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Barbe-help: What does "rodneys" mean?

deja_vroom

14:58 / 19.04.04

I'm working on a translation piece, and this is the context: "'Moment's a supermarket-checkout-lane-display magazine. It's in there with the rodneys and gum."

I suppose it's some kind of candy or something, but can't find anything specific on the web. Anyone care to help me?

Grey Area

15:07 / 19.04.04

Sounds like Rhyming Slang to me, although none of the online dictionaries seem to have an entry for it. Londoners? This one's for you...

Saveloy

15:09 / 19.04.04

Rodney Fletcher - deck chair?

What nationality is the writer? I don't recognise it either.

deja_vroom

15:16 / 19.04.04

It's from David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest". He's an american from Boston, I think... the book is rife with slang which you can pretty much guess (beefs for brawls, map for face) but this one is quite unapproachable...

deja_vroom

15:20 / 19.04.04

...and, while I'm at it, "Rog and Wile" as in "this is a rog and Wile". What does it mean? I'm sure this rfers to some sort of conversational gambit, given the context, but I'd like to know more about it... the context is this:

'And Dad . . . the Mad Stork put his head in the oven?’
'The microwave, O. The rotisserie microwave over next to the fridge, on the freezer side, on the counter, under the cabinet with the plates and bowls to the left of the fridge as you face the fridge.’
'A microwave oven.’
'That is a Rog and Wile, O.’
'Nobody ever said microwave.’

And then, later:

'And there was a large and half-full bottle of Wild Turkey found on the counter not far away, with a large red decorative giftwrappish bow on the neck.’
'On the bottle's neck, you mean.’
'That is a Rog.’

Benny the Ball

15:22 / 19.04.04

the use of checkout and gum suggest that it's American, probably is some kind of candy.

Not ryhming slang, unless is some Hoxton twat invented non-existant slang.

One I heard recently - 'have you got any Worzel left?' - based on the answer in the positive and the handing over of some chewing gum, I'm guessing Worzel Gummage as the slang for chewing gum.

Sorry, tangent.

Saveloy

15:31 / 19.04.04

'Rog' could be short for 'roger' as in 'roger and out', as said by police and army types over walkie talkies. In which case, 'rog' would mean 'that is correct'. No idea about Wile.

Jack Fear

16:29 / 19.04.04

Are you sure it's "wile" and not wilco?

From the context, "rog" would seem to be short for "roger"--radio-operator code for "yes"--and the customary follow-up to that would be "wilco," short for "will copy."

Jack Fear

16:37 / 19.04.04

According to the Infinite Jest Online Index, "rodneys" is slang for ciagarettes.

grant

17:49 / 19.04.04

Wow -- I'd never heard that one before.

deja_vroom

17:52 / 19.04.04

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!

(Jack, many thanks. May your sword never kill a turtle)

Abigail Blue

18:09 / 19.04.04

< pedantry > Not to be overly nitpicky, but David Foster Wallace is, in fact, from rural Illinois. < /pedantry >

deja_vroom

18:33 / 19.04.04

Abigail, in a DavidFosterWallace-ish context, pedantry is not only accepted, but encouraged. Huzzah, says I!

Saveloy

09:48 / 20.04.04

Rog = roger? Whodda thunk it? Not me, no, I would never have thought of that, not in a million years.

Ho ho. But anyway, out of interest, is 'Rog and Wilco' going to be translatable, Jade? How are you going to deal with it?

deja_vroom

11:25 / 20.04.04

"Rog and Wile", "Rog and Wile"...

Well, from the contex, as I said, I'm inclined to think that this term signals the use of a conversational gambit, maybe in this case the trick of concentrating on insignificant minutia in order to try and salvage one's point. Since the definition for "wile" is:

Wile \Wile\, n. [OE. wile, AS. w[=i]l; cf. Icel. v?l, v[ae]l.
Cf. Guile.]
A trick or stratagem practiced for insnaring or deception; a
sly, insidious; artifice; a beguilement; an allurement.

So I'll translate Hal's line "That is a Rog and Wile, O." like, maybe "Bad move, O." (as in, "bad conversational move", since Hal's obviously pissed at his brother's scrutiny over a scabrous incident such as his father putting his head inside the microwave.

William Sack

11:41 / 20.04.04

In "Duchess" by The Stranglers there are the lines
"And the rodneys are queuing up, God forbid
And they all want to win the cup, God forbid."

So that's about cigarettes is it?

pointless and uncalled for

20:59 / 23.04.04

d J

That will require a lot more contextualisation. I have my suspiscions but think that it's a relevance in scientific terms.

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