Hi -
A number of my regular news sources have used
the word 'wonk' recently, mostly in reference to Al Gore.
The context suggests this is a mildly disparaging comment
on a generally bookish approach towards issues. Where
did this word come from? In high school I was, by
default, a collector of similar epithets and never
was called, er. I mean, ran across this one.

N

.wonk tno'd I

dET

a wonk is a person who works or studies too much; usually heard in the phrase "policy wonk" ( a wonk is a close relative of the nerd).

According to my father's memory of his childhood (admitteldy a not altogether reliable oral history, but in this instance I at least am not making up stories!) a wonk is a small furry toy closely related to the more common gonk.

ON a separate note, in British English at least, 'wonky' means 'not straight' or 'not the way it should be'.

I am finding it hard to relate either of these pieces of lore to tsuwm's definition.

Warm welcome to you, Kmeson, as a fellow devotee to peculiar words.

tsuwm says, a wonk is a person who works or studies too much; I am wondering if "twonk" - a derogatory epithet that I have heard once or twice in UK - has any relationship to this word?

... And what does bonk mean?

In comic strips BONK is the sound of somebody getting hit in the head.

It is also, in the UK at least, I don't know about other parts of the world, a slang term for having sex.

Bingley

The British English adjective "wonky" means unstable or wobbly. Probably no connection. The Australian noun "wanker" means one who masturbates, from the verb "to wank." Probably no connection. An older British usage of "wonk" referred to a recruit seaman who was unreliable in that he had not yet acquired knowledge or skill. Probably no connection, save that both usages are derisive. The earliest American usage probably meant bookish or studious. OED says its been around since 1962. Webster claims a use in 1954. The term evolved to mean someone with remarkable expertise in a very narrow field. Erich Segal used it in "Love Story" in 1970, to wit: "Who could Jenny be talking to that was worth appropriating moments set aside for a date with me? Some musical wonk?". I think it has lost nuance and come to mean "nerd."

"twonk" - a derogatory epithet that I have heard once or twice in UK

Interesting; I'd thought twonk a fairly local, little-used epithet, RC. Definitely a favourite of mine, often self-attributed in moments of frustration!
Used pretty much as "git" (the UK noun rather than the US verb), with roughly the same degree of offensiveness. Maybe there's a dash of "twit" in there too.

Seems to me that, like wonk, twonk can be applied to people with pretensions who try to make a big impression and fail abysmally - probably because they are trying too hard.

Derogatory terms, of course, are notorious for escaping their original definitions!

I think the value of favourite derogatory terms is in their sound rather than meaning as such. The flip side of "phonaesthetics" perhaps?

(anyone interested see the "antonym for onomatopoeia" thread for Bingley's reference to phonaesthetics)

The Australian noun "wanker"

Is "wanker" exclusively Australian in origin then, FS?

Cor blimey, stone the crows, guv. I'd never have credited it!

In comic strips BONK is the sound of somebody getting hit in the head.

..though it can be THUNK, depending on the head's contents.

.wonk tno'd I

TEd,
You may have just (with a resounding BONK) hit the nail on the head here! Could wonk have been produced in a word inversion game, with a particularly amusing sound as the result?

The same may apply to bonk at that..

I believe both "to wank" and "wanker" to be of Australian origin but experience tells me that the use of these terms us not at all confined to those Down Under.

Used pretty much as "git" (the UK noun rather than the US verb), with roughly the same degree of offensiveness. Maybe there's a dash of "twit" in there too.

Yes, shona, that is much the feeling I got from the contexts in which the term has been used in my hearing. A mixture, I thought of "twit" and "wanker," perhaps?

Incidentally, the term "wank" has been current over here (UK) for quite a long time - I certainly remember using it at school in the '50s - in its masturbatory sense, rather than "wanker" as an epithet; that usage appeared (so far as I'm concerned) in the '60s.

experience tells me that the use of these terms us not at all confined to those Down Under

You ain't kidding!
What on earth did us Brits use before we knicked the Aussie phrase I wonder?!

A mixture, I thought of "twit" and "wanker," perhaps?


That's very close Rhub - just a tad more "twit" perhaps.
I must get myself a slang dictionary (or find one online, better yet).

Any recommendations, anyone?

Hard-copy dictionaries of slang are as useless as a jock strap in a nunnery, in that they are out-of-date before the glue dries on the binding. The only sensible solution is an on-line slang dictionary but this area has not achieved sufficient respectability to entice a university department to undertake the task.

>this area has not achieved sufficient respectability to entice a university department to undertake the task.

oh? check this out:

http://www.csupomona.edu/~jasanders/slang/project.html

The website to which tsuwm refers is outstanding. I just spent half an hour rooting around in it and didn't discover all it has to offer. Thanks, chum!

< out-of-date before the glue dries on the binding >

I take it, Father dear, that you are referring here to the book rather than the jock strap!

The practice of using glue to secure one's jock strap is also of Australian provenance, I believe.

The practice of using glue ...

Nah, we usually nail 'em on.

lusy

The practice of using glue ...

Nah, we usually nail 'em on.


Whoa! Kind of gives a whole new meaning to a couple of sayings:
That's hitting the nail on the head; and,
He's in his cups; and even---Screw 'em!

Jackie!! what is this; if you can't lick 'em, join 'em?!

tsk, tsk, tsk

Gutter talk if I've ever read it (which I haven't, not that there is anything wrong with that )

As to glue in the jockstrap, I have but one word to say to that OW!

Jackie!! what is this; if you can't lick 'em, join 'em?!

Hey! Have you been spying on me???

I'd have thought the fuzzy velcro bits would be sufficient...?

>if you can't lick 'em

As we don't usually use the word lick to mean win, I'm missing at least half of the double entendre here!

I'm missing at least half of the double entendre here

Sez you! But I'm sure some will appreciate the cue!

Ta were-daddy, just the job!

"Dictionary of Mountain Bike Slang" - love it.
Now I just need an ichthythesaurus.

the term "wank" has been current over here (UK) for quite a long time - I certainly remember using it at school in the '50s

Yes, Rhub, this is why I have a little trouble accepting the word as a recent Australian import (although how recent is obviously a moot point). You can't imagine kids - or most adults, at that - talking about "masturbating".

Maybe no-one in the UK talked about masturbation at all before "wank" was imported, although I find that hard to credit.

Ahem, for want of a better expression.

Shona

In reply to:

---

Maybe no-one in the UK talked about masturbation at all before "wank" was imported, although I find that hard to credit.

---

I'm reasonably certain that, at public schools, 'beastliness' was code for buggery (to use the plain old Anglo-Saxon - or was it?). Perhaps the term was more inclusive and also covered the sin of Onan (though as anybody will tell you, apparently Onan was punished merely for spilling it in excitement, not literally for the sin of the handman).

cheer

the sunshine warrior

>I'm missing at least half of the double entendre here! <
Now, now, if you really had missed that half, you would have missed it alltogether. That's in the nature of double entendre..

(though as anybody will tell you, apparently Onan was punished merely for spilling it in excitement, not literally for the sin of the handman).

As much as I admire the phrase "the sin of the handman" I have always thought that Onan did not "spill it in excitement", but spilt it deliberately in a refusal to perform levirate marriage. As I understood it, that was what got him in trouble.

beastliness was code for buggery

Didn't know that, shanks. Suppose I could have guessed.
As you say, "beastliness" may indeed have covered a multitude of uh, sins. But wouldn't masturbation have had a category all of its own? Buggery is an entirely different ball-game, after all.

Maybe we shall never know.

Incidentally, "ball-game" reminded me of that wonderful expression "pocket billiards"!

<Pocket pool> on this side of the pond.

In reply to:

---

buggery (to use the plain old Anglo-Saxon - or was it?

---

The word buggery ultimately comes from Bulgar; apparently Bulgars were well-known for it in Mediaeval times. What the Anglo-Saxons called it I don't know.

From reading the Biblical account of Onan (Genesis 38:9 http://inthebeginning.net/cgi-bin/EnglishBible.htm ) it sounds to me more like coitus interruptus as a form of contraception.

Bingley

more like coitus interruptus as a form of contraception.

I agree. Neat link--I sent it to all 3 pastors I know.
And, heads up, Father Steve! (Though you probably know this about one already.)

more like coitus interruptus as a form of contraception

Appropriately enough, this member agrees with the old hand.

I'm struck once again by the vast difference (even total opposition) between the portrayal of God in the Old Testament and the New. In the former the message appears to be: "I have my Reasons, but you couldn't possibly understand them. Do as I say or you and all you cherish will suffer, probably terminally".
In the latter it's more "You'll have to take this on trust. Believe you me it's worth the sacrifice. I love you and I could never hurt you".
I suppose it's all about the time the books were written, and the needs of the intended audience.

Appropriately enough, this member agrees with the old hand. I'm keepin' my hands off that one! Yipe!

the vast difference (even total opposition) between the portrayal of God in the Old Testament and the New.

It is strange, isn't it? I've often thought that the Old
Testament may be that way due to the simplistic beliefs of the time, e.g. that weather events were not random, but
purposefully chosen by some unknown Being, who had better
be appeased. And yet, civilization was hardly advanced by the time of Christ's birth! Dare I say it?--he might have
been real.

Jackie

I am sorely tempted to round up all my F.A.C.T.S. colleagues and march at your statement...

In reply to:

---

And yet, civilization was hardly advanced by the time of Christ's birth! Dare I say it?--he might have been real.

---

But this board is about language, not comparative religion, or history. Suffice to say that the Roman Empire was suffused, at the time, with interesting spiritual notions from the East; Mithrasism (or Mithraism) being the most well known of them. Also, it was arguably the most advanced civilisation in the West until the mediaeval period. Finally, a lot of the Old Testament was written without reference to the nearly contemporaneous great Greek philosophers. The New Testament, written within the Roman civilisation, can hardly have failed to be influenced by them...

For what it's worth, I believe the scholarly opinion is that somebody called Jesus, who founded a religion latterly called Christianity, is likely to have lived around that time. The scholars are, of course, silent about his putative divinity!

cheer

the sunshine warrior

My sweet shanks--
notice I said "might". And I meant it as a person, not as "The Son". I agree with your statements, my dear! :-)

I really didn't and don't want to get into a discussion on religion. But all of this gives excellent examples of the efficacy, or lack thereof, of our attempts at communication using language. Jesus' (if he existed) statements may have
been written incorrectly, translated incorrectly, and just
plain misinterpreted at the time. We may not have found everything that was written about him.
My failure to specify my meaning was another example. No
offense was meant.

I am inoffensible! (Maybe I should put that in the coinages forum?)

cheer

the sunshine warrior

]green]. But wouldn't masturbation have had a category all of its own?

It certainly did, Shona - In Victorian Public Schools (and right up until WW2 in some of them, I believe) it was known as "Self-Pollution."

Sorry to be a bit late with this - I've only just got back to work today after a long and arduous week-end, in which pollution of any sort didn't figure at all.

>pocket billiards/pool

is billiards (sans pockets) played at all in the U.K.? the last time I saw a "billiards" table here was in "Hustler" (Paul Newman, again). [and the last time I saw a snooker table I was in college <mumble> years ago.]

I do believe that billiards is still played in places but I don't move in the right circles.

Unfortunately many pubs tend to have pool tables rather than either billiards or snooker. I suspect because it has a smaller table (so it takes up less space) and the game is shorter (giving more people a chance to play and generating more money).

I know of one version of late night billiards which has rather simple rules - no spitting, no gouging, no other rules. The last surviving player wins. I haven't played it but I know people who have survived!

Billiards is certainly something of a special/cult sport. Fron what I remember (Bombay childhood) India nay claim to be the most successful nation of recent recent times, with record-breaking world champions through the 70s and 80s in Michael Ferreira and Geet Sethi.

One must ask, nevertheless, whether great value must be attached to a break of over a thousand that was compiled using only the three (or is it four) balls available, and took a couple of hours to complete...

"Self-Pollution."

Cheers, Rhub. Yes, that sounds about right for teecha terminology - and back then it probably wouldn't be applied to smoking, which would be the first association these days.
But what would the kids themselves have called it?

"Jerking off"? Or did we get that from over the Pond? Hang on, this could be time to get into tsuwm's slang references.

Sorry to hear about the pollution-free weekend. Sad to say most of us have to spend a little time in the Garden (usually with the sprats)...

pubs tend to have pool tables rather than either billiards or snooker

Indeed they do. Though there's a fair amount of bar billiards played hereabouts. I'll have to find a link for this, as an explanation would be complex!

I know of quite a few snooker clubs, but I don't actually know of any billiard clubs. Isn't the same size table used for billiards as snooker?

Beastlified if I know.

>Bar billiards

Ooooh - I love bar billards. The local when I was at college had a game and it was the highlight of many an evening spent avoiding exams.

Fron what I remember (Bombay childhood) India

May I ask what you think of "Mumbai"? Since you were born there, it would be interesting to hear your views on the reversion, if that's what it is. The real reason for this post however was simply to ask if your childhood included playing carom? My Dad's family brought a board and pieces out with them when they emigrated here in 1948, and I remember it as a very fun game, even if the square board meant that the angles didn't translate well to rectangular snooker tables.

Aah! Max, are we related?? I played carom as a
child, on my cousin's board! Hexagonal, I think, or was it
octagonal? (This was a portable, flat board, and the
pieces were thumped with the fingers.)

Wow! I didn't know that carom boards came in different shapes. I saw a photo on the Web from a carom tournament in the US, where all the competitors appeared to be emigrés from the Indian subcontinent, and all the boards visible (about 12) were square. My Dad would be aghast to hear that you thumped the pieces - he spent years trying, wih limited success, to teach me a very refined, silky-smooth flicking action with index and middle finger!

Max

I wasn't born in India - St Marys Hospital, Paddington, London, had that dubious privilege. I was brought up in Bombay though, and 22 years of it meant the city did get under my skin in more ways than one. As far as the name is concerned, some points to note:

1. The change to Mumbai cannot properly be called a reversion. There never was a city, or a town, called Mumbai. The area was first settled by, we are told 'Koli' people, fisherfolk who worshipped a deity called MumbaDevi, hence the alleged etymology of the current name. But…

2. The area in question was a small archipelago with many tiny fishing communities, notionally owned by Portugal in the 15th and 16th centuries, and used by them because there was a relatively deep, sheltered from the storm, natural harbour East of the islands, between them and the mainland. This good harbour (or bay), was allegedly called Bom Bahia by the Portuguese. You chooses your history and you takes your pick - decent attestation for neither name is available.

3. Certainly, it was only after the 1600s, when the area was given to the British as part of a wedding dowry, did the modern city begin to take shape. Land was 'reclaimed' between the islands and they began to form part of the single tapering peninsula that is modern Bombay. Each island, by the way, had its own, well-established name at the time, again raising doubts about the provenance of Mumbai. The largest was Salsette, today forming the bulk of 'Greater Bombay', whereas the modern city is composed of five or six former islands including Colaba, Mahim and others.

4. Given all this, I find little substance in the claim that 'Mumbai' is the true, or native name of the city, particularly since the 'natives' never created the city in the first place. But…

5. Whilst I, having left nearly a decade ago, can be crusty and reactionary and stick to calling it Bombay (mu Bombay, goddammit), I recognise that politics can often override my personal preferences. The fascistic, nationalistic bunch of thugs (I say this advisedly) who have taken over Bombay's government over the past decade, will have it called Mumbai, and threaten all businesses with dire consequences if they don't toe the line. So the change seems now to be a fait accompli. In a generation or two, they may be wondering what the fuss was all about. I, however, will regret the loss of the city of my youth…

cheer

the sunshine warrior

Thank you, shanks, for a beautifully lucid exposition of Bombay's history. My own knowledge of Indian history is very limited, mainly marginal to my work on C19 British Social history, but this has fired my imagination. I must start delving.

Max and others

1. As far as I am aware, carrom (as I've always spelt it), is only played on square boards. The holes/pockets, are at each corner.

2. There is a special 'piece', the Striker, which you place on your base line and use to hit the other 'coins'. Strikers are usually made of some heavy plastic, celluloid used to be favoured (and before that, ivory). The striker must always be 'flicked' by forefinger or middle finger (depending upon local rules, the thumb may be allowed for 'back' shots), and never pushed.

3. There are nine white coins, nine black coins, and one red/purple coin - the Queen. Coins are made of wood. The black and white coins count a point each, and the Queen counts 5.

4. Tournament level boards have a playing surface of a 4 foot square (approximately), with edges at least 5 or 6 inches thick (to provide solidity for a consistent rebound).

5. Preferred 'lubricant' for the board is Boric Acid powder.

Yes, obviously, I played the game a great deal when I was younger. I worked in an advertising agency in Bombay for about 4 and a half years, and each lunch time was spent playing carrom. What joy it is to have had a misspent youth! I could bore you, if you wanted, with further detail, but perhaps this is enough.



cheer

the sunshine warrior

Be prepared for the brilliant language of propaganda in all things related to India. My favourite is this: in 1857, as is well known, there was a great deal of armed conflict all over India, primarily between native Indians, and their White/British 'overlords'.

In the UK, this conflict has always been called The Great Indian Mutiny.

In Indian history textbooks, it is only ever referred to as The First War of Indian Independence.

As I said before, you picks your side, and you chooses your nomenclature...

cheer

the sunshine warrior

2. There is a special 'piece', the Striker, which you place on your base line and use to hit the other 'coins'. Strikers are usually made of some heavy plastic, celluloid used to be favoured (and before that, ivory). The striker must always be 'flicked' by forefinger or middle finger (depending upon local rules, the thumb may be allowed for 'back' shots), and never pushed.

My Dad had that 'back shot' down to a T - thanks for the nostalgia trip!

Max

I had flexible fingers but lousy long-distance aim, so 'back shots' were bread and butter for me too! Thank you too for allowing me to wallow - been a long time since I thought about carrom.

cheer

the sunshine warrior

this board is about language, not comparative religion, or history

I agree, shanks - but oftimes these matters (and much more) are nigh on impossible to separate. Meaning is defined by context at least as much as content.
"Suffice it to say"s like yours are meat and drink, as far as I'm concerned!

The word - or name, or finger pointing at the Moon - in this case was, of course, "God"; and its meaning went through an almost complete enantiodroma (any excuse!) in the time between the Old and the New Testaments.

I always liked Alan Watts' suggestion that "God" should be seen as an exclamation rather than a name.

Be prepared for the brilliant language of propaganda in all things related to India. My favourite is this: in 1857, as is well known, there was a great deal of armed conflict all over India, primarily between native Indians, and their White/British 'overlords'.

In the UK, this conflict has always been called The Great Indian Mutiny.

In Indian history textbooks, it is only ever referred to as The First War of Indian Independence.


Here's another name for the same event - The Sepoy Mutiny. The insurrection (neutral enough?) is of considerable interest to me, as it started in Meerut, the same city, where, 76 years later, my father was born. His grandfather came out with the British Army in 1859, so he may well have been part of a deployment in response to the "incident". I can't get away from the Raj, as the town where I live, Hastings, was settled around that time, and there are many street and town names redolent of that era - Simla (my Dad's father was fond of saying that in summer, a cigarette paper separated Simla from Hell), Lucknow, Warren, Clive, etc. With the passage of time, I have come to believe that my father's duskiness(the word seems to have a lovely Kiplingesque quality about it), and physiognomy cast grave doubt on his assertion that he has no ethnic ties to the Indian subcontinent - I suspect that all was not pukka in his family tree!

Wow, reading about Carrom made me think of skully, a street gave in NY (sadly, like ringalevio, no longer played)

The playing field was chalked into a concrete slab of sidewalk, (about 4' x 4') and it had target areas (9 total), at each corner, center side edge, and final in dead center. Often the targets where subdivided. Each was numbered, and 1 was diagonally opposite 2, 3 in another corner, 4 opposite that. The target area was about 2 inches square.

It was played with bottle caps, preferable made heaver by melting in a wax crayon--which also made it easer to keep track of who belongs to which game piece. Adding washer or lead before melting the wax made your "man" heavier, and harder to knock out of bounds, but it also made it harder to control.

You scored by landing your game piece inside a target area in strict order--but you improved your odd at wining if, along the way you managed to knock your opponents markers out of bounds... since marker put out of bounds had to start over again.

I've never played carrom or skully, but carrom reminded me of a very simple game that we used to play at school - "push-penny". Two or more players had a coin each (same denomination for fairness) and the object was to push other players' coins off the edge of the table by flicking your own at it. A sliding form of marbles, if you like. Was/is this a common game, and does anyone know if it originated from carrom?

I suspect that all was not pukka in his family tree!

Funny that. I've always suspected that my family swung the 'other' way - too many hazel eyed cousins, etc! My own skin being too light to be properly Dravidian. Who were my grandmothers seeing on the side - that's what I want to know!

Push-penny = Shove ha'penny?

Anybody know?

I've always suspected that my family swung the 'other' way

Oooo shanks. You don't want to say that here. Here, if your family had "swung the other way" you would not have made any babies at all. An important phrase to avoid if you ever come on a visit and you don't want to lead any gentlemen on.

Who were my grandmothers seeing on the side

I am part Cherokee Indian (sorry, but it just sounds too silly to me to say "Cherokee native American")--definitely
Caucasian in appearance, but somewhat in the darker skin range of this group. My son is really dark.

About grandmothers--my husband explains this part of my
heritage by saying that one of my ancestors couldn't
run fast enough!

Carrom is also played here in Indonesia, where it's known as karombol . I've never played it but I've seen sets in shops. I'm told it's very popular among students and the underemployed.

Bingley

>underemployed

Potential awadeers then!

So it's true - British irony can be too subtle for Americans at times....

In reply to:

---

I am part Cherokee Indian (sorry, but it just sounds too silly to me to say "Cherokee native American")

---

Would it perhaps be simpler to say "I am part Cherokee"?

Shanks

What is that saying about "angels fear to tread" - I really wouldn't go there!!!

Hi Shanks,

Sorry my response to this comes a bit late, but thanks for your fantastic write up about Bombay. More than half of what you wrote was news to me, although I belong to Maharashtra - or Goa to be more precise. I speak Marathi, the language spoken in Bombay. (for the others)

Yes, changing the name was a mistake. In Marathi, Bombay has been called Mumbai all along, and it has never sounded odd to me. But the moment, in other languages, English or Hindi, people began referring to the city as Mumbai - it sounded awful .

I don't have a deep love for the city because I never lived there. My main unhappiness is for the extinction of the word Bombay. I think it is a lovely word and it beautifully captures the crazy chaotic nature of the city.

Lol!

I'm just trying to investigate the current state of affairs regarding political correctness etc, whilst also trying, in my small way, to keep the word Indian reserved for people from India!

We've been down the politically correct language thread before (somewhere in the vaults), and we managed to do that without too much bloodshed. Or did we?

Heigh-ho for the life of a sailor...

Push-penny = Shove ha'penny?

Exactly my thought, shanks.

Marty compares push-penny to marbles; the intention appears to be to knock out opponents rather than score points as such.

If I'm thinking about the right animal, shove ha'penny on the other hand is a point scoring game, and takes place on a board. You try to knock the coins (or counters)
into specific lanes, each with a different points value. So you'd have, say, one 6-point lane, three 1-point lanes, two 2-point lanes etc.

It's fascinating how you end up with all these cross-overs, and start discerning a few fundamental game "templates".
Is there one ultimate underlying game, do you think?
The Glass Bead Game perhaps?!

Avy

Good to see you here. Do you live in Goa? One of my favourite places in India - I don't think I will ever forget the joys of Goa sausage, the beach, and beer with ice in it!

Marathi is one of my favourite Indian languages - forcefully expressive, but capable of great delicacy and beauty at times. Swearing in Marathi was always so much more fun than swearing in Hindi!

One of my best friends here is a Maharashtrian, so we sometimes get our 'fix' by calling each other up and leaving random gaalis on each others' voice mail!

cheer

the sunshine warrior

The Glass Bead Game perhaps?!

Probably more like: "Here is how I would have killed the mammoth if D-Bhurg-ash there had not been such a coward" "Oh, yeah, well I could have killed it quicker than you." "No, me - because my aim is true".

A name contracted, after the first World Cup, to the more manageable 'Aim', later corrupted to 'game' - hence the word we all use and love these days.

cheer

the sunshine (fan of Just So Stories) warrior

British irony

Shhhh!

Just So

Definitely the way it really happened! All very impressive being Magister Ludi, but when did he last get a ball in the back of the net, eh?

D-Bhurg-ash wasn't really a coward, by the way. It had just occurred to her that there wasn't room in the pantry cave for yet another mammoth leg. She'd been on at A-Wod-lah for ages to finish the cave extension, but where was he yet again? Off comparing mammoth sizes with the other boys.

Off comparing mammoth sizes with the other boys.

Actually it was worse - he was betting on the size of the next mammoth he would kill. This could have evolved into something innocuous, like Las Vegas (which was invented separately, later), but the idea of betting upon the future eventually became that bane of modern existence - the stock market - only loved by wide boys and Porsche salesmen...

Would it perhaps be simpler to say "I am part Cherokee"?

Yes, it would. If I had been addressing only people whom I knew would get the reference, I would have said that. I was thinking that perhaps some readers of this board might not.

Speaking of getting references, would you be so kind as to explain, shanks, what you meant by irony being too subtle for Americans?

Speaking of getting references, the following post reminded me of what happens when I read Shakespeare: I can read every word, but have NO CLUE as to what was said.
Definitely the way it really happened! All very impressive being Magister Ludi, but when did he last get a ball in the back of the net, eh?

D-Bhurg-ash wasn't really a coward, by the way. It had just occurred to her that there wasn't room in the pantry cave for yet another mammoth leg. She'd been on at A-Wod-lah for ages to finish the cave extension, but where was he yet again? Off comparing mammoth sizes with the other boys.