Language lowdown at club meeting

At the latest meeting of East Kilbride Speakers Club, Ken Murray took the chair and introduced Alastair Fraser as the first speaker of the evening.

Alastair combined humour with frustration as he told of the irritation he experienced that was caused by the acronyms, jargon and other nonsense he encountered during his working life and that now pervade so much of modern communication.

From the early days of radio broadcasts serving BFPO (British Forces Posted Overseas) to the learning experiences (training courses) he attended with the object of improving customer facing outcomes (better service) and many more were all grist to Alastair’s mill.

Alex Rintoul followed with an interesting speech that explored the use of humour as the main ingredient in the songs developed and sang by the troops during the First World War to raise their spirits and keep the trepidation and horrific conditions of the trenches at bay.

Based on the most popular type of music during that period, Alex told how the songs led to the troops being dubbed the rag-time army.

The title of Isobel Dinwoodie’s speech “Oh! That Empty Orchestra” had her audience intrigued as to what she was going to speak about.

Drawing on her experience singing with six-piece bands as a teenager through to the modern day, Isobel traced the demise of singing with live musicians as she told of the origins of karaoke in Japan and how the popularity of the karaoke machine has led to singers being able to perform without the need for a live band providing the music; with the word karaoke being the Japanese for “empty orchestra”, hence the title of her speech.

Club president Bob Hunter chaired the impromptu topics session and Ross Hammond’s general evaluation provided beneficial observations on the evening’s programme.

Visitors to the club are always welcome and details can be obtained from secretary Paul Munday on (01355) 223894.