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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In hhmmmm, 1977 I think it was, while travelling by bike through England, we ran across signs saying "No vanners allowed". This was in Wisbech, I believe. When I asked what vanners were, I was surprised to learn that it was a shortened term for cravaners, and specifically referred to gypsies who traveled around in horse-drawn wagons. Actually saw some of them the next day, but gave them a wide berth. Probably should not have, in retrospect. Would have been fascinating to learn more about them.
TEd
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"No vanners allowed". ... I was surprised to learn that it was a shortened term for cravaners
I wonder if there is a linguistic connection between "cravaners" and "caravans".
I remember reading an Egyptian proverb some years back [Anwar Sadat responding to homeland critics of his Camp David peace initiative]:
"The dogs will bark but the caravan keeps rolling along."
In his case, alas, there was more than just bark in those "dogs".
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>I wonder if there is a linguistic connection between "cravaners" and "caravans".
I don't know about there being a linguistic connection, but there is a typographical connection.
TEd
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I don't know about there being a linguistic connection, but there is a typographical connection.
They have something else in common, TEd.
It is probably wise to give both a "wide berth" if you don't know what they're carrying in the "van".
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I met a horse drawn van once while cycling thru' France. When I stopped and asked to take a picture his wife and daughters all disappeared while the sons jumped out to be in the picture. All of the kids were under 12, at a guess. We only spoke for a few minutes but they were very nice. I couldn't buy a basket because my bike was already loaded unfortunately.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I met a horse drawn van once while cycling thru' France. When I stopped and asked to take a picture his wife and daughters all disappeared while the sons jumped out to be in the picture. All of the kids were under 12, at a guess. We only spoke for a few minutes but they were very nice. I couldn't buy a basket because my bike was already loaded unfortunately.
There is a facinating movie/documentary called Latcha Drom. It traces the supposed route of the original Gypsies featuring the music and a snatch of the lifestyle and dancing of Gypsy families in India, Turkey, Eastern Europe France and Spain. There is no narration Just the subtitled translation of the songs. The Flamenco music and dancing of Spain is startlingly like the Indian version.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I should perhaps make myself a little clearer. The "gippos" I'm referring to are no more Romanies than I am Martian. They are just vagrants with beaten up cars, tumbledown caravans and a larcenous streak a mile wide. In this country to declare yourself a traveller is to become one in the eyes of the authorities. They travel from "work" to "work" mob-handed. They trespass wherever they feel like it, setting up "camp" on farmers' fields or a supermarket carpark with impunity. And they'll break down gates and fences to get there. Instead of doing the obvious thing - condemning their caravans, forcing their cars off the road, taking the kids into care to get them some education and arresting them as soon as they poke their noses into the area - the law actually protects them. The local police and government bodies are not allowed to evict them unless some alternative site is found for them. The laws were put in place to protect the real gypsies but by usage the legal umbrella has been extended to cover all gypsy-like people. A friend of mine who is an old-style policeman would like to hound them right out of the county, but instead finds himself facing down the local population who want to deal to the b**stards.
Wherever the gippos go the petty crime rate soars, people are intimidated and things get very tense. They hang around their makeshift campsites, just dumping rubbish any old where - mattresses, old furniture, burnt-out car bodies and zillions of plastic bags. When it all gets a bit much for these precious creatures, they up stakes and move on to make some other community's life a mystery, leaving their ordure behind them without so much as a backward glance.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Wherever the gippos go the petty crime rate soars, people are intimidated and things get very tense.
huh. there's an internet variation, too...
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