----- Original Message ----- From: "David Tubbs" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 4:56 PM Subject: Re: [Ql-Users] Punters
>I have been severely rebuked by a gentleman who wishes to be known as an > "attendee" at the Birmingham Workshop. He assures me that his nautical > ambitions are zero and that he has never been on a punt in his life. > > Pity he is not a reader of this list, nor of dictionaries it would seem. > > There is nothing nautical about a punt, dangerous on the briny. > Any grammatical fault is mine - a bad precis of what was written to me. > This is a serious matter. Over the years the term "punter" has been used > for the non-traders, non-Quanta committee members who attend workshops. It > does have derogatory connotations, but I find "attendee" far to formal a > word. > > If there is anything deprecatory about the term it is of the traders, > suggesting as it does that anything on offer is a bit wager, will it work > or not. > Good point. I think this is one reason why I have doubts about the term. > At 14:16 08/10/2007 +0100, you wrote: >>An important part of the planning of QL is 21 was a "lady's programme". On >>the website I wanted to use the term "partner programme", which I felt was >>the better modern usage. JM objected to this. Sarah Gilpin held us >>figuratively apart and tactfully suggested "guest programme", which is >>what >>we used, > > Suggests to me she or the guest of indeterminate gender was on their own, > a > game of patience perhaps ? > > Or was "partner programme" a dating game ? > What a good idea for a future workshop! In an email last week I described the attendance of the complete Quanta committee as "The Full Monty". I was amused to read on the hotel's website today that the room we had can accommodate 15 people for a cabaret performance. BTW a pity you could not make it on Saturday. It is always interesting to meet someone with whom you have occasionally sparred. And thanks to all those people who did attend. You gave both Quanta and myself a huge morale boost, Best Wishes, Geoff _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
