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Post by ittybittykitty800 on Mar 8, 2022 17:55:51 GMT
Just wondering how many penpals everyone here has. I have one long term penpal of almost 12 years and I also exchange letters with a friend in the same country. As a teenager I had probably about 50 penpals I also have a friend who amazes me because she has over 300 penpals and is still able to write long letters and remember everyone's birthday how many penpals do you have?
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Post by Mia on Mar 8, 2022 18:41:20 GMT
I'm not actually sure... at a guess since I restarted penpalling late 2007, I'd say I have written to over 500 different people, but maybe a 150 of those have exchanged more than a couple of letters, and perhaps half of those again haven't replied recently..
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Post by tramplingrose on Mar 9, 2022 1:41:14 GMT
I write to between 25-30 people fairly regularly. Some more regularly than others. But that's the nature of letter-writing, I suppose.
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Post by Steph Walford on Mar 11, 2022 19:38:43 GMT
10-15 it varies ... I try my best to keep tabs but sometimes it just goes a bit AWOL
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Post by ginny on Mar 20, 2022 15:28:53 GMT
10-15 it varies ... I try my best to keep tabs but sometimes it just goes a bit AWOL What on earth does AWOL stand for? As a non-native speaker, I'm sometimes puzzled by that kind of abbreviations / acronyms. 'Absent without leave' (which is what I found when I googled the expression) somehow doesn't seem to fit the context?
With regard to the question - I can't really pinpoint that. Is someone who writes one long letter per year or only shows up for Christmas and/or birthdays still a regular penpal? How do you count that? Do you actually count the friends you keep in touch with in 'real life'?
Like Mia, I have written to many people over the years. Some reply, others don't, some are one-off correspondents, others write more often, some disappear, some stay
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Post by Lupine on Mar 20, 2022 18:01:07 GMT
I like this question! Thanks for asking it. Hundreds of pen pals! Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. That is fascinating. I'm doing my best to keep up with about twelve other pen friends. I have a pretty large family, and also write to a few cousins, and maybe three old friends. Plus, there's birthday cards and such. By the way, ginny I can see how "AWOL" conveys Steph's sentiment. "Absent without leave" was a military term that meant a soldier didn't show up for roll call and it was a way to say we'll not accuse the soldier of the treasonous act of desertion just yet, but probably that's what happened. In the civilian (non-military) vernacular it has the sense that something's gone off the rails missing in a suspicious or mysterious way. So @stephwaldford has lost track of some pen pals for unknown reasons. Of course I'm speaking for someone else and happy to be corrected.
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Post by Steph Walford on Mar 20, 2022 19:19:19 GMT
10-15 it varies ... I try my best to keep tabs but sometimes it just goes a bit AWOL What on earth does AWOL stand for? As a non-native speaker, I'm sometimes puzzled by that kind of abbreviations / acronyms. 'Absent without leave' (which is what I found when I googled the expression) somehow doesn't seem to fit the context?
So sorry to confuse. It used in reference to me keeping note of where I am in my writing list and sometimes my replies mount up
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Post by ginny on Mar 21, 2022 17:09:16 GMT
Thanks for explaining, Steph Walford - as I said, for someone who's not a native speaker, notions like that can be confusing. It's been a long time since I learnt English at school, and obviously, I learnt British English as it was spoken in the 70s and 80s... of course, languages evolve, plus there's American English, British English, Caribbean English, Australian English and what-not, so it can become a bit much for someone like me
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Post by ginny on Mar 21, 2022 17:13:34 GMT
I like this question! Thanks for asking it. Hundreds of pen pals! Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. That is fascinating. I'm doing my best to keep up with about twelve other pen friends. I have a pretty large family, and also write to a few cousins, and maybe three old friends. Plus, there's birthday cards and such. By the way, ginny I can see how "AWOL" conveys Steph's sentiment. "Absent without leave" was a military term that meant a soldier didn't show up for roll call and it was a way to say we'll not accuse the soldier of the treasonous act of desertion just yet, but probably that's what happened. In the civilian (non-military) vernacular it has the sense that something's gone off the rails missing in a suspicious or mysterious way. So @stephwaldford has lost track of some pen pals for unknown reasons. Of course I'm speaking for someone else and happy to be corrected. That's what I kind of figured, Lupine, but somehow it didn't seem to make sense to me. I think my English is pretty good (considering I went to school it in the 70s/80s, never lived abroad and basically have hardly any way to practise besides writing and the occasional holiday abroad), but I don't always get abbreviations like that.
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Post by sunshine2170 on Mar 22, 2022 2:33:41 GMT
hahaha I just had to laugh at the fact that AWOL got you ginny I have never known more acronyms until I started my job 5 years ago and the last 4 week stint I did was so full of acronyms I had to good and look on the intranet every other paragraph to understand what I was reading and put it into context.
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Post by Steph Walford on Mar 22, 2022 12:45:37 GMT
Thanks for explaining, Steph Walford - as I said, for someone who's not a native speaker, notions like that can be confusing. It's been a long time since I learnt English at school, and obviously, I learnt British English as it was spoken in the 70s and 80s... of course, languages evolve, plus there's American English, British English, Caribbean English, Australian English and what-not, so it can become a bit much for someone like me Yes, I have same issue with my German. Learnt it at school and sadly with lack of usage a lot of it has been lost. Using Duolingo and some friends to try improve it again
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Post by radellaf on Mar 23, 2022 13:01:01 GMT
...never known more acronyms until I started my job 5 years ago and the last 4 week stint I did was so full of acronyms I had to good and look on the intranet every other paragraph My job is relatively free of any that aren't technical ones in my field, but I end up Googling a good number of acronyms, and sometimes words, with what I read or hear on the radio, especially if it's coming from something sales/corporate, and even more so if it's also an acronym that I know with a different definition. I know I used some unfamiliar ones at my last job, but they didn't have the courtesy to look them up. "FWIW" and "IMHO" (=humble, not honest) are two I have trouble even noticing that I use. I guess if someone's above you in the hierarchy, they're too "busy" to type 4 letters into a search bar. Then there's stuff on game chats like "AF", which I just _can't_ hear as anything other than "Auto Focus". Just about every camera had an "AF Lock" button. I also can't see "XD" as an emoji.
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Post by hilary on Feb 27, 2023 1:09:11 GMT
Not including my close friend since middle school, my parents, and one coworker - I currently have two penpals! But I'm super new to it. Not sure I could handle much more than 10.
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Post by hoyabella on Feb 27, 2023 19:22:42 GMT
Not including my close friend since middle school, my parents, and one coworker - I currently have two penpals! But I'm super new to it. Not sure I could handle much more than 10. Hilary, not all of us have much time for writing (or much energy... I am usually too tired for writing, after dinner). So it is astonishing for me that one can have 100+ correspondants. I have 4 regular penfriends and thankfully none of them demand prompt replies from me. I could handle more, but not many more, surely not more than 10. How cool that you write to your friend from middle school :-)
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Post by distractedmom on Feb 28, 2023 5:06:35 GMT
I haven’t counted lately. I appreciate everyone who has the patience to wait for a reply from me because all of the letters that land in my mailbox make me smile. If I had to guess, I’d say 40-50.
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