Ulster for someone living in Norfolk, and vice versa.

No; my father, living south of Oxford, was always interested in what the weather was like in Glasgow, where I live.

[cloughie]

??

Can I add the phrase "political correctness" as it seems to mean "something nebulous that I don't like, oh how I wish it was the 1950's again" !

...and actually so often when used, particularly in initial form it is used in a context which has nothing to do with politics.

[Mr Pee]

No; my father, living south of Oxford, was always interested in what the weather was like in Glasgow, where I live.

Why did he need a weather forecast for that? It's Glasgow; therefore it will be raining. End of.

[salymap]

Elgar was ahead of his time, as in the fascinating book of his letters that I have his spelling is decidedly odd. Of course I think he was friendly with GBS who, IIRC. wanted to alter spelling considerably.

[Lateralthinking1]

you should remember that dictionaries, especially those like the OED, are descriptive, not proscriptive or prescriptive; that is, they record & explain language usage, not tell us what we should or should not use. So if somewhere 'goat' has been spelled as 'gote', the OED would record that first usage; if it became the dominant spelling the OED might say that 'goat' was rare or archaic. By that time I think you would be beyond caring .

Yes exactly. Probably time for me to get into the garddin.

(OED 2014, Garrddin, first use, Cocozza, County of Essex, adopted more recently in the Department for Work and Pensions, then commonplace by law)

[Panjandrum]

No; my father, living south of Oxford, was always interested in what the weather was like in Glasgow, where I live.

Yes, but that's my point. It's of academic interest (i.e. not being used for practical purposes), unless you're saying that if, in the unlikely event, the sun was shining in Glasgow he made instant, spur of the moment, ad hoc excursions to Scotland, on the basis of notoriously unreliable forecasts?

While we're on the subject of weather forecasts, does anyone know why so much of them are taken up with explaining what the weather is going to be like at 8pm, or 5am, times when the vast majority of the populace are in doors, or asleep, or both?

[Serial_Apologist]

Perhaps the BBC should call itself the EBC then? But until then, the 'national' broadcaster should cover the nation equally. In the case of the weather, the symbols cover much more of the area of Scotland than they do of England, making the forecast even more inaccurate.



No; my father, living south of Oxford, was always interested in what the weather was like in Glasgow, where I live.

We were told, however many years ago it was that they introduced the "new", computer-graphicised weather forecast presentations, that while many complaints had been received at HQ, we would eventually "get used to" the new format.

Not true!

First of all, I do not like the fact that half of the forecast is taken up describing what the weather is going to be like at 8 o'clock in the morning - as though the remainder of the day is merely incidental to the needs of morning commuters!

Secondly - and I agree with the poster who complains that Devon and Cornwall are frequently obscured by the presenter - I strongly object to the manner in which we are swept north up the western side a tilted map of the UK to a mere glimpse of a shrunken Scotland, and then southwards down the eastern side - thus losing sight of any overall picture we might make our own deductions from while at the same time being made to feel physically sick.

For those saying they only want to know about their immediate geographical locale or area, it *does* actually make a difference to your perceptions what is taking place and predicted in other parts of the country, because quite often the amateur forecaster from home with knowledge of clouds and a barometer can better deduce from looking at actual current pressure, rainfall and cloud distribution indications what weather is likely to ensue.

They should DITCH the new formats - ALL the channels - and just go back to the previous sets of presentational models.

S-A

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

While we're on the subject of weather forecasts, does anyone know why so much of them are taken up with explaining what the weather is going to be like at 8pm, or 5am, times when the vast majority of the populace are in doors, or asleep, or both?

"8pm"??? "8pm"????!! - the curfew's pretty draconian in your village, Panny! What about those of us going to concerts, dining out, visiting friends, going to the pub?

As for "5am", it is very useful for those of us who have to leave for work at, say, 6am to know whether to put the anti-frost covers on the car the night before. We may not be "the vast majority of the population", but there's a lot of us and we pay our Licence Fees!

[Nick Armstrong]

While we're on the subject of weather forecasts, does anyone know why so much of them are taken up with explaining what the weather is going to be like at 8pm, or 5am, times when the vast majority of the populace are in doors, or asleep, or both?

Now you're just trying to wind us up....

[Nick Armstrong]

"8pm"??? "8pm"????!! - the curfew's pretty draconian in your village, Panny! What about those of us going to concerts, dining out, visiting friends, going to the pub?

As for "5am", it is very useful for those of us who have to leave for work at, say, 6am to know whether to put the anti-frost covers on the car the night before. We may not be "the vast majority of the population", but there's a lot of us and we pay our Licence Fees!

Don't rise to it, Ferney me old mucker! Panny's pulling our chains (I hope )

[Panjandrum]

"8pm"??? "8pm"????!! - the curfew's pretty draconian in your village, Panny! What about those of us going to concerts, dining out, visiting friends, going to the pub?!

Presumably, you're not intending to dine al fresco at 8pm in February? I would respectfully suggest that the majority of people travelling to such engagements are likely to do so in covered transport and, consequently, whether the heavens are opening or not is largely irrelevant.

As for "5am", it is very useful for those of us who have to leave for work at, say, 6am to know whether to put the anti-frost covers on the car the night before. We may not be "the vast majority of the population", but there's a lot of us and we pay our Licence Fees!

Crikey, so you're going out for a night on the tiles at 8pm, coming back to listen to CDs and getting up at 5am. Ever find time to sleep?

Unfortunately, not every little niche market can be catered for fhg. Look, we both know that the BBC forecasts do a timeline through the day, so anyone can see what is happening at 5am, or 6am, or 3am, should they wish. If they have pause-live TV, they can even freeze the frame and goggle at the forecast at their favourite time of night to their heart's content.

[MrGongGong]

Unfortunately, not every little niche market can be catered for fhg.

That's EXACTLY what technology can do
yet it seems to be utilised to marginalise those of us who love the niches ! (solo triangle CD anyone ?)

[3rd Viennese School]

The Westward Ho! 101 is not the only coincidence. Our local bus is route 101! Gillingham to Maidstone. And has been from when they changed it from horses to buses!

Heres one. Contractors that turn up to your home late, making you hours late for work and then inform you that it's too late for them to start work on the place!

Here another. When you type endless paragraphs on this here board and realise the curser wasn't even on and you have to type it all again.