The Minister's Cat

[Billies Bangers]

A light hearted thread for Christmas, though with a more serious question.

I was watching A Christmas Carol yesterday which got me thinking. Who thinks we could still play the parlour game 'The Minister's Cat'? Do we still have the vocabulary and language skills our forefathers had? Remember, it's an adjective for each letter as it passes around the group.

I tried it myself and very quickly came unstuck - it's much harder than it looks.

 

[Sliver]

I like to think I have a good vocabulary and an articulate use of the language but my mental acuity would let me down playing this game.

I don't think we are dumber than 19th century people when it comes to language I just think that the vernacular has evolved. So you could flip the argument and ask could 19th century people play the 21st century version.

 

[robfosters]

Came in expecting Larry.

Left dissappointed

 

[Rroff]

I'd struggle - I left school not even knowing what an adjective was - not because I was thick (all A grades in sciences, etc.) but due to a previous Tory government messing around with the education system around the time the National Curriculum was brought in meant my year group missed 2-3 years of fundamental English lessons at junior school and my secondary school teachers were basically of the opinion it wasn't their job to make up for it.

 

[Billies Bangers]

Came in expecting Larry.

Left dissappointed

 

[Billies Bangers]

I like to think I have a good vocabulary and an articulate use of the language but my mental acuity would let me down playing this game.

I don't think we are dumber than 19th century people when it comes to language I just think that the vernacular has evolved. So you could flip the argument and ask could 19th century people play the 21st century version.

Personally when I read Dickens I think that generation's language was rich indeed. I don't know if you've ever seen an episode of 'The Good Old Days'? I used to sit transfixed listening to Leonard Sachs wax lyrical.

When you read personal letter's from those times (a) the handwriting was beautiful and (b) such a wonderful use of the English Language. I think we have lost that ability to a greater or lesser extent and are the poorer for it.

 

[Sliver]

Personally when I read Dickens I think that generation's language was rich indeed. I don't know if you've ever seen an episode of 'The Good Old Days'? I used to sit transfixed listening to Leonard Sachs wax lyrical.

When you read personal letter's from those times (a) the handwriting was beautiful and (b) such a wonderful use of the English Language. I think we have lost that ability to a greater or lesser extent and are poorer for it.

Yes but we don't have access to the common tongue of the time. Language evolves over time and so we can look back and say that they spoke beautifully but there are people today who also speak beautifully. Recently deceased Christopher Hitchens was a master of prose, easily better than any 19th century writer. If you listened to the average Joe of the 19th century you find his pose simple as he didn't have access to education. So it all comes down to a matter of perspective.

 

[datalol-jack]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_(cat)

 

[Billies Bangers]

Yes but we don't have access to the common tongue of the time. Language evolves over time and so we can look back and say that they spoke beautifully but there are people today who also speak beautifully. Recently deceased Christopher Hitchens was a master of prose, easily better than any 19th century writer. If you listened to the average Joe of the 19th century you find his pose simple as he didn't have access to education. So it all comes down to a matter of perspective.

If there was such a thing as a time machine (apart from Apple's) then I would definitely travel back to a Victorian dinner party.

 

[Rroff]

If there was such a thing as a time machine (apart from Apple's) then I would definitely travel back to a Victorian dinner party.

It would be kind of tragic - was much more pressure then to educate and bring people up to a specific standard - while it might sound educated and insightful, etc. its mostly pre-programmed back and forth - just a higher level of programming as to what the done thing was than today.

 

[Orionaut]

When you read personal letter's from those times (a) the handwriting was beautiful and (b) such a wonderful use of the English Language. I think we have lost that ability to a greater or lesser extent and are the poorer for it.

Particularly poignent are some of the surviving letters from young soldiers from the great war.

As you say, excellent handwriting and wonderful use of language.

Many of the examples of which were from perfectly ordinary private soldiers who probably worked in a factory before they joined up.

Wouldn't happen today, these sorts of skills simply are not taught any more.

 

[Deleted member 66701]

I think I'd be okay.

Since starting my degree I seem to have swallowed a thesaurus. I'd be great at a game where you had to say "according to" in as many different ways as possible!

 

[StriderX]

The internet kills any need to keep this kind or any kind of knowledge locally.

 

[datalol-jack]

'We' being positively vague, I say 'we' would be just fine.

 

[Rroff]

The internet kills any need to keep this kind or any kind of knowledge locally.

It is an interesting perspective on it.

 

[datalol-jack]

It is an interesting perspective on it.

That ping though.

 

[wolfie138]

how many people still use the word parlour? :-/

 

[Jonny69]

Came in expecting Larry.

Left dissappointed

This. Or Palmerston. So much disappoint.

 

[datalol-jack]

how many people still use the word parlour? :-/

Will you walk into my parlour?

 

[Diddums]

Not with that parlance I won't.