Re: "Gymnasium"

In message <c717c5ef-d6d6-4d9e-9aa3-0ae3e2a493dd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Peter T. Daniels <grammatim@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes
On Mar 25, 12:10 pm, "Richard Wordingham" <jrw0...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
<benli...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:bbec22ca-00e9-4b6a-810a-3ab4605a27eb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> On Mar 25, 12:56 am, "Peter T. Daniels" <gramma...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> On Mar 24, 2:02 am, "Heidi Graw" <hg...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> > IIrc, Gymnasium is actually Grammar School.
>> > This where where the smarter-than-average students are funneled
>> > into so they can learn to do all the mental gymnastics which
>> > professionals are expected to perform throughout their careers.

>> Except that's not what "grammar school" means in English.

> My copy of the Unknown Oxford Dictionary (2003) says
> "(in the UK) a state secondary school to which pupils are admitted on
> the basis of ability. Since 1965 most have been absorbed into the
> comprehensive school system".

As a ex-grammar school boy, let me also confirm that Heidi got it right and
Peter displayed his ignorance of the Queen's English.

Not all so-called 'grammar schools' were in the state sector.  There were
also the direct grant schools, which were independent but funnelled off the
very brightest in their catchment areas in return for a 'direct grant' from
the government.

It's amusing how you pretend that an archaic usage

Hardly. There are half a dozen operating within 30 miles of me right now.

from a minority
community among the world's native speakers of English ("the Queen's")

Not just hers, but _all_ varieties of English English. And Welsh and Irish and Australian Englishes, and probably others too.

should be determinative of the meaning of the word.

"Grammar school" is an old-fashioned term for "elementary school,"
i.e. the first six years, before junior high or "middle" school.

Only (at most) in cultures where "elementary school" and "junior high" might have some meaning. We're not all in Kansas now.

So your parochial usage is more determinative than his. How amusing.

--
Richard Herring
.

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