"prompt"

[Jonathan Lighter]

> teachers used "Don't prompt!"

I recall this as well. Back then, it was kids who did the "prompting." Now
it's the teachers.

I believe I whined about this once before. The current use of "prompt"
makes me think of Pavlovian animal experiments for some reason, where the
unthinking brute is expected to react predictably to some routine stimulus.

Wait, it's all starting to make sense...

JL

On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 6:07 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "prompt"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 10:55 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: "prompt"
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Charles C Doyle wrote:
> >> That usage is ubiquitous among current students--usually in reference
> >> to essay assignments (in-class or out-of-class).
> >>
> >> When questioned, some students have attributed the currency of the
> >> usage to jargon from the Educational Testing Service and SAT prep
> >> courses.
> >
> > I have seen "prompts" used in this fashion in the domain education
> research.
> >
> > Here is an instance addressed to students taking an exam in Tucson,
> Arizona:
> >
> >
> http://tusdstats.tusd.k12.az.us/planning/resources/aims/lang99/lang99_write4.htm
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> >
> > DIRECTIONS: Respond to each of the twenty prompts with the most
> > correct answer about research writing.
> >
> > 1) The opening paragraphs of a research document should
> >
> > a) Be filled with long complicated words and phrases in order to
> > impress the reader.
> > b) State a point of view, position or argument about the subject.
> > c) Explain why some other point of view, position or argument is not
> > being taken.
> > d) Be very short.
> >
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> Ultimately related to this "prompt"? (a randomly-googled ex.)
>
> "When you look up at the Moon, does it always look exactly the same?
> [If needed, _prompt for_ the answer.]"
>
> Also, back in the day, teachers used "Don't prompt!" as a warning to
> the rest of us not to help the child being questioned by supplying a
> key portion of the answer.
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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