blogs - 2017 - may 2 beauty and beast 5 instructor phrases ... · images & text © beryl l...

Images & Text © Beryl L Pratt www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand-reading.org.uk

2017 May p1 A of 11Blog Archive Pitman’s New Era Shorthand


2017 May p1 B of 11Blog Archive Pitman’s New Era Shorthand

2 Beauty And Beast

5 Instructor Phrases Section 4

7 Kite Festival

10 Golf Rules

PDF Date: 31 December 2020

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Blogs - 2017 - May

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Beauty And Beast

At the beginning* of this month* we wentto see our local May Fair. The fair startswith a parade around the roads, lastingabout half an hour. As the area is dividedby a railway line, we have two chances toget photos of the procession. We watchthem going down the road, then we dash*over the bridge, wait a short while, andthen see them again as they come up theroad on the other side.* This year it wasled by a drumming team, followed by theprospective May Queen in a luxurious opentop car, dressed in white and sitting highup on top of the back seat. Walking behindwere her maids and pages, and the currentMay Queen, all dressed in white and green

with yellow trim. They were followed byanother set of May Queen and entouragefrom the neighbouring realm, wearing pinkand white. Behind these were groups ofyoungsters from the local dance andperforming arts clubs, dancing, jumpingand singing, making the most of theirchance to wear their costumes in public,and make up their faces and hair withwonderful decorations.

* Omission phrase "at the (be)ginn(ing)""of this (mon)th" "on the oth(er) side"

* "dash" Ish goes up after D, down after T,to give additional differentiation

Beauty And Beast

The entourages are quiet and demure, asbefits royalty, each group surrounded byflowery garland ropes and bowers held byparents and helpers. The dancers* were fullof enthusiasm and energy, thoroughlyenjoying their moment of fame*. Later onthe May Queen was crowned in the villagehall by the Mayor, and there were displayson stage by the dancers throughout theafternoon. After that came the maypoledances by the new May Queen and hergroup, to the accompaniment* oftraditional music. I always admire how thesmaller ones manage to remember all the

moves, but as they all hold their maypoleribbon in pairs, the very youngest do havesomeone to follow and join hands with.

* "dancers" Insert the vowel, as the outlineis the same as "dinosaurs" which arementioned later.

* "fame" In some contexts it may behelpful to insert the vowel, so it is notmisread as the contraction "familiarity"

* "accompaniment" Keep the last Nt strokeshort, as "accompanying" is similar





Beauty And Beast

The car park and side road were full offairground rides and food stalls, and thevillage hall garden had more stalls of foodand items for sale*. As I wandered to theback, I noticed a square of the grass in thecorner was roped off, with a large tent atthe rear. As I got closer I saw the wordsRent A Dinosaur on it and a lady* with ababy dinosaur on her arm and childrencrowding round in amazement*. This wasquite a change of pace, from May Queenbeauty to dinosaur beast in just a fewyards. Their leaflet showed a much largerprehistoric beast on the loose, andapparently walking around and doing its

beastly* thing, wowing the kids with itsbeady eyes, sharp claws and rows of steakknife teeth.

* "for sale" Downward L to allow the join

* "lady" and "lad" Always insert the vowels

* "amaze, amuse" Always insert the secondvowel in these and their derivatives

* "beastly" Omits the lightly sounded T,and this also helps to distinguish it from

"bestial" which does have the T stroke

Beauty And Beast

I was determined to get some video of thismonster on the prowl but had to take myplace behind the rope at least 20 minutesbefore the start time, in order to* get agood view. The show started with severalof the handlers walking around with thebaby dinos in their arms, and the childrenwere very happy to get a close-up view aseach one went along the line, looking roundand opening its mouth. This was all veryfriendly, civilised and amenable for smallchildren and no doubt they all wanted oneas a pet, especially as there were morelittle dinos resting quietly in a large pet

cage right in front of the children. At least*,that is until the time came to introduce usto the much bigger Dexter. Unfortunately*Dexter was sleeping in the tent andeveryone had to shout for him to come out.Audience excitement and anticipation wasmounting, and not just the kids.

* Omission phrase "in ord(er to)"

* "at least" and "at last" Always insert thesecond vowel

* "unfortunately" Optional contraction





Beauty And Beast

A big dinosaur head slowly emerged fromthe tent door curtains followed by the verylarge body and long swaying* tail of aTyrannosaurus Rex, in shades of green andbrown, with long feathers on his head andall down his back. I was busy holding thecamera aloft and just wish I had been ableto see the children’s faces as Dexter walkedout. The show continued with a mixture ofeducation and entertainment, and ademonstration of how Dexter can locate hisdinner by smell, even with a scarf over hiseyes, while a brave young volunteer held avery large pretend steak behind her back. Ithink the children were divided into thosewho wanted Dexter as a pet (theminority*) and those who were nowchanging their mind (the majority). Thelatter choice was much more rational and

wise, as this dino was just a baby butalready big enough to see members of theaudience as possible snacks and theirparents as dinners. But Dexter is welltrained, tamed* and obedient, andmanaged to curb* his natural instincts.

* "swaying" Similarly "sway" and "swayer",but "swayed" uses SW circle and stroke D

* "minority" This can also be pronounced"minn-"

* "curb" This spelling means to restrain orhold back. The spelling "kerb" is the raisedstonework at the side of a road, and theoutline has a dot vowel.

* "tamed" Keep the Md short, as "tame"would also make sense

Beauty And Beast

The handlers were very skilled, with noupset children, and the team would beconstantly adjusting their performance inrelation to the* reactions of the youngaudience, to keep everyone happy andentertained. Of course it did help to see theoperator’s legs in full view, attached to theinsides of Dexter’s legs and wearing armycamouflage colours. After the show,everything else seemed rather calm andstaid in comparison, which is just as thisfriendly village fair ought to be. I knew that

the May Fair was a longstanding traditionalevent going back very many years, but Ithink 65 million* years is about as old andtraditional as you can get. (907 words)

* Omission phrase "in (re)lation (to) the"

* "65 million" Use M stroke for "million"only with arabic numerals. If you write thenumber in shorthand, then use the fulloutline for "million". Same applies to N forhundred and Ith for thousand.





Instructor Phrases Section 4

These sentences practise the phrases inSection 4 pages 204-5 of the Instructor,Doubling.

I think there will be a meeting next week*and I am sure there is much that we needto discuss on this particular subject.

In their opinion everything is in order andthey will be making their way to the officetoday.

I believe there will be a note of this in theirstatement today in order that the facts*can be made clear to everyone.

I wish there were some other way of sellingthe items in order to* recover our costs.

My dear fellow* citizens, I know there ismuch to say and I know there is not a lot oftime to say it.

My dear Sir, I see there is a new book outon this subject* and I know there will be alot of interest.

* Omission phrases "ne(k)s(t w)eek" "inorder that the (f)acts" "in ord(er to)"

* "fellow" Only written thus in this phrase,otherwise full strokes

* "on this subject" The Ses circle isrepresenting both S sounds, to help withreading back


My dear Madam, We will certainly write toyou if there is to be another sale in thatdepartment.

My dear friend, I was wondering if there isa possibility* that we could* travel by someother means.

Whenever there is a sale on, my family hasto be there and spend more than theirbudget allows.

This employee has been there for manyyears even though there is little work to doin that office.

I have been there to see it for myself and Iwondered if there was any way to avoid*this problem.

I have their address and I believe that theyhave been there for some time and areenjoying their stay there.

* "possibility" Optional contraction

* "we could" Not phrased, so it does notlook like "we can"

* "avoid" and "evade" Always insert thesecond vowel, as these are similar inoutline and meaning, especially necessarywhen they are phrased and therefore out ofposition






How can there be any possibility* of takingaction before there is a decision on thismatter?

They lived above their shop and then founda house in which there is more space to live.

We have their address at last* and shall bethere at three in the afternoon for their*party.

We heard from their manager that theyhave taken more than their allocated timefor the job.

We are doing nothing pending their decisionor some other instruction that they maywish to give us.

* "possibility" Optional contraction

* "for their" In phrases "if" can be doubled,"for" is not, to provide some differentiation,this is because position cannot easily beshown with some doubled curves

* "at last" and "at least" Always insert thesecond vowel


They travelled over there a little beforetheir expected time, in other words* theyarrived early.

We think they are doing quite a good jobbut in some other respects we doubt ifthere is time to complete it.

We are willing to visit them, if it be theirwish to see us, but we will have to waitupon their decision.

We have been there before, to see if theirbusiness is doing as well as they say intheir reports to us.

I think that in their case we can make anexception but then there are others wherewe cannot do so.

These items are very rapidly increasingtheir value over their original cost. (455words)

* Omission phrase "in other wo(r)ds"





Kite Festival

On the 14th of this month* we went to the19th Streatham* Kite Festival onStreatham Common in South London. Wesaw it for the first time* last year, and wewere really looking forward* to this year’sevent. It has a very happy and excitedatmosphere of anticipation, with everyonethere just to enjoy the displays and fly theirown kites. We were very glad that the daystarted bright and breezy, after someovernight* and early morning showers. Sunand warmth are both optional, but thebreezes are essential and the weather gaveus all these at once.* The Common is idealfor kite flying as the back of it slopes gentlyupwards and I think this must increase thewind that blows in from the downhill*

direction, and away from the main road atthe base. There are large mature treesdotted around the edges and it is up to theflyers to avoid getting their cords too nearto these, if they don’t wish to lose theirkites in the branches.

* Omission phrases "this (mon)th" "for(the) first time" "looking fo(r)wa(r)d" "at(wu)ns"

* "Streatham" Pronounced "strettum"

* "overnight" The first place diphthong isjoined at the end for convenience, anexception to the main rule, similarly "nigh"

"deny" "nitre" "neither"

Kite Festival

There was a variety of arena displays wherethe stunt kites do their dances in the air tomusic. As the action is all up in the air,everyone seated around and further awaycan watch the spectacle with a clear view.The kite club members had their largerkites flying at a greater altitude*, wherethe wind is constant and the kite stays*almost motionless. Their spools were ongear that allowed them to be spikedsecurely into the ground. I gave a little tugon one of the very high flying kite cordsand it was absolutely solid, which made itvery clear how much pull the kite is

exerting and how easily it could propel aperson or a sand yacht along. No need tohitch your wagon to a star, as a kite willsurely do the job. One of the tethered kiteshad a wind powered bubble machineattached to the lower end, a fun way toindicate the wind direction and strength.

* "altitude" and "latitude" Always insert thefirst vowel

* "stays" "sits" Helpful to insert the vowel,to prevent misreading as the meanings aresimilar





Kite Festival

Last year’s giant blue teddy bear wasreplaced this time by a bright yellow one,as well as an equally* large multi-colouredoctopus, a grey whale, a large blue whale,a crocodile, a green lobster and a penguin.Best of all was a visit from that specialperson, Mr Superman himself, in histrademark red and blue costume, with hisblack quiff hairstyle and streaming red cape.He floated and undulated over the crowds,and when he sank nearer to the ground, a

group of four small boys were running upand down next to the rope barrier, trying tocatch his feet, which they actually did onceor twice. Maybe they were hoping to belifted aloft, a desire not likely to be realisedor allowed.

* "equally" The short form includes the "-ly"ending, but sometimes it is clearer to insertthe dot

Kite Festival

This scene looked like a good story or filmin the making, a huge protective Supermanfigure hovering over the people, ready tofly off and attack anything that wasthreatening to harm or hurt us, or causetrouble. He had a good view of everything,and his hands and fingers were wavingaround, as if impatient to get to grips witha problem and solve it as efficiently and

peacefully as he knows how. I am very gladto say that* nothing untoward happened,which is just how Superman and the rest ofus like it, a congenial and enjoyable dayout for hundreds of families and children.

* Omission phrase "I am very glad (to)s(ay) that"





Kite Festival

I saw several new kite characters this time,other than the usual birds, butterflies andbasic diamond and triangle shapes. Therewas a shiny oval hologram kite that wasspinning rapidly as it flew, and resembled ablinking light in the air. There was a stringof about 25 mini kites, which were releasedone by one until they were all in the air.Someone had made a sailing ship, with thecentral sails in the form of* a box kite,which did fly but I think it probably needed

to be flown quite high to get the best of thestable airflow. I saw several small blackbats, which being wider than tall seemed toswoop about quite well in a lifelike manner.Some of the children were running aroundwith swirling kites on the end of a stick, sono string or height needed and the stickcan be tied to something in the backgarden once they get home.

* Omission phrase "in the form (of)"

Kite Festival

By the afternoon the common was packedwith people. At the lower end families weresitting around on picnic blankets eating anddrinking. Further up, although the slopewas covered in people, there was stillplenty of room for everyone to fly theirkites without tangling. The food and icecream stalls were working hard to supplyeveryone as fast as they could manage.The kite selling tents were crowded withqueues trailing behind like a kite tail, withexcited children looking forward* tochoosing one and walking away openingthe packets* and impatient to get itassembled, with mum or dad’s help. It

seemed a shame to leave it all, like comingaway from the seaside and its holidayatmosphere, but I had a camera full ofpictures and videos from every angle, sothat I can revisit the event in comfort overthe next year. (888 words)

* Omission phrase" "looking fo(r)wa(r)d"

* "packets" Insert the second vowel, so it isnot misread as "packs" or "bags". It ishelpful also to always insert the first vowelin "pockets", as all these could be misreadfor each other in various contexts.





Golf Rules

A few days ago I went to a park that has apublic golf course on one side of it, behindsome woodland. I walked through the sunlitwoods, now at their greenest after severaldays of heavy rain last week*. The birdswere singing loudly and the tangledundergrowth, long grasses and nettles werewaving about in the breezes, an idealsecluded habitat for wildlife. To one sidewas part of the golf course where the grasswas a perfect sward of smooth solid green,closely cut, with not a weed* in sight,despite the proximity of the woodland’sabundant supply of seeds of everything

except fine lawn grass. I went over to havea look and saw an oval bunker, half full ofcloudy water with a sandy beach all roundthe edges.

* Omission phrase "las(t w)eek"

* "weed" Helpful to insert the vowel, as thisis about "woods"

* "bunker" Hooked or doubled Ing strokeincludes the K sound i.e. ing-ker or ing-ger.For the sound ing-er just add Ar stroke, asin "singer".

Golf Rules

I continued through the woodland andcame to another fairway, and wandered upthe slope alongside it. There were* moresandy bunkers and, as there was no-oneabout hitting golf balls*, I went out a shortway to look at the closest one. And there Isaw it, a solitary lonely little white ball,sitting pitifully* and sadly in the water atthe shallow end. So what happened up tothis point? Was it left there and then gotrained on? Did it land in the water and thegolfers give up on it when they found itthere, or use another ball? What is thecorrect procedure when it lands in a water-filled bunker? Later on I looked up some ofthe rules of the game and found lots* ofinstructions on dealing with casual water,water hazards, loose impediments andobstructions, various specific situations inwhich you can move, lift or replace a ball,and many other injunctions againstinterfering with its position, along withinstances when it is allowed and necessaryto do so.

* "golf balls" If you were using the word"golf" all the time, i.e. in employment, thenintersecting the G stroke, maybe with Lhook, would be more efficient. A newintersection is best decided on in advanceof taking the matter, as clashes may onlybecome apparent during transcription,resulting in errors, e.g. "There are newgolf/government rules in force regardingsafety on the fairway."

* Omission phrase "there (w)ere"

* "pitifully" Full strokes P and T, todistinguish it from "beautifully" which has ahalved B

* "lots" Insert the vowel, as it could looklike "masses" which has a similar meaning





Golf Rules

As I looked back down the fairway, I sawsome golfers walking up in the distancewith their caddy trolleys in tow. I went backinto the woodland for safety, to savemyself from flying white globes and to getout of the way of their game, which theycan’t really carry on with while a walker* ishovering around the edges. The littletrodden track between the nettles broughtme back to the main woodland path. Thenettle patches were wide, thick and tall,and this brought up another question*.How many golf balls are lying in the nettle-beds, gradually becoming mossy and

covered in debris? Can they be removedand placed elsewhere in order to* beplayed, and how much damage to thewildlife habitat would searching for the ballentail, or would it even be allowed?

* "walker" Derivative of "walk" so it justadds the Ar stroke. Compare "wicker"which is not a derivative, and so has W +Kr strokes.

* "question" Optional contraction

* Omission phrase "in ord(er to)"

Golf Rules

I made my way back to my starting point,as it was nearly time to meet up and makeour visit to the ornamental* gardens. Onthe way I heard, and then saw, two crowsat the top of a tall tree, cawing andjumping around. Crows are big birds andthey can probably lift up a golf ball if theyreally wanted to. Magpies collect interestingitems, and if a crow did the same, what arethe golf rules? The questions* are endless*,and I suspect that the rules will proliferateto cover every circumstance, especiallywhen something out of the ordinaryhappens and has to be accounted for. Wewent on to see the flower gardens and all

thoughts of golf vanished amidst the rosebowers, topiary, double daisies andwallflowers. (584 words)

* "ornamental" Upward R to allow thefollowing joins, compare "ornithology"which has Ar stroke to allow its joins withthe N and Ith strokes

* "questions" Optional contraction

* "endless" Compare outline for "needless"which has full N + D strokes, whichdistinguishes it and also allows the firstvowel to be put in clearly

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