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a. Just too much Latin: nemo me impune lacessit. Sorry for the misspelling.
b. Cockney rhyming slang: china plate rhymes with mate: friend. First heard it in an Eno song.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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thanks for clearing all that up, guys. I can relax now...
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Tsuwm, in another forum, an idiot sauvage of our mutual acquaintance was moved to say, "subtlety is wasted on the Web." Maybe he got that one right.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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You don't usually just say "china" when you mean "mate". The normal usage is "me old china", as in "Just off down the pub. Fancy a pint, me old china?"
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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a post that was going to cause any internal problems.
Don't worry about it, Alimae. We have a core of fast friends who know when to poke each others mickey (not to mention taking the borax). Jheem, despite his old-handedness, is a relative newbie, but he seems to be catching on. Just don't take things too seriously and you'll fit right in.
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Joined: Jan 2004
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Thanks for the clarification, Capfka.
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Carpal Tunnel
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tsuwm - I'll have to put a time stamps on my edits in the future... and maybe not get "called away in an emergency" (or was that an emergent sea) whilst in the middle of time traveling.
Fear not dearest AlimaeHP, Faldage has explained it clearly (ahem) as has our buddy sjmaxq: the "idiot sauvage" strikes again!
Maybe, at this juncture, someone should explain the difference between a "yart", a "mantle" and "clairvoyance". Disappearing into the future
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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No problem, jheem. Like a lot of colloquialisms, there's roolz an' there's roolz. You might refer to some absent person as "me china", as in "I saw me china the other day", although these days I think that's probably taking Cockneyism to extremes. But calling someone "me old china" is still seen as "normal", although the tone of voice determines whether the addressee is really your mate or someone you're about to give a bit'uv GBH to. "Me old china" seems to have successfully made the perilous transition from being an expression of pure cockney rhyming slang to an everyday role in Estuary English. I hear it used a lot, and not necessarily by people from the London area.
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The really interesting thing about Cockney rhyming slang is that the part of the phrase (in this instance "china plate") that rhymes and could give you a clue about the meaning is left off. Ex: "old china [plate]" == mate; "potatoes [in the mould]" == cold; etc.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Yup, that's the whole idea, of course. But even that's not consistent. For instance, "dog and bone" for "phone" is a pure rhyme. "Richard" for turd is not. Why isn't "dog and bone" also abbreviated to "dog"? The nature of the beast, I suppose! Anyhow, it's living and breathing. If you're interested, look at http://www.aldertons.com/english-.htm
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