Brand names, slang, and spelling

[David]

Jim Ferer:
>   Are 
> public address systems still called a "Tannoy" in Britain, for 
> example? 

Occasionally - usually by older people.  We wear macs and clean with 
hoovers, not normally at the same time.  We also write with biros, 
but I'm not sure if that was ever a brand name.  I don't think a 
temporary structure is called a portakabin (I think it's with a 'k' 
in the brand name) unless it really is one, though.  Likewise Nissen 
huts.

Amy:

>Some of the stuff from the album, like "ballyhoo girl," might be 
particular to a narrow field of endeavor (in that case, carnival 
midways), or maybe Knopfler coined it. Ballyhoo does mean 
advertisement, so a ballyhoo girl makes sense as a kind of barker.

I think to ballyhoo may mean to broadcast by shouting, so that makes 
sense.  Otherwise I have come across ballyhoo as a noun meaning fuss 
or disturbance.

Jim again, quoting Nancy:

>"...I have been slandered, called crazy in public forum's, ..." etc.

Is it wise to expose our more easily-led newbies to this sort of 
stuff?  I mean, here we are, working tirelessly to uphold a decent 
standard of spelling and grammar, and this so-called role model can't 
spell "forums" properly.  I think the moderators should be told.

David

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