Lateness Of The Hour

Last year, I attended a benchmarking course for PMR English. The speakers, a Punjubi and a Tamil, pointed out common errors of students to all participants.

"Now, turn to page 10, look at one error," said the Punjubi lady.

We turned to page 10 as instructed.

"Look at the sentence 'He chose to stay at home because of the lateness of the hour."

I was scratching my head, not knowing why it was wrong.

Then, the Punjubi lady said, " The major error is 'lateness'. The correct sentence should be 'He chose to stay at home because it was late."

I raised my hand and said, "But I think the sentence is right. It is not wrong to use the word 'late' in the form of a noun."

The Punjubi lady shook her head, saying: "No, there is no such word as 'lateness'."

Gasping in incredulity, I said, "There is, as far as I can remember!"

"Then your memory fails you," cut in the Tamil teacher. Some teachers dissolved into derisive laughter.

The Punjubi lady looked triumphantly at me and went on.

" Now, let us look at another...."

"Excuse me, " I interrupted, "Do you want to see my dictionary? The word 'lateness' can be found in it."

"No," The Punjubi lady shook her head in frustration, " I am very sure that the word 'lateness' does not exist."

Two veteran teachers rose from their seats and said, " We agree with Puan Sawaran, the word 'lateness' is wrongly used."

"But I have always come across it in novels," I remonstrated.

"Sit down, Mr. Lo," said the Tamil lady, coming to the Punjubi teacher's rescue. "We are teaching you proper English. The two of us, plus the other two teachers here, have a combined teaching experience of nearly 150 years."

I was so angry that I went speechless. I plonked down on my seat, feeling hurt.

Comments

Anonymous said…
You should have thrown your shoes -one at the Punjabi and the other at the Tamilian.

It's okay to walk home with naked feet.
January 17, 2012 at 1:26 AM
Anonymous said…
I can relate to this. "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt." - Abraham Lincoln

They might have learned the truth by now. If not, a sad country we have indeed.
January 22, 2012 at 9:42 PM
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