Language School's Blogger Fired For Writing A Post On Homophones; Director Fears Association With 'Gay Sex'

from the not-a-hoax dept

Fri, Aug 1st 2014 9:49am — Timothy Geigner

Let's say you're a company and you hired a social media expert to run your social media and blogging tasks. Now let's say you want to fire that person. You need a decent reason, right? Maybe your company is just going through layoffs and that job happens to fall under the ax (though, make sure you get control of your Twitter account before dropping the blade). Or maybe your "expert" ran a tweet/response campaign that backfired as badly as it possibly could. Those are good reasons to fire your social media and blogging guy.

What's a poor reason for firing that person? How about: Well, we thought the person's post about homophones for our language school's blog might make people think we're all gay and whatnot? Yeah, that pretty much covers it.

But when the social-media specialist for a private Provo-based English language learning center wrote a blog explaining homophones, he was let go for creating the perception that the school promoted a gay agenda. Tim Torkildson says after he wrote the blog on the website of his employer, Nomen Global Language Center, his boss and Nomen owner Clarke Woodger, called him into his office and told him he was fired.

Now, I know what you're thinking: that didn't f#&$ing happen. Well, au contraire, bonjour, it sure as hell did happen. A school entirely built to teach the English language to non-English speaking immigrants in Utah fired a guy for blogging about homophones. And, just so we're clear, homophones are not telephones run by the homosexual-ati as a hotline designed to disrupt the traditional family values of 'Merica. No, homophones are words that sound alike but have different definitions, like "I" and "eye."

Torkildson's account includes some eyebrow-raising quotes of Woodger claiming not to know what homophones were, claiming that they don't teach that kind of "advanced" language study to their English language students, and worrying that the post would associate the school with homosexuality for reasons uknown to this writer. Woodger's account is different, but vaguely not so different.

Woodger says his reaction to Torkildson's blog has nothing to do with homosexuality but that Torkildson had caused him concern because he would "go off on tangents" in his blogs that would be confusing and sometimes could be considered offensive...Woodger says his school has taught 6,500 students from 58 countries during the past 15 years. Most of them, he says, are at basic levels of English and are not ready for the more complicated concepts such as homophones.

Er, so yeah. It had nothing to do with homosexuality, except it has something to do with tangents and being offensive, and they don't teach the concept of homophones to English students because it's so advanced. I'd ask you to hazard a guess what the tangents and "offensive" stuff were in these damned language posts, but you've already probably guessed correctly.

Regardless, if homophones associate a language school with homosexuality, then I guess all of us Homo sapiens are at least a little gay. Right?

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Filed Under: clarke woodger, english, homophobia, homophones, language, tim torkildson
Companies: nomen global language center

72 Comments

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Reader Comments

The First Word

“

It's a language school. Aren't they suppose to teach the difference between "Homophones" and "Homophobes"?

—Chronno S. Trigger

”

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BentFranklin (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 8:59am

Oh noes, I been drinkin' homogenized milk!
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justok (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 9:54am

They're going to ban all Homo sapiens too
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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:01am

It's a language school. Aren't they suppose to teach the difference between "Homophones" and "Homophobes"?
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:01am

What.
"You've just been witness to something so bizarre, so eye-crossingly stupid, that your brain no longer has the cognitive faculties to put together a more articulate response."
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:04am

homo sapiens
I sure hope they don't find out about homo erectus...
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:05am

From this point forward, all archaeological discussion of Homo Erectus should be banned. That's twice the gay sex, right there. Homos and Erectuses as well!
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:07am

Homophones seems like a rather important subject to teach to people not familiar with the maddening oddities of the English language.
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jilocasin (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:07am

Should have stuck with homonyms
I guess he should have stuck with homonyms and not gone all _advanced_ with homophones.

;>
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Ninja (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:07am

he would "go off on tangents" in his blogs that would be confusing and sometimes could be considered offensive

This guy needs serious physics lessons.
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Ninja (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:09am

Re:
It's a Phalli issue...
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Dr. Sigmund Freud (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:11am

Sooo, tell me about your Fasha.
Looks to be, as I like to call tit, a Freudian slip.

Otherwise known as parapraxis, an error in speech, memory, physical action, or Human Resources policy, that I interpret as occurring due to the interference of an unconscious subdued wish, or conflict guided by the ego.

Clearly Clarke Woodger is not able to acknolwedge and express his own repressed homo-sexual desires and urges and is lashing out due to his own inner tension, and possibly self hate.

That is my professional opinion.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:15am

world gone mad.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:15am

Re:
That's not milk!
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NoahVail (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:15am

3 easy steps
Step 1) Society mindlessly obsesses over sex
Step 2) 100% of language becomes double entendre
Step 3) People make stupid mistakes confusing sex and language

Profit) React with indignation
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sehlat (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:30am

Ecch! Homo!
That pretty much sums up Woodger's reaction.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:32am

Eye no know weigh there tail bee four reel.

(I know no way their tale be for real)

I mean homophones aren't basic English or anything!
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:36am

This just reminded me of homophones. Not advanced enough ? By grade 2 I would study them.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:38am

Can't wait for Apple's new rainbow iHomoPhone...

Hooked on homophonics?
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:40am

Re:
Oh the irony! Are you sure this isn't and Engrish language learning center?
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A Dan (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:41am

Reminds me of another absurd reaction
This is similar to the ignorant reaction when some high-profile people have used the word "niggardly", but it's even more absurd since "homophone" is a word in common usage. These people should not be running a language school.
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Tom Stone, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:43am

Re: homophones
Most people would consider this a "Sound" reason to fire someone.
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Whoever, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:43am

Homo Sapiens
I wonder if Clarke Woodger would consider himself a member of the group "Homo Sapiens"?
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:43am

"No, homophones are words that sound alike but have different definitions, like 'I' and 'eye.'"

That's unnatural and an abomination. Aye, that's what I think.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:43am

Homo Sapiens
I guess all of us Homo sapiens are at least a little gay. Right?

Don't know about you, but I'm happy it's Friday. Does that count?
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Jon Jones (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:46am

Good job he didn't blog about Homo Erectus, he probably would have been shot at dawn.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:48am

The truly sad part is that a person with Woodger's level of mastery of the English language could even be hired by an organization tasked with teaching people English much less rise to a level of authority with in it. If our educational system in general ever considers homophones an "advanced language concept" we are truly doomed.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:52am

Re:
If anyone should be fired it should be Woodger due to his incompetence.
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This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:53am

Re:
I totally drank homogenized milk this morning and immediately sucked a cock. Imagine how many cocks I would have sucked reading about homophones!
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:55am

Re:
Ah I missed that he was the owner. That explains it then.
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cereal, 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:55am

PC and stupidity
political correctness is turning everyone into idiotic socially acceptable morons. Common sense has left the building. The fear of having some group destroy a reputation that must be publically apologized for has everyone on eggshells and because offensiveness has trumped the belief in free expression, and acknowledgement that we ALL say and do stupid things has made us all emotionally retarded. Yes, I purposely said retarded. Get over it. It's not derogatory. It's descriptive.
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JWW (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 10:58am

Onion
This story just screams something that should have come from the onion.
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sorrykb (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 11:15am

Re: What.
[over an hour and a hundred tabs later] Thank you so much for linking to TV Tropes.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 11:15am

An interesting tidbit...
The original article links to Nomen's Facebook page which appears to have disappeared. Anyone want to bet that this is due to it getting trolled once the article hit?
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Scote, 1 Aug 2014 @ 11:18am

Re: Re:
Well, aye fore won don't think this is a big deal. Why should there students knead too no about homophones???
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 11:28am

Well at least there's no chance the Internet will associate the Nomen Global Language Center with GAY SEX now. GAY SEX problem averted. Because we've ensured no homophonic bloggers will be writing about the Nomen Global Language Center and GAY SEX. Right?

Job well done!
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KeillRandor (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 11:29am

Re:
Considering how many people struggle to understand the difference and relationship between semantics and syntactics, and their application in language as content and grammar, it shouldn't be surprising at all...

Having said all that, our basic recognition, understanding teaching and description of language is flawed anyway...
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Ramon Creager (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 11:29am

Re: Re: Re:
LOL, thanks! I needed a good laugh.
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sehlat (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 11:31am

ET! Homophone!
chuckles evilly
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sorrykb (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 11:33am

Well, au contraire, bonjour, it sure as hell did happen.
Champs-Élysées, croissant! Champs-Élysées!
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 12:14pm

Re:
OMG, you swallowed!
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art guerrilla (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 12:18pm

Re:
disclosure: better half is a 'language arts' teacher (they don't say 'english' any more) and just laughed and laughed...

hell, our grandmonster going into 2nd grade has that listed as one of the goals on their learning for that year...

i guess 2nd grade qualifies as 'advanced' to this yabo...
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 12:24pm

Re: Re: Re:
Gud won, mister homogenius....

Wait until Woodger realizes that Utah is not as homogenous as he probably thinks...
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John Fenderson (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 12:25pm

Double strike
OK, a director of a school that not only has no idea what "homophone" means but thinks that it's an advanced concept (I remember learning about them in about the 6th grade) is one level of stupidity.

But this guy takes it to the next level for summarily firing a teacher who actually has mastered the basic concepts of English -- rather than actually looking into the issue or at least asking the teacher about it first.

That director should be fired for gross incompetence.
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Kal Zekdor (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 12:46pm

Re: Re: What.
Wow, thanks for the warning, I almost clicked that. You've saved at least an hour of my time.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 12:52pm

Re: Double strike
I said that too. But apparently he's not just the director but also the owner...

"his boss and Nomen owner Clarke Woodger..."
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Al Aloisi, 1 Aug 2014 @ 1:13pm

HOMOPHONES
I have a most complete list of homophones on the web. Students of English all over the world use my site to learn and use homophones correctly.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Al Aloisi, 1 Aug 2014 @ 1:17pm

HOMOPHONES
Visit www.homophone.com for a complete list of homophones.
Click on a word and obtain its meaning.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 1:27pm

Re: PC and stupidity
Curtail the hangwringing. In this case political correctness actually would have ironically saved us from this bit of stupidity. If homophobia was considered highly unacceptable it would have prevented a firing on the grounds of sounding remotely similar to homosexual. Woodger could still come up with a stupid excuse for firing but he would have to come up with a better one.
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Spaceman Spiff (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 2:21pm

Fire the department chari, dean, and proctor/chancellor!
They are obviously not qualified to be running a language school! They are complete and utter idiots and should not be allowed anywhere near a school!
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 2:49pm

What a PR campaign!
We have here an owner and administrator of an English language school, neither seem a better grasp of the subject then their clients. Maybe their next endeavor will be a target shooting school, should be at least as proficient as the current school. Of course the knee jerk reaction to anything that starts with homo is classic right wing nutcase that seem to cluster in Utah by some magnetic force.
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lars626, 1 Aug 2014 @ 2:50pm

Careful. I've got a vocabulary and I'll use it
This ranks right with the guy in Washington DC that got fired for using the word 'niggardly' when discussing the city's budget. Niggardly is a different way of saying 'frugal', spending carefully. The origins of the word are Swedish.
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Ron, 1 Aug 2014 @ 3:10pm

Homophones
I am absolutely appalled and your institution to hang its head in shame for firing someone over bloging about homophones. One would think that you have some intelligence to teach languages, but I just guess you IQ is well below normal. What a bunch of idiots you people are and ignorant beyond belief
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 3:21pm

Re:
Clearly the problem here is that "homophone" is almost homophonous to "homosexual". If the prefixes in the English language were less homogenous, we wouldn't have to worry about the homophony of "homophone", and then people wouldn't have to be so homophobic.
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Tim Torkildson, 1 Aug 2014 @ 3:35pm

Homophones
You sound like you're introducing an episode of the Twilight Zone -- and maybe your are!
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NaBUru38 (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 4:55pm

Re: Homo Sapiens
Neither Homo nor Sapiens.
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Padpaw (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 5:08pm

Maybe they can fire Woodger for being an idiot and therefore unable to do his job
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2014 @ 7:02pm

Re:
For a french native, albeit canadian, this is fucking hilarious !!
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Oh Noes!, 1 Aug 2014 @ 8:10pm

Re:
His boss acted niggardly.
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Beta (profile), 1 Aug 2014 @ 8:23pm

Re: Reminds me of another absurd reaction
The difference is that in this case the guilty parties make things worse by not apologizing for not knowing what a word meant, and in the prior case the innocent party made things worse by apologizing for knowing what a word meant and using it correctly.
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David, 2 Aug 2014 @ 12:49am

Re:
In the U.S.A., your use of "therefore" makes no sense. Most jobs require being an idiot. It's almost a prerequisite for staying in the country at all.
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Sheogorath (profile), 2 Aug 2014 @ 12:19pm

Isn't this an adaptation of Rule 34? "If something exists, someone will find something sexual about it."
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Scott Enk, 2 Aug 2014 @ 4:37pm

Teacher Fired Regarding Homophones
Stooopid. People like Timothy Torkildson are only doing their job in trying to bring up the level of English used by his students and, for that matter, such ignoramuses as Clarke Woodger. This incident reminds me of cases where people have been accused of being racists or even fired for using the word "niggardly," a word of Scandinavian origin that means "stingy" and has nothing to do with race.

Woodger and his school owe Mr. Torkildson not only his job with full back pay and then some, but also an abject and *very* public apology. Woodger's actions, not to mention his self-admitted ignorance *and* homophobia, are making him and his school, community, and state worldwide laughingstocks.

Tell Clarke Woodger and his school what *you* think of this. Write your own comments on their blog at http://nomenglobaltoday.blogspot.com/2014/06/english-is-key-to-your-success.html?showComment=1407022 290898#c4056874921915073665.
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tracyanne (profile), 2 Aug 2014 @ 5:38pm

Um
Being Gay, or even thought you might be Gay, is bad, because...
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toyotabedzrock (profile), 3 Aug 2014 @ 3:39pm

The boss needs to enroll in his own English for beginners course.
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toyotabedzrock (profile), 3 Aug 2014 @ 10:42pm

Re:
I do believe they prefer the myth of creation in that area.
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toyotabedzrock (profile), 3 Aug 2014 @ 10:48pm

Re: Re:
People should seek a refund given his English skills are so lacking.
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Niall (profile), 4 Aug 2014 @ 3:21am

Re: Re:
If it's Utah, maybe it's just one of those diploma mills that the Christian hoam-skoolud rait are so fond of?
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Niall (profile), 4 Aug 2014 @ 3:23am

Re: Re:
Considering we are discussing a useful Latin term 'homo', it's almost funny complaining that English has a lot of homo-ness...
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Niall (profile), 4 Aug 2014 @ 3:24am

Re: Homo Sapiens
Only allowed to be gay on a Sunday, along with bonnie and blithe and good.
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Niall (profile), 4 Aug 2014 @ 3:25am

Re: PC and stupidity
Given that this was a college claiming to be worried about 'teaching pro-gayness', I don't think they were worrying about political correctness - more about the right flavour of political wrongness.
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Niall (profile), 4 Aug 2014 @ 3:27am

Re: Um
Because Utah.
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Doris Kelly, 4 Aug 2014 @ 7:51am

Homophones
Now we know why the public schools abandoned the practice of homogeneous grouping.
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