Oh look I made a poll

[slemslempike]

I was going to put an option of "hideous feminist troll-beast" for the first question, but I thought people might tick it for FUN, and I really want to know. I've sort of got an idea that it's a geographical/national difference, but I don't know.

For the second question, I have some French Fancies, and am eating my least favourite first.

[Poll #1631819]

Obviously feel free to skip over questions if you only want to answer some. The final question is pure nosiness, I tend to assume that people have the same background that I do and them and surprised when this is not true. Any other reflections on schools (or any other toopics in this fascinating survey) are very welcome in the comments.

Comments

[cakesy.livejournal.com]

What is this "worst" French fancy of which you speak???

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

You can't really like all of them the same?? Oh, I see you like pink best. But yellow and brown are SO DIFFERENT! MAKE A CHOICE.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

Did you know that Elaine's in 30 Rock this week?

[pescana.livejournal.com]

I don't know what French Fancies are, so I didn't answer that part. I also don't know what a selective state school is, but for ten out of fourteen years I went to what we call public schools (state). I went to co-ed Catholic school for one year, a private all girl boarding school for two years, and a private co-ed boarding school in Wales for a year. I also went to a private college (university) for my undergraduate degree.

I tend to think it was the boarding schools that affected me the most, but I wonder sometimes if I come off strange because I have all these different experiences.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

French Fancies! The pink/yellow/brown ones, not the renegades on that page.

Selective state schools are non-fee-paying, but everyone can attend. The most common ones are probably grammar schools, where they select based on educational aptitude (...or whose parents can afford the time and money to tutor them through the 11-plus test). I'd argue that religious schools are selective too.

[whatho.livejournal.com]

I say neither Mizz nor Muzz - it's more like M'ss. ' being a schwa, if that's how you spell schwa. I'm somehow not a fan of zeds.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

I don't really know what a schwa is.

[yiskah.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this is what I say too - though I ticked 'muzz' cause it's closest.

[zoje-george.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's how you spell "schwa."

[peeeeeeet.livejournal.com]

I wasn't sure if asking "are you a Catholic?" makes a school selective, though they did let a Methodist in. A Methodist! I'm assuming selective means more yer grammar school type place.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

I think I mean both. Religious schools don't select in precisely the same way, but they still exclude people.

[gralyn.livejournal.com]

"whatho -- Imagine how David Mitchell would look if you asked him this question, and that's essentially my face."

This is very favourite answer!!

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

I know, it's very descriptive!

[wonderlanded.livejournal.com]

I tried a French fancy once. I don't get it. I really don't get it. They're not, like, objectionable but I wouldn't seek them out. Or eat one if it was on a plate in front of me.

Having read the comments, I picked 'Mizz' as being closest to a schwa which is what I wanted, so please change me to 'Muzz'!

And ugh, panties. I had successfully repressed that word.

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

Ditto on the French Fancies. Just not my sort of thing. Icing, you know? Not a huge fan of icing.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

I like the cream on the top, and the icing is not too fondanty. Fortunately for me I have some in my cupboard so I get to eat them, rather than my usual thing of reading about stuff on lj and being sadly bereft.

Somehow, whenever I hear the word panties, I think of underwear that doesn't fit properly.

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

Last time someone in my vicinity did a secondary school poll I was horrified to learn that there's another old girl from my school lurking around my friendsfriends. I WANT MY SIX DEGREES OF SEPERATION BACK!!1!!

(Also, someone I accidentally met offline in 2009 has been on my friendsfriends since 2006. GOOD GRIEF.)

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

I have two people on my friendslist who went to my (smallish, small-town) girls' private school, and whom I did not know when I was there. Now that is freakish. (One is older than me by enough that we didn't cross over, one was a couple of years below.)

[medland.livejournal.com]

I say Mzzz.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

But how do you pronounce it? Of the two options, it seems that that would be more Muzz than Mizz.

[slightlyfoxed.livejournal.com]

I'd forgotten 'panties' - they're worse than 'knickers' in a sexy way, partly because I associate them with a rap lyric with pretty good internal rhymes: 'My dandy voice makes anti-choice grannies' panties moist...'

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

Good lord, are those real rap lyrics? I rather like it. I also like that there is a near-universal hatred for "panties" in this poll. Someone once said it to me as we were heading bedwise, and I had to consciously overlook the error.

[whatsagirlgotta.livejournal.com]

The school options don't cover my school, so I went with the one that matched my experience most closely. It was a comp with a grammar stream so I only got to go because I passed my 12 plus. Although the only major difference, grammar streamers got to do German and French.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

That's interesting, I didn't know that was something that happened! Although my dad was at a grammar school that went comprehensive about a year after he got there, and he was definitely in the non-grammar stream (CSEs not O Levels, though he ended up taking both).

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

When is secondary? I was at a mixed day prep school aged 8-12, and a single-sex boarding-school 13-17, both private.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

Secondary is years 7-13, age 11-18. So you're single-sex private for most of secondary.

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

Technically my school wasn't a state one, as it was run by nuns, but it didn't have an entrance exam and the fees (on top of what they got per pupil from the government) were voluntary.

[citruses.livejournal.com]

I'd quite like to change from Miss to Ms at some point -- I don't know what age it's usual to start presenting yourself as a Ms? -- but I don't think I will, because then I'd be "Mizz Lizz". Even "Muzz Lizz" does not sound good. Yet another problem with my irritating first name!

Also, I answered "underwear" to the first underwear-related question, but only because I thought you meant bras and socks as well. (I'd use "underwear" as a catch-all term for the different types, though I know it's often used for knickers alone.) Knickers on their own are "pants", so consider that my answer :)

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

I think I started using Ms when I was about 16 or so. People generally only use titles with your surname though, so you'd not have so many zzzzzzzs going on.

[gair.livejournal.com]

I went to a single-sex selective state school for 3 1/2 years and then co-educational private non-selective schools for 3 1/2 years (two different ones). But in the poll I was only willing to own up to the first EVEN THOUGH MY SIXTH FORM WAS BASICALLY HOGWARTS.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

Ha! I was thinking that even though people might have had differing experiences, being seven years would make it easier, but you defy me.