WHEN MEN WERE MEN.....!

[Fox Mike]

Wild Turkey 101 straight is my preference.

Rebel Yell. Dangerous stuff. I vividly remember it from my drinking days.

 

[mistermills357]

From your post "Ask someone to define literate, and they will say that it means the ability to read. And it does mean that."
You are correct. Unfortunately- and this is a surprise to most- Based on this definition, the illiteracy rate in the United States is near 70% ( or little lower, depending on which national survey you read).

Geographic illiteracy is rampant, and you know that, it is pretty stark.
Ask someone where Montevideo is, and how to properly pronounce it.

And a literate person should know where it is, or how find it PDQ, without help.

I used to know every state Capitol, and we had to know them, or fail the American geography class. I learned to keep a World Atlas handy, and I have a couple of those.

 

[hittman]

Ask someone where Montevideo is, and how to properly pronounce it.

I for one had no idea where it is. But a quick Bing search hooked me up.
I would have never guessed Uruguay!

 

[mistermills357]

I for one had no idea where it is. But a quick Bing search hooked me up.
I would have never guessed Uruguay!

A female friend was talking to me and she mentioned it, and I didn't know where it was either. So she told me and I looked it up in the Merriam-Webster & New World College Dictionary. And it stuck into my memory.

I used it as an example, that literacy should include countries and cities in our Western hemisphere.

 

[Fox Mike]

Definition
Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society. Generally, literacy also encompasses numeracy, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. The concept of literacy can be distinguished from measures to quantify it, such as the literacy rate and functional literacy.

 

[RC44Mag]

I for one had no idea where it is. But a quick Bing search hooked me up.
I would have never guessed Uruguay!

I thought it was where they have that fancy race right in the streets of that country in the Mediterranean Ocean.

 

[hittman]

I thought maybe Montevideo was a typo and he meant Monticello or Montebello.

 

[mistermills357]

Definition
Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society. Generally, literacy also encompasses numeracy, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. The concept of literacy can be distinguished from measures to quantify it, such as the literacy rate and functional literacy.

That's a good definition, and I never argue with dictionaries anyway. But it's kind of wordy.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

1a: EDUCATED, CULTURED

b: able to read and write