Remember the Housing "Bubble"?
mike weber
The one that lots of people were sure wasn't going to burst?
{quote}
Gone are the days when companies could move employees and new hires
around like puppets on strings. Now, the sluggish housing market is
creating hassles for employers and employees struggling to move and to
sell homes in what has quickly turned into a buyer's market.
Employers are sweetening incentive packages to get workers to move
and, for the first time in years, fielding questions from leery job
candidates about what sort of relocation benefits the company
provides. Employees are turning down relocations, selling their homes
at a loss, spending months in corporate housing while they wait for
properties to sell, or in some cases, renting out their homes and
becoming long-distance landlords. It's a major shift from just a
couple of years ago when employees were eager to move and cash out on
their appreciating home values.
Forty-six percent of companies say recruiting employees is becoming
more difficult as the housing market turns tepid, according to a 2006
survey by Prudential Relocation.
Three in 10 of those who turned down a relocation did so because of
housing and mortgage concerns, according to a 2006 survey by Atlas
World Group. That decision can come at a price: More than half of
companies had an employee decline a relocation, and 35% of employers
say turning down a move hinders an employee's career.
{/quote}
(more)
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2007-03-14-relocate-usat_N.htm?csp=1
--
mike weber (fairp...@gmail.com)
============================
My Website: http://electronictiger.com
===================================
If you take in a starving dog off the street, and feed him, and make him prosperous, he will not bite you.
This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
- Mark Twain
Keith F. Lynch
> The one we talked about here a few months ago?
> The one that lots of people were sure wasn't going to burst?
I'll believe the housing bubble has burst when I can afford a house.
(Why, yes, it *is* all about me.)
> {quote}
> Gone are the days when companies could move employees and new hires
> around like puppets on strings.
Were there ever such days? Most people have friends, relatives, and
other connections in one place. If there were ever such days, I think
they mostly ended when the two-income family became the norm. Why
completely derail one spouse's career so that the other can get a
small raise?
People who move around a lot in search of employment, like in _The
Grapes of Wrath_ are usually derided as "drifters" or "rootless."
This is often used against people if they're accused of a crime.
> More than half of companies had an employee decline a relocation, ...
More than half of what companies? The vast majority of companies are
small, with just a single location, and only recruit employees near
that location.
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.
Paul Dormer
(Keith F. Lynch) wrote:
>
> mike weber <fairp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > The one we talked about here a few months ago?
> > The one that lots of people were sure wasn't going to
> > burst?
>
> I'll believe the housing bubble has burst when I can
> afford a house.
Well, there's a four bedroomed semi-detached just gone on the market
in the north of England, a snip at £140K. My siblings and I are selling
my father's house. We've already had an offer.
It's about twice the size of my house in Guildford, and the garden is
about five times the size, but the estate agents in the area have
valued it at about half of what I'd get for my house.
Keith F. Lynch
> k...@KeithLynch.net (Keith F. Lynch) wrote:
>> I'll believe the housing bubble has burst when I can afford a house.
> Well, there's a four bedroomed semi-detached just gone on the market
> in the north of England, a snip at £140K.
That's about a quarter million dollars, which is way outside my means.
It's also way too far for me to commute. And I doubt I'd be allowed
to immigrate to the UK anyhow.
mike weber
wrote:
>mike weber <fairp...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> The one we talked about here a few months ago?
>> The one that lots of people were sure wasn't going to burst?
>
>I'll believe the housing bubble has burst when I can afford a house.
>
>(Why, yes, it *is* all about me.)
>
>> {quote}
>
>> Gone are the days when companies could move employees and new hires
>> around like puppets on strings.
>
>Were there ever such days? Most people have friends, relatives, and
>other connections in one place. If there were ever such days, I think
>they mostly ended when the two-income family became the norm. Why
>completely derail one spouse's career so that the other can get a
>small raise?
Considering that the article main point of the article is how much
things have changed recently, yes, there was.
>
>People who move around a lot in search of employment, like in _The
>Grapes of Wrath_ are usually derided as "drifters" or "rootless."
>This is often used against people if they're accused of a crime.
In this case we're talking about people who already have jobs, whose
meployers want them to move; as pointed out in the text you snipped,
in that situation, to *refuse* to move hurts your prospects, as often
as not.
I'll have to look back and make sure i gave the URL so that people
with questions like this can read the full article, which is much
longer and more detailed.
>
>> More than half of companies had an employee decline a relocation, ...
>
>More than half of what companies? The vast majority of companies are
>small, with just a single location, and only recruit employees near
>that location.
More than half of companies surveyed, which, by definition, are those
large enough to move people around.
I wasa actively recruited for an electronics tech job in Louisville KY
a few years ago, and somewhat less actively, but still asked if i'd
like to move there. for one in New Orleans. (My answer was "yes", but
they deiced not to hire anyone at that time, after all.) In both
cases, it was a small company, with one main location.
--
mike weber (fairp...@gmail.com)
============================
My Website: http://electronictiger.com
===================================
No use looking for the answers when the questions are in doubt - Fred leBlanc, "The Love of My Life"
Karl Johanson
>> k...@KeithLynch.net (Keith F. Lynch) wrote:
>>> I'll believe the housing bubble has burst when I can afford a house.
>
>> Well, there's a four bedroomed semi-detached just gone on the market
>> in the north of England, a snip at £140K.
>
> That's about a quarter million dollars, which is way outside my means.
> It's also way too far for me to commute. And I doubt I'd be allowed
> to immigrate to the UK anyhow.
It's likely against your aesthetics, but if you switch to British
spelling that might colour their opinion of you and they may authorise
you to move there. You could then capitalise on the British job market
and get a job with a nice organisation as a programmer. Not to the point
where you could buy a house in a nice neighbourhood with a cheque, but
you might be able to get a loan allowing you to amortise the cost over
time. They may think you have a chequered past, but you could emphasise
your demeanour at the immigration centre to convince them to let you in.
I haven't seen indications that you're clamouring to get there though,
so maybe you'll baulk at the notion. And maybe you'd rather not fly an
aeroplane that many kilometres, and you don't favour the security
measures.
Karl Johanson
Keith F. Lynch
> It's likely against your aesthetics, but if you switch to British
My county's spelling, right or wrong.
You may be sceptical, but may I be sent to gaol, locked in a lorry's
boot, or even hit over the head with a kerbstone (in which case I'd
need to take paracetamol) if at any time during the two thousand
billion seconds of the Caenozoic I ever considered moving to
perfidious Albion. I don't think I could be ensured against that.
If I were to move there, I'd probably never see my mum again, as she's
never in that neighbourhood. I think it would be a bad manoeuvre.
I wouldn't want to live in a council flat and ride a lift, even if I
got to be a councillor, ride a tram (made of aluminium) to work (if I
can make my connexion to get to the city centre), and eat my favourite
liquorice-flavoured doughnuts and digestive biscuits. Especially
not if I had to work as a clark, doing cataloguing, as I'm better at
maths, writing computer programmes, and playing draughts.
Jette Goldie
"Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote in message
news:ethnkp$1ip$1...@panix1.panix.com...
Eh? Speak English, man!
--
Jette Goldie
je...@blueyonder.co.uk
http://www.jette.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
http://wolfette.livejournal.com/
("reply to" is spamblocked - use the email addy in sig)
Marilee J. Layman
p...@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) wrote:
>In article <eth13o$7f8$1...@panix3.panix.com>, k...@KeithLynch.net
>(Keith F. Lynch) wrote:
>
>>
>> mike weber <fairp...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > The one we talked about here a few months ago?
>> > The one that lots of people were sure wasn't going to
>> > burst?
>>
>> I'll believe the housing bubble has burst when I can
>> afford a house.
>
>Well, there's a four bedroomed semi-detached just gone on the market
>in the north of England, a snip at £140K. My siblings and I are selling
>my father's house. We've already had an offer.
When you convert that to dollars, it's about the same value as condos
like mine are selling for and the condo is 863sqft. No garden.
Marilee J. Layman
Ha!
Paul Dormer
(Keith F. Lynch) wrote:
Not bad, but "computer program" is the one case in English where we
spell it the US way. Also, lorries don't have boots, I'd say. Only cars
have boots.
Curious to see in a recent 100 Years ago column in the Scientific
American a reference to the bonnet of a car. Presumably the use of
"hood" is more recent than 1907.
Paul Dormer
(Keith F. Lynch) wrote:
> if I had to work as a clark,
Oh, and although we pronounce it that way, we still spell it "clerk".
Peter Trei
> mike weber <fairp...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> The one we talked about here a few months ago?
>> The one that lots of people were sure wasn't going to burst?
>
> I'll believe the housing bubble has burst when I can afford a house.
>
> (Why, yes, it *is* all about me.)
An engineer at your level generally *can* afford a house. You'd
probably need to get a car and commute though. Its your choice not
to do so.
>> Gone are the days when companies could move employees and new hires
>> around like puppets on strings.
>
> Were there ever such days? Most people have friends, relatives, and
> other connections in one place. If there were ever such days, I think
> they mostly ended when the two-income family became the norm. Why
> completely derail one spouse's career so that the other can get a
> small raise?
Sure there were. People used to say that 'IBM' actually stood for
"I've been moved". In the 60's and 70's my father's job (with a
US advertising agency) moved us to 4 different countries. His next
job (with a large US corporation) moved him to 3 more in the 70's
and 80s. My mother (a nurse) had a portable skill and could find
work most places.
You are correct to point out that the two-profession household
is far less likely to move. This goes along with the decline in
'employee loyalty'; people have less to lose now changing jobs
to stay in one place: instead of pension plans, you get 401ks,
which aren't lost when you change jobs. Companies are also more
willing to bring in people from outside, whereas in the past they
tended more to promote from within.
> People who move around a lot in search of employment, like in _The
> Grapes of Wrath_ are usually derided as "drifters" or "rootless."
> This is often used against people if they're accused of a crime.
Changing jobs more than once a year certainly raises an eyebrow in
the IT business. However, changing jobs every 2-3 years is
perfectly acceptable, and no one gives a flying f*ck if you change
location to do so.
Peter Trei
Paul Dormer
> On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 16:10 +0000 (GMT Standard Time),
> p...@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) wrote:
>
> >In article <eth13o$7f8$1...@panix3.panix.com>,
> k...@KeithLynch.net >(Keith F. Lynch) wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> mike weber <fairp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > The one we talked about here a few months ago?
> >> > The one that lots of people were sure wasn't going
> > > to >burst?
> >>
> >> I'll believe the housing bubble has burst when I can
> >> afford a house.
> >
> >Well, there's a four bedroomed semi-detached just gone
> on the market >in the north of England, a snip at
> £140K. My siblings and I are selling >my father's
> house. We've already had an offer.
>
> When you convert that to dollars, it's about the same
> value as condos
> like mine are selling for and the condo is 863sqft. No
> garden.
There was a report on the news recently that first-time buyers in the
UK are now finding it difficult to buy something in their price range.
When I bought my first place, a two-bedroomed flat in SE London back
in 1980, mortgage lenders were recommending that your mortgage
should be about 1.5-2 times your annual salary. I can't remember
what my annual salary was back then, but the mortgage was for
£15,000. (I paid £17,000 for the property, I recall, the £2,000
difference being made up from money I'd saved.)
These days, apparently, people are going for mortgages five times
their salary. I'm sure this must make keeping up the mortgage
repayments very difficult. My most recent mortgage was for £58,500,
and the repayments were about £470 a month when I retired. My
salary then was about £30,000 pa and my mortgage repayments were
about a quarter of my take-home pay every month. (Although my
mortgage repayments were slightly higher than what a first-time
buyer would have had to pay. The usual term for a mortgage is 25
years but as that would have taken me past my company's
compulsory retirement age, the term had been reduced to 18 years.)
Bernard Peek
>
> These days, apparently, people are going for mortgages five times
> their salary. I'm sure this must make keeping up the mortgage
> repayments very difficult.
True, but that;s the difference between interest rates of 5% and 15%. If
interest rates went up to 15% mortgages would again be limited to twice
salary and houses would be priced accordingly.
--
b...@shrdlu.com
In search of cognoscenti
Keith F. Lynch
> When I bought my first place, a two-bedroomed flat in SE London
> back in 1980, mortgage lenders were recommending that your mortgage
> should be about 1.5-2 times your annual salary.
(!) If only. I could pay that out of pocket rather than getting
a mortgage. That amount wouldn't even suffice as down payment and
closing costs.
> These days, apparently, people are going for mortgages five times
> their salary.
The cheapest houses around here cost about 15 to 20 times the median
salary, i.e. 20 to 30 times the median after-tax take-home pay.
Interest on a 30-year mortgage roughly doubles those numbers.
Basically, a two-income family may be able to afford a house if both
people have salaries that are substantially above average. There is
a mortgage interest tax exemption, which means that for sufficiently
high-income people, it's actually cheaper to buy than to rent!
> My salary then was about £30,000 pa and my mortgage repayments were
> about a quarter of my take-home pay every month.
Rents on the cheapest apartments around here are about half the median
take-home pay. Mortgages of course cost much more.
> The usual term for a mortgage is 25 years but as that would have
> taken me past my company's compulsory retirement age, the term had
> been reduced to 18 years.
I think about half the mortgages around here are 30 years, and the
rest are interest-only, i.e. you continue to owe the entire principal
forever, and never gain any equity. I'm not clear on in why this is
called "buying" rather than "renting." Maybe the theory is that it's
a way to lock in the purchase price, and after another 20 to 30 years
of inflation will whittle it down to something you can refinance with
a traditional 30 year mortgage.
Reverse mortgages are increasingly popular. People who *have* houses,
instead of leaving them to their children, use them to finance their
retirement or their medical bills.
Paul Dormer
(Keith F. Lynch) wrote:
>
> Reverse mortgages are increasingly popular. People who
> *have* houses,
> instead of leaving them to their children, use them to
> finance their
> retirement or their medical bills.
This would have been my father's case, if he had lived longer. He
went into a retirement home at the beginning of the year for respite
care, but after six weeks he was thinking along the lines of making it
more permanent, which would have involved selling his house to
finance care home fees. A few days later, he died.
Keith F. Lynch
> Keith F. Lynch wrote:
>> I'll believe the housing bubble has burst when I can afford a house.
>> (Why, yes, it *is* all about me.)
> An engineer at your level generally *can* afford a house.
I'm not an engineer. I think I could pass the tests to become one,
but I'm not allowed to try.
> You'd probably need to get a car and commute though. Its your
> choice not to do so.
Parking downtown costs about $14 a day. Not to mention the costs of
fuel, title, tags, insurance, taxes, tolls, maintenance, and, oh yes,
the car itself. I'm supposed to be able to afford all that *plus* a
house? Maybe if I was the *CEO* of an engineering firm. Or if I was
an average government employee, of course.
> ... This goes along with the decline in 'employee loyalty'; people
> have less to lose now changing jobs to stay in one place: ...
Employee loyalty declined after employer loyalty did.
>> People who move around a lot in search of employment, like in _The
>> Grapes of Wrath_ are usually derided as "drifters" or "rootless."
>> This is often used against people if they're accused of a crime.
> Changing jobs more than once a year certainly raises an eyebrow in
> the IT business.
I've never done that. I'm on my fifth job in 28 years.
> However, changing jobs every 2-3 years is perfectly acceptable, and
> no one gives a flying f*ck if you change location to do so.
For certain values of "no one." If you read the case histories of
people falsely convicted of serious crimes, many of them were targeted
because they had either recently arrived in town or because they
left town shortly after a serious crime was committed. For instance
Randall Dale Adams, who had moved to Texas to accept a job, was
described, during his trial, as a "drifter." He was convicted of
murdering a policemen, rather than the actual killer, a native Texan,
who fingered him.
Keith F. Lynch
> k...@KeithLynch.net (Keith F. Lynch) wrote:
>> if I had to work as a clark,
> Oh, and although we pronounce it that way, we still spell it "clerk".
When did this change? I know it used to be, and sometimes still is,
spelled with an "a." Google on "works as a clark," "worked as a
clark," etc.
Jay E. Morris
The other extreme.
Jeanne Louise Calment (February 21, 1875 - August 4, 1997) reached the
longest confirmed lifespan in history at 122 years and 164 days. Her
lifespan has been thoroughly documented by scientific study; more records
have been produced to verify her age than for any other case.
.....
In 1965, aged 90, with no living heirs, Jeanne Calment signed a deal, common
in France, to sell her condominium apartment en viager to lawyer François
Raffray. Mr Raffray, then aged 47, agreed to pay a monthly sum until she
died, an agreement sometimes called a "reverse mortgage". At the time of the
deal the value of the apartment was equal to ten years of payments.
Unfortunately for Mr Raffray, not only did Ms Calment survive more than
thirty years, but Mr Raffray died of cancer in December 1995, at the age of
77, leaving his widow to continue the payments.
......
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Calment
Keith F. Lynch
> Not bad, but "computer program" is the one case in English where we
> spell it the US way.
I almost spelled it -- sorry, I mean "spelt it" -- "computre programme."
Oops, I should have put that period outside the quotes.
I'm still hoping someone from your side of the pond will try and write
something an American English.
Bernard Peek
If anyone else finds themselves in that position in the UK they need to be
careful. The government insists that it is not necessary to sell your house
to pay for nursing home care on the NHS. However many local authorities
haven't got that message and will try to persuade the elderly to sell their
houses.
Jette Goldie
"Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote
> instead of leaving them to their children, use them to finance their
> retirement or their medical bills.
When one has no children, has a property with a substantial
equity and is looking ahead at pension plans that don't deliver as
much as one would prefer, one finds the idea of reverse mortgages
quite comforting.
Jette Goldie
"Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote
> fuel, title, tags, insurance, taxes, tolls, maintenance, and, oh yes,
> the car itself. I'm supposed to be able to afford all that *plus* a
> house? Maybe if I was the *CEO* of an engineering firm. Or if I was
> an average government employee, of course.
There's no such thing as an "average" government employee. Certainly
you won't find anyone who actually earns "the average government
employee wage". A few earning a LOT more and most earning a
LOT less.
Jette Goldie
"Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote in message
news:etjuj6$dp6$1...@panix1.panix.com...
> Paul Dormer <p...@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
>> k...@KeithLynch.net (Keith F. Lynch) wrote:
>>> if I had to work as a clark,
>
>> Oh, and although we pronounce it that way, we still spell it "clerk".
>
> When did this change? I know it used to be, and sometimes still is,
> spelled with an "a." Google on "works as a clark," "worked as a
> clark," etc.
I've never seen the job title spelled that way - always "clerk".
"Clark" is the spelling for a name, suggesting that perhaps at
sometime in the past it has been an alternative spelling.
Jette Goldie
"Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote in message
> Paul Dormer <p...@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
>> Not bad, but "computer program" is the one case in English where we
>> spell it the US way.
>
> I almost spelled it -- sorry, I mean "spelt it" -- "computre programme."
>
> Oops, I should have put that period outside the quotes.
>
> I'm still hoping someone from your side of the pond will try and write
> something an American English.
We do all the time.
Keith F. Lynch
> "Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
>> I'm still hoping someone from your side of the pond will try and
>> write something an American English.
> We do all the time.
I mean write something with as many things as possible in it that are
named or spelled differently in American and British English, using
the American variant in each case. The reverse of what I just did.
Jette Goldie
"Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote in message
news:etk237$a21$1...@panix1.panix.com...
> Jette Goldie <boss...@scotlandmail.com> wrote:
>> "Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
>>> I'm still hoping someone from your side of the pond will try and
>>> write something an American English.
>
>> We do all the time.
>
> I mean write something with as many things as possible in it that are
> named or spelled differently in American and British English, using
> the American variant in each case. The reverse of what I just did.
That's normal for a Brit on usenet - we usually have to give
US spellings and variants of UK words because otherwise
USians don't understand us.
Paul Dormer
(Keith F. Lynch) wrote:
>
> Paul Dormer <p...@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
> > k...@KeithLynch.net (Keith F. Lynch) wrote:
> >> if I had to work as a clark,
>
> > Oh, and although we pronounce it that way, we still
> > spell it "clerk".
>
> When did this change? I know it used to be, and
> sometimes still is,
> spelled with an "a." Google on "works as a clark,"
> "worked as a
> clark," etc.
According to the OED, the spelling was obsolete in the 18th century,
although it gives no example of "clark" in its current meaning at all.
(It used to mean a priest.) Chambers doesn't give that spelling.
Paul Dormer
boss...@scotlandmail.com (Jette Goldie) wrote:
>
> "Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote in message
> news:etjuj6$dp6$1...@panix1.panix.com...
> > Paul Dormer <p...@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
> >> k...@KeithLynch.net (Keith F. Lynch) wrote:
> >>> if I had to work as a clark,
> >
> >> Oh, and although we pronounce it that way, we still
> > spell it "clerk".
> >
> > When did this change? I know it used to be, and
> > sometimes still is,
> > spelled with an "a." Google on "works as a clark,"
> > "worked as a
> > clark," etc.
>
>
> I've never seen the job title spelled that way - always
> "clerk".
> "Clark" is the spelling for a name, suggesting that
> perhaps at
> sometime in the past it has been an alternative
> spelling.
Then there's Superman's English secret identity, Clerk Kant.
Keith F. Lynch
> k...@KeithLynch.net (Keith F. Lynch) wrote:
>> When did this change? I know it used to be, and sometimes still
>> is, spelled with an "a." Google on "works as a clark," "worked as
>> a clark," etc.
> According to the OED, the spelling was obsolete in the 18th century,
> although it gives no example of "clark" in its current meaning at
> all. (It used to mean a priest.) Chambers doesn't give that spelling.
I know I've seen it spelled that way in books. And I don't have any
books from the 18th century or earlier. (I do have a few from the
early 19th century, and more than a few from the late 19th.)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/94/a4758294.shtml has:
Eventually, after two years we moved to Spittle Gate in Grantham.
I worked as a clark and on a whole had a lovely time.
http://www.balagan.org.uk/war/iberia/1909/personalities.htm has:
Abd-el-Krim returned to Melilla in 1906 and took a job as a clark
in the Bureau of Native Affairs.
http://hampshireflag.co.uk/world-flags/allflags/fr-14-ho.html has:
Boudin started his career as a clark in a stationer's shop, where
the painters were his customers. He was too shy to show them his
work, until he met the great poet Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), ...
http://www.au-pair-world.co.uk/index.php/aupair_detail?&a=376769 has:
I'm am 21 years young girl. I've done a apprenticeship as a
commercial assistant and now I'm working as a clark.
That's two from the 20th century, and one each from the 19th and 21st,
all from UK sites. All of them appear to mean a clerk, not a priest.
Keith F. Lynch
> Then there's Superman's English secret identity, Clerk Kant.
He's the one who flew around the world faster than light to he could
go back through time to the 18th century and write the "Critique of
Pure Reason"? I always throught he was German.
How did he change identities? They didn't have phone booths in the
18th century.
Karl Johanson
>> Then there's Superman's English secret identity, Clerk Kant.
>
> He's the one who flew around the world faster than light to he could
> go back through time to the 18th century and write the "Critique of
> Pure Reason"? I always throught he was German.
>
> How did he change identities? They didn't have phone booths in the
> 18th century.
Telegraph booths.
Karl Johanson
mike weber
<boss...@scotlandmail.com> wrote:
>
>"Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote in message
>news:etjuj6$dp6$1...@panix1.panix.com...
>> Paul Dormer <p...@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
>>> k...@KeithLynch.net (Keith F. Lynch) wrote:
>>>> if I had to work as a clark,
>>
>>> Oh, and although we pronounce it that way, we still spell it "clerk".
>>
>> When did this change? I know it used to be, and sometimes still is,
>> spelled with an "a." Google on "works as a clark," "worked as a
>> clark," etc.
>
>
>I've never seen the job title spelled that way - always "clerk".
> "Clark" is the spelling for a name, suggesting that perhaps at
>sometime in the past it has been an alternative spelling.
Ditto - never seen it spelt that way, just as "leftenant" is spelt the
same way on both sides of the pond (and, in my opinion, not pronounced
correctly on either side).
I recall the story - probabl;y apocryphal - of Eisenhower consulting
with some British officers, one of whom asked him where Americans
learnt to pronounce "schedule" with a "K" sound, as it is obviously
properly pronounced "shed-yuel".
Esisehower is said to have replied "In Grammar Shool."
--
mike weber (fairp...@gmail.com)
============================
My Website: http://electronictiger.com
===================================
No use looking for the answers when the questions are in doubt - Fred leBlanc, "The Love of My Life"