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Topic Options #101439 - 04/22/03 01:24 PM Blighty aadenny stranger Registered: 04/22/03 Posts: 2 I think Anu's citations of ‘Blighty’ were modern, almost post-modern ironic ones, and from Canadian and New Zealandish (not British) newspapers. ‘Blighty’ was a colloquial term used by the older generation of British people, when we still had an empire. I have warm memories of the term from my father’s generation, but my generation has seldom used it. It was only ever used by Brits when abroad, and I would say it's most often used now by outsiders, non-Brits. In short, I'd say it represented a 'mystical yearning' from abroad, not a name for the UK itself. The citations were not necessarily erroneous – they mean what the writers meant them to mean -- but I don't feel they represented the soul of the word as the Brits created it. Top #101440 - 04/22/03 03:20 PM Re: Blighty sjm old hand Registered: 07/19/02 Posts: 742 Loc: Akina >In short, I'd say it represented a 'mystical yearning' from abroad, Not having seen the email in question, I'm shooting in the dark, but, at least here in Zild, your "ironic" comment is nearer the mark for Blighty's usage today. Either that, or in the phrase "bugger off back to blighty" directed at a particularly loud whinging Pom. Top #101441 - 04/22/03 05:50 PM Re: Blighty aadenny stranger Registered: 04/22/03 Posts: 2 By 'mystical yearning' I meant the way the word was originally and sentimentally used by the expatriate British 'diaspora' themselves. As in "...when I get back to Blighty". I've never, ever heard it used within the Kingdom itself. Top #101442 - 04/23/03 07:41 AM Re: Blighty dxb Pooh-Bah Registered: 03/06/02 Posts: 1692 Loc: UK There was also a magazine: http://www.nls.uk/experiencesofwar/weewindows/pic-wounded-mid-1.html Top Previous Topic Index Next Topic Preview Hop to: General Topics ------   Information and announcements   Q&A about words   Wordplay and fun   Words and languages in schools   Miscellany   Weekly Themes   Looking for (writers, speakers, ...) (Old) Weekly themes. (have been consolidated into a single forum above) ------   Words from medicine   Beheading words   Meta-words   Words from classical mythology   Animal Safari   Words with unusual etymologies   Eponyms or words derived from people's names.   Loanwords from German   English as a global language Moderator:  Jackie  Print Topic Switch to Threaded Mode View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts Forum Stats 8426 Members 16 Forums 13690 Topics 209794 Posts Max Online: 3341 @ 12/09/11 02:15 PM Newest Members sylviasuper, continent2, a2teacher, teepee, smoothcriminal86 8426 Registered Users Who's Online 1 registered (zmjezhd), 45 Guests and 2 Spiders online. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod Top Posters (30 Days) LukeJavan8 86 jenny jenny 56 wofahulicodoc 56 endymion6 48 Rhubarb Commando 37 BranShea 34 Buffalo Shrdlu 15 zmjezhd 13 Faldage 13 tsuwm 11 May Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

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