4 ms·

Absolutely love the work done here! Only change I would make is change "rubber" to "eraser" to help more English speaking children understand the content (:

LeoPanthera 2y ago
Since it's a spoof of gov.uk, "rubber" is correct!
- matteason 2y ago
  Oh god I knew this would be contentious I've just changed it to 'eraser' but actually I should make it conditional on your navigator.language...
  - mbreese 2y ago
    I applaud your commitment to this bit. Thank you for making the world a nicer place.
rob_c 2y ago
Given the source of truth is British English, the maths says no.
- cpfohl 2y ago
  Ooh! Perfect opportunity to ask a question I’ve definitely not spent an inordinate amount of time wondering about without bothering to look for an answer! Is maths in British English plural? Like, should that be “the maths say”?
  - matteason 2y ago
    It's always "maths" not "math" but we'd always say "the maths says" and I've never questioned it until right now
    - speerer 2y ago
      Just like "the science says" (but unlike "the English say" ;) ).
    - timthorn 2y ago
      It's still singular. Maths is just a contraction of mathematics, but without an apostrophe.
    - cpfohl 2y ago
      Thanks! Now I have more questions, but they're better. This is good progress.
  - chupasaurus 2y ago
    Mathematics is uncountable (:
    - dullcrisp 2y ago
      And dense!
- avs733 2y ago
  Given the (highly memed) state of dental health in the UK it seems reasonable they would be responsible for this.
chupasaurus 2y ago
Even in Soviet textbooks for English in elementary schools (which are garbage by any standard) both variants were presented (:
- chrisweekly 2y ago
  I have a TEFL certificate (Teacher of English as a Second Language) and I'm a native speaker and avid reader -- and this was the first time I ever encountered "rubber" as a synonym for "eraser". The benefit of the latter term is it's unambiguous and easily understood.
  - chupasaurus 2y ago
    I agree on eraser being superior. I have an even weirder example from Russian language: file, folder and pocket are 3 out of dozen different words being used to describe a plastic envelope for documents in various regions and people don't understand each other. I remember only one more.
harripa 2y ago
As has already been pointed rubber is common British English, but perhaps more interestingly the etymology of name of the substance comes from this usage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eraser#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eraser#History

LeoPanthera 2y ago

Since it's a spoof of gov.uk, "rubber" is correct!

matteason 2y ago
Oh god I knew this would be contentious I've just changed it to 'eraser' but actually I should make it conditional on your navigator.language...
- mbreese 2y ago
  I applaud your commitment to this bit. Thank you for making the world a nicer place.

rob_c 2y ago

Given the source of truth is British English, the maths says no.

cpfohl 2y ago
Ooh! Perfect opportunity to ask a question I’ve definitely not spent an inordinate amount of time wondering about without bothering to look for an answer! Is maths in British English plural? Like, should that be “the maths say”?
- matteason 2y ago
  It's always "maths" not "math" but we'd always say "the maths says" and I've never questioned it until right now
  - speerer 2y ago
    Just like "the science says" (but unlike "the English say" ;) ).
  - timthorn 2y ago
    It's still singular. Maths is just a contraction of mathematics, but without an apostrophe.
  - cpfohl 2y ago
    Thanks! Now I have more questions, but they're better. This is good progress.
- chupasaurus 2y ago
  Mathematics is uncountable (:
  - dullcrisp 2y ago
    And dense!
avs733 2y ago
Given the (highly memed) state of dental health in the UK it seems reasonable they would be responsible for this.

chupasaurus 2y ago

Even in Soviet textbooks for English in elementary schools (which are garbage by any standard) both variants were presented (:

chrisweekly 2y ago
I have a TEFL certificate (Teacher of English as a Second Language) and I'm a native speaker and avid reader -- and this was the first time I ever encountered "rubber" as a synonym for "eraser". The benefit of the latter term is it's unambiguous and easily understood.
- chupasaurus 2y ago
  I agree on eraser being superior. I have an even weirder example from Russian language: file, folder and pocket are 3 out of dozen different words being used to describe a plastic envelope for documents in various regions and people don't understand each other. I remember only one more.

harripa 2y ago

As has already been pointed rubber is common British English, but perhaps more interestingly the etymology of name of the substance comes from this usage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eraser#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eraser#History