American Man Mocked After He Taunts Singapore Newspaper for Using British English

Don Lovell is a consultant from Atlanta, Georgia. For some reason, he decided to take issue with the Straits Times’ use of British English on Twitter and would not quit when corrected. Out of embarrassment, perhaps, he removed his Twitter account.

Earlier this afternoon, the Singaporean publication tweeted out a report about a driver who was arrested in an alleged drunk, errrr “drink” driving case.

Annoyed by the usage of British standards, good ‘ol Lovell insisted that the phrase that should have been used was “drunk driving”.

Not to be outdone by a damn dictionary definition, Lovell said that ST — a newspaper that’s been around since 1845 during the British colonial rule with a British man as its founding editor — should actually be using American English instead.

Lovell then questioned the paper’s understanding of linguistics. A sincere query posed to an entity that’s been around since before he was even born.

“You don’t understand linguistics, do you? Where English comes from? Oh, that’s good. How about where English flourishes?”

To see how other Twitter users responded to his tirade, read more about the story on Coconuts Singapore here.

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British Museum Criticized for Saying Asian Names Are Confusing

During an interactive Twitter session #AskACurator, a curator was asked about accessibility to a diverse range of people, to which the reply was: “Sometimes Asian names can be confusing, so we have to be careful about using too many.”

That tweet caused an uproar, and British Museum tried to clarify that statement, but dug itself into a deeper hole:

Jane, Keeper of Asia: Curators write the labels based on their specialist knowledge and they are edited by our Interpretation department … https://t.co/b1nP0CQ0fS

— British Museum (@britishmuseum) September 13, 2017

Eventually, they decided to apologize:

… We aim to be understandable by 16 year olds. Sometimes Asian names can be confusing, so we have to be careful about using too many.

— British Museum (@britishmuseum) September 13, 2017

Read more about it at The Guardian.

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Professor Fired After Calling Hurricane Harvey “Instant Karma”

Visiting Assistant Professor Kenneth Storey at the University of Tampa had described Hurricane Harvey as “instant karma” for Texans. It caused an uproar, and he deleted the post.

The University issued a statement condemning his remarks:

The University of Tampa on Monday night posted a statement on Facebook condemning Storey’s comments and “the sentiment behind them,” but noted they were posted to a private account and “not made within his capacity as a faculty member.”

That statement made no reference to Storey’s future role with the university — but, in another release Tuesday, the university said Storey “has been relieved of his duties at UT, and his classes will be covered by other sociology faculty.”

Read more about it at The Orlando Sentinel.

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