Wordcraft Home Page    Wordcraft Community Home Page    Forums  Hop To Forum Categories  Potpourri    What do they teach them?
Go
New
Find
Notify
Tools
Reply
  
What do they teach them? Login/Join
 
Member
Picture of BobHale
posted
I have just watched an episode of Young Apprentice where the teenagers were engaged in a variation on the usual "treasure hunt" task. Mostly it was unremarkable but I did find it amusing that one team spent the whole episode discussing the meaning of "candelabrum" without managing - even once - to pronounce the word correctly. Presuming that the use of a dictionary is banned (surely, if it isn't, SOMEONE should have thought of it.) but even so it isn't that uncommon a word. They still didn't know by the end of the program when Alan Sugar had to tell them.


"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
 
Posts: 9423 | Location: EnglandReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Kalleh
posted Hide Post
Besides that, Bob, it's one of those words that is fairly easy to just figure out what it means, wouldn't you think?

I was on a word board before starting WC, which was prior to July, 2002. I remember then I used a dictionary for all my word questions. Once, when I mentioned that, someone asked why I didn't just use the online dictionaries. Since then, I haven't used a real dictionary in ages. That is kinda sad, really, because they have a lot more detail. Do others here use real dictionaries, rather than online ones?
 
Posts: 24735 | Location: Chicago, USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Richard English
posted Hide Post
So far as I can tell it is one of those strange words whose plural means that same as its singular, both candelabra and candelabrum meaning:

"...Branched candlestick; ornamental; has several lights..."


Richard English
 
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UKReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Kids today. Get off my lawn!
 
Posts: 2428Reply With QuoteReport This Post
<Proofreader>
posted
quote:
one team spent the whole episode discussing the meaning of "candelabrum" without managing - even once - to pronounce the word correctly.

Assuming there was a dictionary available and also assuming they were aware they were not pronouncing the word correctly. If I didn't know it, I would on first seeing it think it might be can-DEL-a-brum.
 
Reply With QuoteReport This Post
  Powered by Social Strata  
 

Wordcraft Home Page    Wordcraft Community Home Page    Forums  Hop To Forum Categories  Potpourri    What do they teach them?

Copyright © 2002-12