Erm, can somebody enlighten me please? What does ‘for the million’ mean? Does it mean for the millenium? Or for the masses? I’ve no idea.
Thanks!
(by Merv for
group greggshorthand)
The Gregg Group was founded 22 May 2004, prompted by the lack of online shorthand resources. As the primary use for shorthand — business and legal recording — has waned in recent decades, we generally acclaim the skill as a hobby or personal tool. The purpose of the group is to promote the use of Gregg systems of shorthand by providing advice to beginners, support for students, and an association of users of this efficient, attractive, and enjoyable method of writing.
Erm, can somebody enlighten me please? What does ‘for the million’ mean? Does it mean for the millenium? Or for the masses? I’ve no idea.
(by Merv for
group greggshorthand)
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I've always assumed it meant 'the masses' but I could be wrong. In any case, it's a catchy line that really represents Gregg!
Yes, I would concur that it means for one and all. He was probably hoping it would catch on widely (he was spot-on in that department), and also he probably didn't want people to think that it was some sort of exclusive form of writing, but that it can be enjoyed by everyone who writes by hand, whether in a professional capacity, or simply for pleasure.
The manual prefaces certainly confirm your interpretation:
As early as the first edition (1888), Gregg wrote in his introduction, "A great and increasing demand for a simple, rapid and perfectly legible phonetic hand-writing for general use has led to the invention of Light-Line Phonography . . ." The "for the Million" phrase was added in the second edition (1893), where he also stated, ". . . it seems destined in the near future to become The Shorthand of the English-Speaking People."
Yes, I read the introductions to books. And the labels on aspirin bottles.
Nothing to be ashamed of.
I read dictionaries for fun. (Well, as a child. Now I read Wikipedia for fun.)
I speak from my memoria, that fragilis est, but such phrase was used already by XVIIIth century shorthand creators. So, it should be considered as old English idiom…
At one point, Gregg hoped that shorthand would be taught in all schools, eventually replacing the tyranny of longhand.
Looking at options for my first year of high school next year, I do wish that shorthand was still taught (I would even take Pitman!) in schools. Certainly beats welding! Nowadays we don't even suffer from the tyranny of longhand anymore. We learned it in Grade 3, then were not encouraged to use it the next year because it was 'messy' so no one improved, and now no one ever uses it (except for me, I'm an anomaly!).
It's so sad that these so very viable skills are being phased out….
I did that, too! Still do, in fact. Sort of a Choose-Your-Own adventure for language lovers.
And the assumption that the students won't need it in the future is glaringly false (says someone who has had several assignments that involved reading — or deciphering — forms completed by hand.) Keyboarding is not always convenient, or even possible.
I am happy to say that there are still people, even young ones, and even doctors, who take an interest in having legible handwriting. Some of it is even quite beautiful. It's a treat after puzzling over pages of chicken-scratch.
Good point.
Funny that you say that, because although I mostly type, I love to write cursive as well as shorthand. In fact, shorthand helps me in keeping my cursive writing legible! But what you say is true. One of my nieces (she's 21) has horrid penmanship. I say that she writes like a first grader: she doesn't even write script! I don't really know how she signs her name. It's just truly awful. I had great teachers in elementary school that drilled cursive writing so much and am glad that they did.