What exactly am I 'wrong' about? If he chose to leave it out of the pre-BB assessment that he has to have undergone, that's on him, really, isn't it?

Otherwise he hasn't been diagnosed with dyslexia or they know he has dyslexia and still gave him a spelling test - which would be all kinds of wrong.

In any event, the main difference between you and me is that I can discuss the subject without resorting to getting personal or invested.

Danny, and many other housemates (note the OP did not name Danny and was about a number of hms and hms in general) display a level of ignorance and a pandering to the growing acceptance of stupidity as an endearing attribute that I find quite extraordinary and noteworthy. You're not obliged to find it so.

Where do you think it commonly appears?

I see "kayak" more than "canoe". I can't remember the last time I saw "canoe". I've seen the actual object (a canoe) much more often than I've read the word, though that may just be because my family had a couple of them when I was growing up.

Yes of course that'll be it. lol

It wouldn't be all kinds of wrong. And i've gave my view why in a post.
Also have you not seen what BB are coming out with now sex tapes the lot. BB these days is hardcore. lol

Umm no. Kayak makes sense but the spelling of canoe with an oe at the end doesn´t make sense to me at all. I would (and english isn´t my first language) NEVER have thought that thats how you spell it. Canu, Canoo makes sense. Canoe to me doesn´t.

I tried to find details of how common each word is but neither came up on most of the freely
available sites with limited totals (obviously I didn't exactly try that hard ).

I did find that Wiktionary gives word frequency info using a specific system that I don't have
time to check (and therefore can't vouch for or explain) so this is hardly definitive. Anyway...

Canoe was the 3716th most common (the next most common was "protest")
Link to page... https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wikti...006/04/1-10000

Kayak was the 28344th most common (next was "lakh")
Link... https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wikti...04/20001-30000

Google Ngram seems to suggest that canoe has become less common in more recent
years whereas the opposite is true for kayak albeit with canoe far more common still.
The Wiktionary lists are from several years ago also.

Additionally canoe is prominent as a word that is commonly misspelled according to some sites.

I know that doesn't exactly clear much up really but it passed ten minutes when I am supposed
to be doing some proper work.

In the post I was answering, you were making a point about the OP when you said "if you read the OP, it's not just about this series, or just about Danny - it's about the creeping difference between, say, the BB3 reaction to Jade's ignorance and this year's reaction to Danny's." Indeed, the implication seemed to be that anyone who didn't think the thread was about the 'creeping difference' must not even have read the OP.

But neither the OP nor the thread's title is about a difference in reaction over time; the difference is just one of the many points that's come up during discussion.

I don't think there has been much of a change, though. Helen was very popular during bb2, and Jade's unpopularity during bb3 was far more due to other things.


But if such other things are more important, why is such a problem that "his fellow hms and lots of viewers seem to think that (his dimness) really isn't an issue"? Why should it be an issue in BB? Unless he was faking, he clearly did struggle to get his head around the way "canoe" is spelled, so when he succeeded in remembering it, why shouldn't the HMs see it as an accomplishment?

Rather than finding it worrying, I think it's good that the HMs weren't being judgmental and weren't making fun of him or sneering.

I've always read Canoe as Ca-Know - I feel really embarrassed. It didn't occur to me to pronounce it like shoe. lol. I await the judging. lol.

Yes, there are many examples from many HMs, including HMs who most people think are intelligent, and most instances are forgotten.


But the OP did name Danny. It said "... but we have an absolute half-wit (Danny) being deified and admired both inside and outside the house. ..."

That's interesting, and points to a useful resource, but I find it hard to believe that "canoe" is anywhere near as common as "protest". It certainly isn't in what I read, and in this frequency list of the 2,000 most common words in contemporary fiction, "based on over 9,379,000 words of contemporary fiction gathered online", "protest" is 1389th and "canoe" does not appear (meaning it's beyond 2000th).

The list you used seems to be based on all the books in Project Gutenberg which are "typically book editions published before 1923". Perhaps some of them use "canoe" an awful lot?

This Google Ngram comparison of "canoe" and "protest" also has "protest" as significantly more used than "canoe", except for a point in 1829 where the graphs almost touch.

Yes I agree something doesn't seem right about the details. It maybe just makes my post even more useless than it already was. I am not surprised either by the other list showing "protest" higher with "canoe" not present.

I am also dubious about how these lists are created in general. I didn't realize about the 1923 thing which is a crucial detail. But also I am not sure they consider newspapers every time and obviously can't include everyday speech.

As for canoe I knew how to spell it but I think plenty of folk would find it tricky because it is not spelled phonetically. To be fair though I think most of the posts here are about the level of praise he got. Of course, you could argue that is just them being supportive and nice to him which is a good thing (I think you might have said similar).

As I mentioned earlier, reading a word doesn't mean you'll know how to spell it.

Perhaps you remember how to spell every word you've read, but I certainly don't. I don't pay that much attention to the individual letters.


I've seen more posts ridiculing Danny for supposedly being unable to tell the difference between the sun and the moon.


It's pretty simple, really: I read a lot, and I seldom see it. And the spelling is pretty odd. About the only words in which "oe" has that "oo" sound are "canoe", "manoeuvre" and the (admittedly common) "shoe".

Dyslexia doesn't mean a person is thick so Danny doesn't have it

Of course it doesn't it means they can have difficulties with certain thing's.

From what's said on this page, it looks like the frequency list you used is based on the books Project Gutenberg has scanned and made available online, and so it wouldn't include newspapers. It is interesting, though, and I'm surprised (and intrigued) that "canoe" did so well.


Yes, I tried to say something like that.

I think the level of praise was largely because emotions tend to be heightened in BB anyway, and they'd been excited and willing him to succeed.

Thanks


Sorry about that muggs, my boys found everything about Joey Essex and his delivery of lines hilarious, the nose blowing in particular.



I'm having a total brain fart reading this. First of all, I don't think all of what Joel says is an act or demonstration of politician's tricks. Just because he displays a verbal dexterity that more often than not confuses the listener in the house does not necessarily mean he's setting out to trip them up. They often accuse him of it because it's a quick and easy way to stop the discourse and from possibly revealing what may be their own hidden agendas, manipulations and bag of tricks they may have up their sleeve. They link what he does and aspires to be with what he says and how he says it. His reputation proceeds him.

Secondly, a lot of people get picked on for displaying intelligence and having a thirst for knowledge and get left out of cool and popular groups so I have no clue how that links in with your survival of the fittest (strongest) bullying type analogy.

Lastly, if you honestly believe that intelligence levels can not be fluid, are set in stone and can not be raised or lowered by any external and internal forces (like physical strength) then I'm at at a loss to know what to say to that. Perhaps may be reading more books and asking lots of questions make no difference whatsoever.

I'm well aware about dyslexia given it runs in the family

Where does it say Danny has it though?

Stupidity is very popular with the stupid. It makes them feel less stupid.

It doesn't no one has said it does. But some people with experience of it or knowledge or both, have spotted a few signs.
Of course there will be others who also have experience like yourself who totally disagree. Obviously that's fair enough.

I attended a conference last week and met a lad who quit University, despite doing OK, in favour of an Apprenticeship. He said "I really hate that word 'clever'. What does it even mean? Like beauty is in the eye if the beholder, so is cleverness, whoever is making the comment, that is what they think clever is. I feel like every person is really good at a few things and not at everything else and that is good, it means we need and can help each other. I think that was meant to happen, no man is an island for a reason".

I prefer the empirical to the hypothetical. I think you are being deliberately evasive, or perhaps you struggle with the concept.

I read a lot too but that really has nothing to do with my thinking canoe is as commonplace a word as plate or spoon.

That's nice. This is what you were wrong about:


and:

So Ketamine - which is it.
1. Danny is not a diagnosed dyslexic.
2. Danny is a diagnosed dyslexic but he withheld that information from BB.
3. Danny is a diagnosed dyslexic and BB - knowing this - gave him spelling tests; twice.

Yes if he has it I don't see anything wrong in giving spelling tests. Because as long as people around do not make the person feel really stupid and inadequate... Most dyslexics don't mind it and can have a laugh with it, as Danny did in the diary room after he spelled canoe correctly. Shouting come on yesss to himself.
Also the other housemates were very supportive 99% of time through out it all.