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Would anyone like to help me with my homework?

03:21 / 12.11.03

I need help with some references in a play, East is East, particularly British and Pakistani-British slang and some British cultural references. This thread expires as of five p.m. GMT, Thursday. Rumor has it some of you might be... you know... British. For the record, I have no idea if any of these terms are derogatory, so please forgive me if they are. I'm working on a glossary of the play for my American classmates.

Anyway, the terms and their contexts:

puther- "You can't have this thing, puther, it no belong to you," used by a man in reference to his youngest son.

riffy- "Use the Swarfega on him, I'm not having him looking riffy and showing me up."

do a Poindexter on me- "God, do a Poindexter on me or what!"

cucumber butties- "They used to serve cucumber butties in the afternoons."

tute- "you daft tute!"

pogle, belkuf- "He bloody pogle, doctor, this boy always bloody belkuf."

bhenchoud badahmarsh- "bhenchoud badahmarsh, if there's no god, what are we all bloody doiing?"

bass- "I am your father, you are my son, you do as I say, bass."

pucking- "You all pucking trouble with me!"

Whit week walks- "They carried the banner for the Whit week walks."

If anyone can clear any of these up for me, I'd be much appreciative, and I'm sure my perplexed classmates would as well. Thank you.

04:50 / 12.11.03

blimey!

butties are sandwiches, butter and bread. cucumber butties i imagine will be cucumber sandwiches, of the kind enjoyed at afternoon tea(mostly by posher folks, as far as i am aware).

and thats it.

i could guess that whit week is something to do with whitsunday, but it is a guess.

06:42 / 12.11.03

Eee bah gum. T's right about the Whit walks - it's a Manchester tradition, dating back to the nineteenth century.

Whit Sunday is seven weeks after Easter, and Whit Walks (CTRL-F on Whit Walks to find the entry and pics) were/are a Church tradition.

As you know, the movie's set on the Manchester/Lancashire borders, and some of these terms are northern dialects, and most - I'm pretty sure - are British/Asian terms.

On the pucking question, can you tell me which scene it's in (I've got the DVD), because I'm wondereding if it's a local-accented version of "picking" as in picking trouble, which might make contextual sense.

I love this movie. They have the same seventies crockery as my Mum and Dad had when we were kids.

foot long subbacultcha

07:20 / 12.11.03

I only know bits of panjabi, but I can't remember where in Pakistan the East is East family were meant to be from. They may even have been from current Bangladesh. Urdu may be their "native language" Conversation in asian families can borrow from a multiple of languages, though.

"bhenchoud" - could be "sister-fucker" - a common curse
"bass" - that's an easy one - means "finished"

Dunno any others. That's my lameness as a British Indian/Indian Brit right there.

Tryphena Absent

08:42 / 12.11.03

Word Origins explains poindexter...

Poindexter has been an American slang term for an egghead or nerd for decades, but how did the name come to be associated with really smart people. The answer is cartoons. The cartoon character Felix the Cat, creation of Otto Messmer, made his screen debut in 1919, making him one of the most venerable animated characters in existence.

In 1958, Felix made his television debut and for the TV series Felix's new animator, Joe Oriolo, introduced a number of new characters and foils for Felix. Among these were Felix's archnemesis The Professor and his brainy nephew, Poindexter. Allegedly, Oriolo named Poindexter after his lawyer. The popularity of the cartoon ensured that the name Poindexter would be forever associated with intelligence.

13:02 / 12.11.03

Ooohhh you all rock.

Urdu may be their "native language"

The youngest characters frequently say that they speak English, not Urdu, when their father gets cross with them. (Probably would've been helpful to mention that from the get-go.)

Pucking is late in act II, scene two, not sure where that'd be in the DVD, but it's just before the first time George beats up Ella for the first time (in the script, anyway).

I adore you all.

13:16 / 12.11.03

The cucumber butties- traditionally croquet playing upper class English gentry served cucumber sandwiches cut into triangles with the crust cut off, and has become a hallmark of poshness. 'Butties' is a common working class expression for sandwiches like 'sarnies' (we used to call police cars Jam Butties when I was a kid 'cos they were white with a red stripe in the middle).
So my point is there's a comedy juxtaposition of posh and common usage there, someone from a working class background describing an upper class thing. Like saying "Blinkin 'eck those Ponsonby-Smythe folk serve cold soup! Gaz-spatcho or summink, it were 'orrible!"
(See how I suck all the humour out of it by explaining so it becomes a dry husk of it's former comedy self?)

19:18 / 12.11.03

Okay, I've got everything except RIFFY, TUTE, and PUCKING. God you've all been helpful!

03:53 / 13.11.03

Back in Brum the word riff is an insult meanying dirty and to a lesser extent trampy and poor, the word riff is also to sratch your self fiercly as "stop riffing at your head".

I dont know if this is any help it could just be regional to birmingham.

as for pucking it could be a refrance to yours truly but i doubt it.