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Things people think you say in your country, when actually none of you do.

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15:44 / 07.04.03

Kit-Cat Club:

"On the generic pet name front - Saveloy, don't know if you've ever been in Stu's News in Southsea, but the woman who works there always addresses people as 'my lover' which is ever so slightly disconcerting."

Excellent, I'll have to check that out. Does she sound more West Country than Pompey, then? I love being addressed with pet names, especially by friendly shop staff. The woman in Osprey's chip shop on Highland Road (you might remember it as The Golden Chip, when it was decorated with plastic lobsters, star-fish and clams) calls everyone "babes", which is generally considered strong meat, even by pro pet name types. It's taken some getting used to, but I feel snubbed if she doesn't use it now. Ah, and I used to turn into a dribbling fool whenever my hard as nails, ex-skinhead-lady shift leader called me "petal" or "flower".

16:37 / 07.04.03

Muckle just means “big” in Scots but I’ve never heard anyone younger than my grandparents say it, and they’re both long dead of too much Scottish food. My father still says jings all the time but his patois is barely intelligible outside of his village.

I can’t be arsed has been around at least since I was at University in Edinburgh in the seventies, though I don’t remember it before that. Its currency appears almost universal now.

Chap (singular) I often hear (and use) but not chaps unless made of leather and worn by Ganesh. Used to be the name of one of Edinburgh’s sleaziest gay bars too.

I knew a guy who said tickety boo (but only one and he’d been in the navy for years). Used to get my hash from him till he croaked of afflicted lungs.

And isn’t “The Crack” really an Irish Gaelic term: craic, meaning conviviality or having fun in company or something like that?

Haven’t heard any rhyming slang down here in Landan but I’ve a London-born friend who calls a hat a titfer still (tit for tat > hat) and china was common enough in my youth (china plate > mate).

But nobody in Scotland ever says Och aye the noo unless someone has forgotten to pour a drink for the shy elk in the corner.

19:26 / 07.04.03

My Grandmother used to say 'many a mickle macks a muckle' and whilst she has been dead for many a year I would doubt that any irony was involved. Not entirely sure what it means, but by context it seems to be a justification for our family's habitual penny-pinching.

Oh and as for 'moi luvver', I think that's legally enforced in the Bath area for female shopworkers over 35. To this day it brings back fond memories of penny chews and charcoal grey trousers.

20:03 / 07.04.03

It must be strange having all these versions of the same language floating around. Lusophones can compare the way Portuguese is spoken in Brazil and Portugal and in some parts of Africa, and some islands around the globe, but the way English has spread allows for some wild variations, eh?. And all those versions developing simultaneously are bound to develop small, odd differences... same thing with Spanish, there are so many countries developing their own version of the thing. I'm sorry, had my brains extracted today. All I can think is "this is really interesting".

20:21 / 07.04.03

Plasma, there's a really interesting book I've just read called The Book of Babel which dicusses exactly your point. Amazon's synopsis on it (which is far better than mine would ever be) is: A celebration of the confusion surrounding language, which explores the relationship between words and the world. The author examines connections between groups of seemingly unrelated words, traces the origin of words and describes the power of language to pull perception in its wake.

19:51 / 08.04.03

I have to confess that I do say 'Jings'. It started off ironically and now, to my shame, it's stuck. 'Crivens', too, though never, ever 'help ma boab'. So far.

Brilliant! Do you ever sit on a bucket outside your flat?

21:00 / 08.04.03

what does 'uff da' mean that sounds ridiculous, when do you say it?
'Nipper' comes up alot or 'Nips' an abbreviation of the word, or in relation to nipples. if thats the case actually i think i should be offended.
does anyone else say 'ballyhell' and why do i know the word, what is it in reference to?

21:27 / 08.04.03

HUNKY DORY! I actually do say 'hunky dory' or sometimes my own variation 'hunk dunky'. I haven't the faintest idea where it derives from. I got it from my uncle, I understand it's a term of approval. 'How are the fishcakes?' 'Oh, They're Hunky Dory'. 'Pukka', that's a bastard of a word if ever I've heard one, any ideas where that 'old chestnut' comes from? Apart from that big-lipped S.O.B. Jamie Oliver. Does pukka travel? anyone else say it? I think i sort of recall it coming from India, but perhaps not. Oh I dont know. Do southern belles in the states actually say 'howdy' or any surviving cowboys? Superb post, i must congratulate this topic, hours of laughter and merriment.

03:45 / 09.04.03

pukka is indian.

The Return Of Rothkoid

10:39 / 09.04.03

Brilliant! Do you ever sit on a bucket outside your flat?
And now I must marry you.

Fuck knows what I was doing reading that in Australia though...

15:45 / 09.04.03

what does 'uff da' mean that sounds ridiculous, when do you say it?

It's an untranslateable Swedish phrase that means something close to "Oops!" or "What a hassle!" You say it when toddlers fall down.

16:46 / 14.04.03

IIRC - Pukka means "the real thing/genuine article" but I may be wrong.

Do Australians really admonish against "coming the raw prawn"? [faked innocence/naivety]

18:54 / 14.04.03

How do you pronounce 'pukka'? I've only ever seen it written...

18:56 / 14.04.03

It's pronounced "aye yam uh mok nee twart."

19:09 / 14.04.03

'Pucker', sometimes with a bit of a glottal stop. Piece of cake.

19:11 / 14.04.03

Alternately, rhyme it with "Jamie Oliver is an irritating mush-mouthed fish-faced dog-fucker."

That helps me remember it, anyway.

20:52 / 14.04.03

Myself, I’m not so inimical to the rubber-lipped fat-tongued J.O. (although calling his recently born daughter Daisy Boo was risible) but the fair Ganesh spits at the very thought of him. I find his cooking interesting and would love to try Fifteen but I won’t be accompanied there by trunkboy I guess.

Anyway,
Pukka, aptly, derives from the Hindi "pakk" (meaning cooked, ripe), which in turn is from the Sanskrit "pacati" (meaning he cooks).

Some other words on loan from the Subcontinent are:

Dungarees from "dungri", which in Hindi specified a cheap, coarse type of cloth

Pyjamas (or pajamas) from the Hindi "paijama", where "pai" means leg and "jama" means garment

Loot is the Hindi word for spoils, booty

and Orange comes originally from from the ancient Sanskrit "naga ranga" meaning fatal indigestion for elephants

Here endeth the threadrot.

22:39 / 14.04.03

Oooh! Is that true about the word Orange? Let's have a thread for interesting word derivations, have you got anymore in your pocket Xoc?

04:14 / 15.04.03

The Pocket XoC?!

I'd buy two.

My Mom Thinks I'm Cool

04:55 / 15.04.03

Here in the Western US I believe we're supposed to say "Yee-haw!" but maybe that's somewhere else. Most of the arguments are about how to properly pronounce city names (Boise vs Boize, etc) or things like saying "bucket" instead of "pail" or "soda" instead of "pop". Oh yeah, and "crick". Apparently we say "crick" instead of "creek". Which is actually supposed to be "stream" anyway.

I think I'm the only person I know who says "Rad!" all the time without thinking about it. Most people assume I'm saying "red" until they get to know me.

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