Is it me?

[Rhiannon]

Absolutely nothing in this article makes me think of ‘having fun’.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/477NFD4XsDnYkNh8v5Q73Rt/the-eight-party-season-commandments

[Owlswing]

Absolutely nothing in this article makes me think of ‘having fun’.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/477NFD4XsDnYkNh8v5Q73Rt/the-eight-party-season-commandments

Maybe it is an age thing 'cos I agree with you.

[Harrowby Hall]

There seems to be a message of desperation: You will enjoy yourself. 

Woman's Hour isn't what it used to be.

[Shaker]

Commandments? FFS.

I love drinking and music as much as the next man, but that's when I choose to embrace them, not because I'm supposed to. There's nothing less fun than organised fun.

[Humph Warden Bennett]

Our Xmas Party was yesterday.

I stayed for two hours, when I realised that I was feeling p8ssed & the area manager was still about, I quietly slipped away.

[Owlswing]

Commandments? FFS.

I love drinking and music as much as the next man, but that's when I choose to embrace them, not because I'm supposed to. There's nothing less fun than organised fun.

Usually because it is the organiser's idea of exactly what constitutes fun?

[Shaker]

Precisely.

[Rhiannon]

Not always the organiser’s, certainly other people’s.

I haven’t been hung over since I was about 15. Feeling like I had got a combination of d&v and early menopausal night sweats wasn’t hugely enjoyable, as I recall.

[Robbie]

Ooooh, don't remind me (plus terminal influenza).

No it isn't just you Rhi. Strikes me as a group of people with nothing much to do trying to think up something Christmassy - and failing.

[Rhiannon]

Ok, so here's another one.

Why has 'to gift' suddenly become a thing? 'I gifted him some socks'. Wtf?

[Robbie]

I hate that distortion of the English language - gifted and gifting. I see it everywhere!  Honestly, drives me potty.

[Owlswing]

I hate that distortion of the English language - gifted and gifting. I see it everywhere!  Honestly, drives me potty.

It is just another sign of American taking over from English - like in football, players no lonbger "score", they "net", and they no longer "pass", they "assist"!

[Robbie]

I didn't realise it was an American import.

[jeremyp]

I think some of the commandments are pretty reasonable:

- don't run out of booze

- get the music right

- get the guest list right, although, personally, I would count having Kanye West singing as a failure

- drink responsibly

- don't forget to go home

All seem pretty reasonable to me. Some of the text in between was pretty cringe worthy though. I wonder how many times you can tell people

"I’ve just had an invite for my friend’s 50th next June and I got that two months ago, so this person’s very, very keen, he wants to make sure everyone is going and there are no excuses. It’s Noel Gallagher. He’s very, very organised"

before one of them punches you in your smug little face (where "you" is Fran Cutler).

[Harrowby Hall]

I didn't realise it was an American import.

It is the process which is American -  creating a verbal form from a noun. It seems that an individual who cannot bring the appropriate verb to mind at any particular moment produces a construction which he or she hopes will be immediately understood.

I could fill pages with American usage I dislike - such as the New York-Italian pronunciation of "harass". George Bernard Shaw said that the USA and Britain were two nations divided by a single language and the Gershwin brothers wrote a song essentially about British and American English differences.

I have heard - but require confirmation of this - that some American usage is 17th century English usage which does not reflect changes which have occurred in "British" English usage (eg gotten and dove for got and dived). One thing that "British" users of English should remember, however, is that our usage of English was effectively hi-jacked  by an "invented" dialect - received pronunciation (RP).

[Rhiannon]

Tbh the ‘Commandments’ (ie tips) bit I don’t mind. It’s the idea that getting drunk and therefore hungover is ‘fun’, aligned with the idea that it isn’t ‘fun’ if you are sober.

I found the Fran Cutler thing horrifyingly funny, best thing about the piece.

[floo]

I cannot understand how anyone could claim getting drunk is fun, especially if it results in a ghastly hangover.

[Harrowby Hall]

I have an acquaintance who apparently believes in his immunity from the effects of alcohol. He enjoys drinking wine and aperitifs and their consumption is an important component in his social life.  Whenever possible, I offer to drive when we go for a meal and then refrain from everything bar one glass of wine (this has the added benefit of reducing the cost of a night out). The alternative is to share a car with someone who has consumed the equivalent of at least one bottle of wine.

I enjoy alcoholic drinks when I have them but do not seek them out. I do not drink at home - I live alone and perceive the consumption of alcohol as a social activity. When I was (much) younger I did occasionally get drunk, and very occasionally very drunk. But that was then.

Were I never to have another alcoholic drink in my life, I would not miss it.

[Shaker]

I cannot understand how anyone could claim getting drunk is fun, especially if it results in a ghastly hangover.

If you've never done it you're unlikely to know.

[floo]

I have an acquaintance who apparently believes in his immunity from the effects of alcohol. He enjoys drinking wine and aperitifs and their consumption is an important component in his social life.  Whenever possible, I offer to drive when we go for a meal and then refrain from everything bar one glass of wine (this has the added benefit of reducing the cost of a night out). The alternative is to share a car with someone who has consumed the equivalent of at least one bottle of wine.

I enjoy alcoholic drinks when I have them but do not seek them out. I do not drink at home - I live alone and perceive the consumption of alcohol as a social activity. When I was (much) younger I did occasionally get drunk, and very occasionally very drunk. But that was then.

Were I never to have another alcoholic drink in my life, I would not miss it.

I enjoy a glass of a decent wine occasionally, but like you if I never touched alcohol again I wouldn't miss it.

[floo]

If you've never done it you're unlikely to know.

A fact for which I am more than grateful, having witnessed the affect of over indulgence of alcohol on other people.

[Aruntraveller]

I'm sorry floo you are wrong. I have had some good times when drunk. I doubt I could do it now due to age but in the past. An occasion in Berwick upon Tweed laying down on the castle (?)walls at 2 in the morning marvelling at the number of stars and singing a medley of beatles songs with my friend Alison stands out as something that absolutely would not have happened but for intoxicstion. Iregret nothing about that night not even the subsequent hangover.

[Rhiannon]

I would be perfectly happy to lie on castle walls singing far too loudly without being drunk. I realise this may be cause for some concern.

[Shaker]

A fact for which I am more than grateful, having witnessed the affect of over indulgence of alcohol on other people.

It's the effect of over indulgence (whatever that may be) on me that's important.

[floo]

It's the effect of over indulgence (whatever that may be) on me that's important.

That is very sad, imo.