literati: the literary intelligentsia
glitterati: highly fashionable celebrities; the smart set

We've heard these terms, and we've probably discussed some spin-offs that I can't recall at the moment. I've just encountered belligerati: writers and other members of the intelligentsia who advocate war or imperialism

There must be other such words out there, and still more waiting to be coined by us. Such as?

We obviously [ahem] need a general term by which to refer to words using this -erati ending. None exists. I hereby christen them eratica. [Fooled you with the title of this thread, didn't I?]

I always thought it would be cool to drive a Maserati. Does that count?

literati: the literary intelligentsia
glitterati: highly fashionable celebrities; the smart set
We've heard these terms, and we've probably discussed some spin-offs that I can't recall at the moment.


Speak for yourself, wordnerd. I haven't heard those words used.

However, "belligerati" is defined as members of the intelligentsia who advocate war or imperialism, as defined by the Word Spy.

I would imagine that most glitterati
Would want to drive a Maserati.
But given the choice
I believe a Rolls-Royce
Is the choice of the smart literati.

Funny, Richard!

There was an ad out by Honda not too long ago with the text "The automotive equivalent of a really hot librarian . . .". I found it embedded in this interesting treatise about the image of librarians. My husband laughed at the ad, but pointed out that REALLY hot librarians (like me) are really more like the Rolls Royce Corniche which was surprising, but very flattering to hear.

Oh, CW, that article on librarians was great! I especially liked the ad: "Librarian by day. Bacardi by night." And, that Rolls Royce was very hot! I wonder what kind of car my husband thinks I am, though I am afraid to ask.

While nurses share the "all-woman" image, and the image of "Hey, you really are smart. Why don't you go to medical school?", our personal image is the opposite: Playboy type bimbos. Here is an an article I found on the media image of nurses.

However, nurses have earned one feather for their now-defunct caps: We are usually number 1 or 2 in the the public polls on which professionals the public most respects.

What would you say is the current public image of the other professions represented on the board?

Well I'm an ESOL Teacher. For anyone who doesn't know what that is it means I teach English for speakers of other languages. What THAT means in practice is that I teach mainly asylum seekers and refugees.
I won't put down yet how I think other people perceive my profession, I'll wait awhile and see if anyone else comments first.

Do note however that although the job is similar it ISN'T EFL teching where the student base is very different.

Bob, is that similar to ESL, English as a second language? Most grad students at major universities here (at least when I was doing grad work) ended up teaching ESL. That meant our student base was foreign students who had passed the TOEFL but still lacked the facility required to do university level work.

What always amazed me was the suggested curriculum for these classes, which appeared to assume that anyone who wasn't fluent in English was also an ignorant subnormal, capable of writing about only the most superfluous topics. It was a constant point of friction between me and my faculty advisors.

It was my experience that any negative labels were reserved more for the students than for the instructor. I do hope that has changed.

which appeared to assume that anyone who wasn't fluent in English was also an ignorant subnormal

That is because many people tend to fear the unknown and the other. Anyway, my USD$0.02: I have not taught ES(O)L classes, but have tutored many non-native speakers of English from junior high school to post-graduate levels. One thing I have noticed and discussed with ES(O)L teaching friends and colleagues is that a student who is not literate in the native language tends to do badly in both learning English and other subjects in school. It's as though, on top of learning another language, they have to learn what school is about and how to get through it.

Oh, and BTW, ESL == English as a Second Language and ESOL == English for Speakers of Other Languages. ES(O)L only works as an abbreviation for the acronyms, and not for what they expand to.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jheem,

You are quite correct about literacy in one's native language being a prerequisite to good performance in ESL classes. One might think that students who had passed the TOEFL (don't remember the exact name, but a test of English fluency required by most American universities for admission of foreign students) would do well. This presupposes that the student actually took the test. In fact, I discovered that a significant number of my students from a certain geographic locale had paid someone to take the test for them. Their culture did not preclude such actions, since these were privileged and wealthy children of national leaders who were used to having others stand in their place.

ESL classes at the university level, at least where I taught, were based on an assumption that the students had a basic English proficiency. Even when this was demonstrated as being decidedly not the case we were required to work with them. A real challenge.