8 ms·
Lessons from the Last Swiss Finishing School
- ggm 8y agoI have little doubt they try to teach the nouveau riche some manners but the question remains: can they learn?
- deathtrader666 8y agoWhat makes you ask that question?
- ur-whale 8y agoThat was a joke, I suspect.
- winningcontinue 8y agoI loved the fact that they pointed out: The women weren't there to earn wealth but to learn how to look like they had inherited it. It's no surprise that there were so many Chinese there. Social status is an very conscious part of their society's psyche.
- CamperBob2 8y agoI thought that remark on the author's part was a bit flippant and uncharitable. The Romanian flight attendant, for example, was there to learn how to better empathize with her clientele, not to learn how to fool them. Actually a pretty interesting article. Everyone who has ever met with an investor, for instance, has an interest in the underlying social dynamics. That appreciation seems to be what this sort of school tries to impart, rather than merely training people to disguise themselves as heiresses or whatever.
- tralarpa 8y agoIs the spelling of "preëmptive" with a trema correct? I know of course what a trema does, but I have never seen it being used in this word. Sorry for being off-topic. Actually not so off-topic, considering how often the word is used in CS :)
- fmajid 8y agoIt's just one of the douchey affectations that make The New Yorker such an unpleasant publication to read.
- CamperBob2 8y agoI don't see what's "douchey" about it, but it's certainly a pointless affectation with no sound basis in modern usage. The New York journalism establishment seems to be into those for some reason. My favorite is when the NYT -- uh, make that N.Y.T. -- writes acronyms like F.B.I. and I.B.M. with periods that even the institutions themselves don't use. Some kind of obscure orthographical virtue signal, I guess.
- bshimmin 8y agoIt's the house style at the New Yorker to use it wherever possible or vaguely plausible: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-the-diaeresis https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-...
- tekacs 8y agoThe use of diaeresis is a stylistic quirk of the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-the-diaeresis https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-...
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- CalRobert 8y agoIt's a nice touch in some ways. Coöperate makes it obvious I am not referring to something to do with chicken coops. If I were not a native speaker of English I suspect words like that (and reëlect, etc) would be a challenge.