blogs - 2013 - december 2 padded letter 3 chilly christmas...3 chilly christmas 7 dear father...

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

2013 December p1 A of 14Blog Archive Pitman’s New Era Shorthand


2013 December p1 B of 14Blog Archive Pitman’s New Era Shorthand

2 Padded Letter

3 Chilly Christmas

7 Dear Father Christmas

11 Novelty Wearing Off

PDF Date: 2 July 2019

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Images & Text © Beryl L Pratt

Blogs - 2013 - December

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Padded Letter

Dear Mr Jones, I am writing this letter tothank you for your recent communicationwith this office, and I apologise for thedelay in my reply*. I would like to confirmthat we have now received your credit cardpayment and we will be despatching themulti-pack of High Flyer Spiral Notepadsyou have ordered within the next day. Itrust that you will find* these goodssatisfactory in every way, but should youwish to exchange them, you may do sowithin three weeks* of receipt of the order.I am very pleased to enclose herewith* adiscount voucher for your next purchasewith us, and if you wish to use it for an

online transaction, please enter the VoucherCode during the checkout process. During themonth* of December, all our Christmas Seasongoods carry an extra 5% discount for returningcustomers (which you can use in conjunctionwith the Voucher) and I hope that this* will beof interest to you for your Christmasrequirements.

* Omission phrases "in my (re)ply" "I trus(t)that you will find" "enclose (herew)ith" "three(w)eeks" "further (assi)stance" "during the(mon)th"

Padded Letter

If you would like to receive our regularnewsletter by post or email, which containsspecial offers and money-off coupons, youcan sign up for this on our website. Just goto the My Account page and click on theNewsletter link. There is also a feedbackform which you may wish to visit and tellus how we are doing. I trust that you willfind the* order satisfactory and hope thatyou will shop with us again in the nearfuture. If I can be of any further

assistance*, please do not hesitate to contactme, when I will be happy to answer anyquestions* that you may have. Yourssincerely*, John Smith, Customer ServicesDepartment.

* Omission phrases "and I (h)ope" "I trus(t)that you will find the" "Yours (sin)cerely"

* "questions" Optional contraction





Padded Letter

I shall no doubt be ordering more quitesoon, as I am planning to do extrapractising in the run-up to Christmas and Ithink that my current supply of pads willprobably be used up fairly quickly. It islikely that there will be the occasionallapses in my study time when all the goodChristmas films are on and we are eatingthe sweets and chocolates. However, I willcertainly have one of your excellent padson my lap and will make an attempt towrite down some of the dialogue*,especially in the less interesting bits whenwe are waiting for the exciting action tostart. Thank you once again* for your

speedy service and I look forward* topurchasing again from your company in thenext few weeks*. Yours sincerely*, RobertJones. (583 words)

* "dialogue" The similar but less commonword "duologue" is written with adownward L, to differentiate it.

* Omission phrases "wu(n)s again""ne(k)s(t) few wee(k)s" "I look fo(r)ward""Yours (sin)cerely"

High Flyer notepads is a fictional brand

Padded Letter

Dear Mr Smith, Thank you so much foryour recent letter which I receivedyesterday morning. I was delighted withthe information and the content, as I amlearning to write shorthand really fast, andyour letter is absolutely full of usefulphrases and words commonly used inbusiness correspondence. If I practisethese regularly, I am sure I can increasemy speed quite rapidly. This will be all theeasier, as I am now using your excellent

High Flyer pads for all my shorthand workand my pen is fairly flying across the pages.The paper is smoother and better qualitythan other similar-priced pads that I haveused, which means I can write on the backas well, and the pages turn very easilywithout getting caught in the spirals orgetting stuck together along the top edge.It is also a big advantage that the marginsare printed in, and this is definitely awelcome time saver.





Chilly Christmas

Last weekend* I spent a very pleasantmorning at one of our local garden centres.The main attraction was the temporary icerink, which is set up every year over theChristmas period. The shrub section ismoved away to other corners, and thesquare rink, café, snack bar and seatingare erected towards the end of November.The sides are all made of sheets of perspexso that children outside and those seatedcan watch as well. I visited several weeksago* during the midweek* when therewere* only four people on it. It had beenraining and large puddles had collected butthis worked to these particular skaters’advantage, as it smoothed the surfacesomewhat, allowing them to get up greaterspeed and there was less of the crunchingsound of the skates, more a slushy

splashing one. The present rougher frozensurface appeared to be better than aperfectly smooth one as it prevented toomuch slipping and overly fast skating.However, we did see some falls but I amglad to say that* their faces were stillsmiling through it all. Large plasticpenguins are provided for the children tohold on to, and some plain adjustableframes for the older children. Very smallchildren can sit on the yellow sledges andbe pushed along. I would like to see all thiswith some real snow falling, preferablywhen the light is fading and the Christmaslights are switched on.

* Omission phrases "las(t w)eekend""several wee(k)s ago" "mid(w)eek" "there(w)ere" "I am glad (to) s(ay) that"

Chilly Christmas

At the garden centre, they have three livereindeer in a pen in the rear landscapingsection. These animals were quite relaxed,although at times a little bored with things,but maybe that is made up for by theguaranteed supply of hay and water. Theywere completely unaware of why they arethe centre of attraction for the children andof all the stories and tales about them, or itcould just be that they have been told tokeep quiet about their planned activities.The reindeer theme seems to be*everywhere this year, not only decorationslarge and small, but as cuddly toys, hotwater bottle covers, slippers and knittedonto jumpers, hats, gloves and socks.Some of the ornaments made from woodand twigs have been simplified in theextreme, and only the presence of antlersallows you to recognise what they are.Some of the toy reindeer are actuallystanding up on two legs and wearing

Christmas suits and boots, just like cartooncharacters – in other words*,anthropomorphic* which means human-shaped*.

* Omission phrase "seems (to) be"

* "in other words" Doubling to represent"other"

* "anthropomorphic" Resembling or madeto resemble a human form or attributes,applied to things that are not human

* "human" above the line, to distinguish itfrom "humane" on the line - easy toremember if you think of the second vowelas the one giving it its position. Ensure theTick Hay is clear, and insert the diphthong,so it does not look like "man"





Chilly Christmas

I like to see all the Christmas decorationsand I am glad that the shiny ones are nowback in fashion, at least* for a time. Manyyears ago most decorations were glisteningand reflective, from tinsel to glass baubles,so that there was maximum reflection oflight around the branches of the Christmastree. In later years decorations tended tobe duller and not shiny, and I think thismay have coincided with the arrival of

much cheaper and more reliable lights sets.They provided all the light, and soreflections were not so necessary, and thisleft the way open to mass produce all sortsof decorative objects from other materialsand fabrics.

* "at least" and "at last" Always insert thevowel

Chilly Christmas

When the cheap lights made theirappearance, it increased the craze forcovering the house frontage and windowswith them, but after a few years this seemsto have* reduced as the novelty faded. Iam sure having to get the big long ladder*out twice a year in the cold was a largepart of the* reason! Increasing numbers ofhouses had the strings of lights up longerand longer*, and eventually some hadthem hanging from the gutters all year. Itwas just too much trouble and bother toremove them and one could occasionally

see the wires and dull plastic icicles wavingin the warm spring breezes. It is morecommon now to see lights strung throughbushes and trees, where it is easier to takethem down at the end of the Christmasseason.

* Omission phrases "seems (to) have""large part (of) the" "lo(nger and) longer"

* "ladder" A lone L stroke is doubled for-ter but not -der or -ther

http://www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand.org.uk/phrasing4-omission.htm#OmittingRepeatedSound





Chilly Christmas

Snowflakes are the most widespread*Christmas motif of late, being flat they arethe easiest of all to incorporate onto pages,clothing and shop windows. The snowflakeis part of the longing for snow – not a fewflakes that hit the ground and instantlymelt, but thick snow that accumulates andturns everything white. I am convinced thatthis is a desire to make everything come toa stop while we enjoy our victory over therigours and challenges of winter. When Iwas a child, Christmas meant that shopsand businesses did in fact* shut down,some for the whole Christmas week. Apartfrom emergency services and hospitals,everything was restful and quiet. If it

snowed, then that was interesting and agood opportunity to play, but it was notnecessary to have snow in order foreverything to be put on hold. However, allthe scenes on cards were snowy ones andthe presence of real snow outside wouldensure that those lounging about in thewarm indoors need not feel any pressure ornecessity to do anything that involvedgoing outside. I think the only childdisappointed with snow on Christmas Daywould be the one who had received a newbike.

* "spread" on its own has stroke D

* Omission phrase "in (f)act"

Chilly Christmas

After Christmas, snow and ice take on acompletely different significance, and meandelays in getting to work or shops, dangeron the roads, and soaring heating bills. Thefailure to take precautions, that wereconsidered but not carried out*, is nowbeing regretted – insulating the loft,checking water pipes, sealing draughtywindows and doors, buying a snow shovel,or getting those snow boots before theshelves are emptied of them once the snowhas started to fall in quantity. I did onceget some ankle boots in preparation forfurther snow, but made the mistake ofopting for a cheap pair, as I thought Iwould not really be wearing them verymuch. The soles, although ridged*, were

unfortunately* made of a plastic typematerial. I slipped three times on the samejourney, on a particularly icy bend in thefootpath, once on the way out, and twiceon the way back. It was true that I did notwear them much at all as they wentstraight into the bin when I got home and Ivisited the garden centre as soon as I couldto get some big chunky rubber Wellingtonboots, with no expense spared.

* "carried out" Halving to represent the Tof "out"

* "ridged" For "rigid" insert the secondvowel to differentiate

* "unfortunately" Optional contraction





Chilly Christmas

I used to live in a very old, cold anddraughty house. Each winter we tapedplastic sheeting to the window framesagainst the draughts, but on those windowsnot covered, the condensation would rundown the glass and freeze on the inside sillovernight. The pencil shaped pieces of icecould be prised up and removed nextmorning, sometimes bringing bits of paintwith them! We kept warm through layers ofclothes and had a coal fire only in the livingroom, the other rooms remaining unheated.Frost would form on the panes in fantasticflower and leaf shapes. Nowadays I wouldbe wanting to take photos of it but then Ijust had to admire the frosty decoration

while it was there, not knowing when itwould be gone. I gained an interest inhoarding a supply of woolly* hats, scarvesand mittens which my Mum and Nan madefor me, and the furry slippers were alwaysa special Christmas present and worn untilthey fell apart. In my teens I acquired apair of hook lace-up sheepskin suede boots,and I really felt I was ready for anythingthe weather could come up with.

* "woolly" Insert the last vowel todifferentiate from "wool" and ensure it doesnot acquire a hook at the end of the Lstroke, which would be "woollen" - all threewords have the same meaning when usedas an adjective.

Chilly Christmas

If we really wanted to stay warm overChristmas, we would not be wishing forsnow, but for unseasonably mild weatherand abundant sunshine. It seems that whatis wanted is not a cold chilly Christmas buta white one, snowy outside, but withclothing and housing that prevents it fromaffecting our comfort level. Without theluxury of these items, snow and ice go back

to their real job of freezing not only thewater, the ground and the plants, but alsofingers and toes, and bringing greaterdiscomfort, danger, disruption and even ahalt, to all the essential activities that weneed to do. The day after Boxing Day iswhen the weather conditions can be viewedmore objectively, and not seen throughChristmas-coloured glasses. (1400 words)





Dear Father Christmas

Dear Father Christmas, I hope you can*read shorthand. I am sure that you dobecause you read all the other scripts andlanguages in the world*. I know you have alot of work on this time of year when theletters start coming in and you are boundto be using some sort of shorthand to writeyour notes and lists. My first request is fora special Magic Pencil that will glide a littlefaster over the paper. The ones I have justdon’t seem to be able to write as fast asmy hand wants to, and although I have

been working really hard, I feel the pencilsare just too rough and slow to enable me toget ahead. I am sure the graphite that isproduced in my area is far too coarse andpale to be used in pencils, and all the bestdark graphite is unfortunately* notavailable where I live.

* Omission phrases "I (h)ope you can" "in(the) world"

* "unfortunately" Optional contraction


My second request is for some Magic Paperso that the outlines stay put when I writethem. Often I write the correct ones, andwhen I read them back, they seem to havemoved all over the place and changedthemselves into nonsense. I have read allthe books and always check up on myoutlines, so I know that I am writing thecorrect ones. It is really frustrating and I

feel some Magic Paper would solve thisproblem. My third request is for a MagicShorthand Dictionary that opens at theright page when I speak to it. I am gettingreally frustrated at having to flip through allthe pages looking for each and everyoutline when I need it. If I can save sometime in this way, it would leave me moretime to do the actual practising.





Dear Father Christmas )

My last request is for a packet of MagicSnow Dust so that I can sprinkle it on myfingers and instantly write at a hundredwords a minute. I have been doing a lot ofhard work practising, wearing myself outwriting the same sentences over and overagain*, and I really think I deserve to beable to write at that speed by now. Evenwhen I know all the outlines really well, Ijust don’t seem to be able to get my speedup that high. I think it must be* somethingto do with resistance from the air in theatmosphere and the force of gravity andmagnetism from the earth’s iron coreholding back my fingers from going a bit

faster. I promise not to waste it, and I willprobably end up sticking it to my fingers sothat I can keep using its powers every day,without it washing off. Thank you for takingthe time to read this, and I look forward*to hearing from you between now andChristmas Eve. Best wishes*, Mr Ryter.

* Omission phrases "over (and) over again"The second "over" is reversed to make agood join; "mus(t) be" "I look fo(r)ward"

* "best wishes" Upward Ish to enable it tojoin


Hi Mr Ryter, Thanks for your letter. As it isso unusual, I had my staff bring it to mepersonally for a special reply straight away.Anyone who is aiming for high speed in thethings they do deserves an especiallyspeedy answer from me. Regarding yourrequest for a Magic Pencil, I will be sendingthis to you on Christmas Day. I took an

ordinary pencil and showered some of myMagic Snow Dust over it and it turned intoa wonderful North Pole pen with verysmooth ink inside. I am sure you will bewriting much faster with it – just like therunners on my sleigh, where a thin layer ofliquid is what keeps them moving speedilyand easily over the hard icy surface.






Regarding the Magic Paper, now that youwill be writing with the North Pole pen andink, you will find you can keep up moreeasily, and sometimes even more leisurely,whilst still using your normal paper (as longas it is not the very cheap absorbent andhairy kind). The outlines will be much

better formed, and clearer to read, and youwill not be struggling to make and read themarks. When you can write in a morerelaxed and confident manner, you will findthat the outlines stick to the paper betterand do not move around and becomeillegible nonsense any more. Dear Father Christmas

Regarding the request for a MagicShorthand Dictionary, I will be leaving yousome sticky post-it notes so that you canmark the letters of the alphabet down theside of your existing dictionary. I am alsogoing to add in one of my special notepadsso that when you discover a new outline,you can write it in the book and revise itagain later on. That way you will not haveto keep looking up the same one all thetime. If I gave you a Magic Voice-

Controlled Shorthand Dictionary, you wouldof course have to train it to recognise yourvoice. Might I suggest that the sametraining time is instead applied to learningall the new outlines very thoroughly assoon as they occur. You will then havethem in your Magic Thought-ControlledBrain, which has the big advantage of beingavailable all the time, especially at trickymoments during a dictation.






Your request for some of my Magic SnowDust is a little different. I am not reallyallowed to pass it on to people, aseverybody would want some. But instead Iam sending you a printout of my North PoleAlertness and Fitness Programme, whichshould take the place of the Snow Dustquite well. You have probably heard all thisbefore, but it principally discusses eatingless of the chocolate and sugary things,and more nutritious foods, to give your

brain what it needs and not let it getfuddled and sleepy. It also describes anactivity and resting routine, so that youmaintain good health and fast reactionswhen needed, whether for your excellentshorthand studies or other things likecrossing the road or driving a car. Imanage to get a huge amount of work andspeedy travel done, using this programmeto maintain my alertness levels, and Iheartily recommend it.


Thank you for writing, and I must commendyou on your very neat writing. Yourshorthand studies have obviously paid offand I hope that you can* now continuewith them more confidently in the future.Maybe next year you will be asking me foritems that will help you slow down your

shorthand which has become too fast! Withbest wishes*, Father Christmas. (1101words)

* Omission phrase "I (h)ope that you can"

* "best wishes" Upward Ish in order to join





Novelty Wearing Off

I hope you are* persevering with yourshorthand studies, despite the break and allthe attractions and distractions over theChristmas period. I wonder whether youmanaged to get down any of the dialoguein the Christmas films, or maybe that wasone shorthand task too much to ask, whenyou were expecting to sit back and relax.Film dialogue tends to be in bursts of shortconversational phrases, not even wholesentences, with silences between. It is agood way to practise faster shorthand

without too much pain, as you can catch upduring the gaps. Shorthand learning worksbest when done little and often, and thesooner you can get back into the swing ofdaily practice, even if only* for a fewminutes at odd moments, the better yourprogress will be.

* Omission phrase "I (h)ope you are"

* "if only" On its own, "only" is written withfull strokes

Novelty Wearing Off

I would guess that when you started tolearn, the novelty value was very high, andif this is the attraction of shorthand for you,then each new lesson is an exciting journeyinto ever more efficient and concise waysto write the sounds of English. Every newchapter describes more speed methods foryou to get your teeth into, as it were*,

bringing you ever nearer to your goal ofwriting words as fast as they are spoken. Ifyou can maintain your level of enthusiasm,this is likely to continue right up to the endof the instruction book.

* Omission phrase "as it (w)ere"





Novelty Wearing Off

Novelty is defined* as newness, innovation,originality, freshness, uniqueness,something of transitory appeal,experienced by a person encountering forthe first time* something that catches theirinterest. Once you have reached chapterfive, the amazing* novelty of chapter onewill be long past. You will be quite at homewith P B T D and all the other strokes.Obviously this is going to happen with allthe other chapters eventually and there willcome a point when none of the bookcontains any novelty factor at all. If noveltywas the one and only attraction, then it allfalls flat at the end of the book, or possiblyeven before, and something else has to befound to take its place. In seeking areplacement novelty, before the shorthand

can actually be used for real, one mightmiss the more satisfying novelty of beingable to write shorthand as comfortably aslonghand – in fact even more comfortably,as your hand will not lag behind yourthoughts or the words of the speaker, andyou can say goodbye to slow crampedfingers.

* "defined" always insert the diphthong, tohelp distinguish it from "definite", as theycan both be used as adjectives

* Omission phrases "for (the) first time""in (f)act"

* "amazing" and "amusing" Always insertthe vowel

Novelty Wearing Off

It is forty years since I learned shorthandand I can claim that there is now nonovelty at all in the various strokes, hooks,circles and loops. I know all of themperfectly well and just seeing them bringsthe sound or word to mind instantly. This isjust how it should be, as when writingshorthand you do not have time to think ofhow to form an outline. You need to justwrite it instantly, rapidly and of coursecorrectly in a fraction of a second, whilstsimultaneously listening to the next fewwords* being spoken. On the battlefield of

dictation, novelty is entirely out of place,and must be replaced instead by completefamiliarity that produces an endless flow ofcorrect, reliable and readable outlines. Thatis the aim, at least*, even if one sometimesfalls short of it because of the difficulty orhigh speed of the matter being presented.

* Omission phrase "ne(k)s(t) few w(or)ds"

* "at least" "at last" Always insert thevowel





Novelty Wearing Off

I think maybe the novelty effect can beenjoyed afterwards, when you successfullyget down and read back your first completepiece taken at one of your speed goals.When even that novelty wears off, it can bereplaced by doing exactly the same but atthe next higher speed. In other words,novelty can become a useful movable toolfor maintaining enthusiasm, one that canbe brought into play and used whenrequired, and put back into temporarystorage when it is not. When, after sometime of effortless gliding through your

shorthand writing, you are forced to writeat some length in longhand, you may find itquite frustrating and annoying, and it maybe accompanied by a definite* sense ofnovelty – it used to be all that you knew,but now the poor old plodding longhand isbeing compared unfavourably withsomething much more* efficient.

* See note on "defined" in paragraph 3

* Omission phrase "much m(ore)"

Novelty Wearing Off

To be able to use shorthand effectively andcomfortably, you need to get to the pointwhere everything you write in shorthand isdevoid of novelty, and every outline is aknown one that flows easily from your mind,through the pen and onto the paper. Forshorthand learning and improvement, therehas to be a progression from novelty tofamiliarity. Novelty is a useful concept, andit can still be made use of, if it is shiftedover into another area, such as ways toimprove your performance and speed yourpen along the paper. Once you have a skill,

then ways to use it start to suggestthemselves, and eventually you wonderhow you managed without it. All thenovelty will then be in the minds of yourfriends and colleagues, who will bestanding in awe* of your easy and relaxedprowess in this subject. (869 words)

* This sloping vowel short form is writtendownwards and stands for "awe, ought,aught" (Aught is an archaic word for

"anything"). The vertical version is "owe, O,oh"

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