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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Absolutely so, mav.
I have noticed, BTW, that when a person coins a new couplet, they will very often quote it in full, and it is only when a few people have adopted it (or if there are strangers in the camp) that it gets shortened to just the first word. Unless, of course, they are using it to test the quick-wittedness of there Chinas, in which case it can become a competition.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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transferred from the neanderthal threadOn another matter entirely, for the sake of conserving the dwindling reservoir of posts, does UK "arse" actually come from the Romanish "karsi," after all, and not the plowshare's stubborn friend? ("karsi," according to the most recent rhyming slang post, is Romanish for "latrine," was picked up by street kids in 18C or 19C as part of their slang and would seem to make more sense as the source of "arse." But, then, all sense is seeming
No, "arse" comes into the English language very early on - it is of Teutonic provenance and could have come in via the Norsemen or the Saxons. Words of Romany origin are more likely to be allied to the languages of India.
by street kids in 18C or 19C - "barrow-boys" weren't the same as street kids, and the term could be applied as well to a man of 80 as to one of 18. I'm not sure when that term came into use, incidentally - I think it is probably a C20 invention. In the previous century, street traders were know as costermongers (literally, sellers of apples - although it covered all forms of produce)
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Hilary, thanks for the correction on the "Jack" = "Jack Jones" = "Alone". I had expected the much more commonly used expression (to me anyway) "on his Todd" and tried to mix the two.
Thanks also for the information on "karsi". I had (incorrectly) assumed that it arrived in English with the 8th Army from Egypt, as I think shufti and bint did.
Can anyone think of any words from backslang to enter the common language apart from "yob"? And is backslang itself still in use anywhere? I know my sister and her school friends used a backslang (I think they called it "Pig Latin") but they discovered to their cost that one of the mothers was still fluent from her childhood.
Rod
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
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In reply to:
Can anyone think of any words from backslang to enter the common language apart from "yob"? And is backslang itself still in use anywhere? I know my sister and her school friends used a backslang (I think they called it "Pig Latin")
Pig Latin is alive and well, but I am unaware of any Igpay Atinlay formations which have entered general use except for "ixnay," usually used to discontinue a conversation upon the approach of an authority. I've never heard "yob" in use, but I don't have a lot of exposure to the population groups you would expect to be using the term.
My grandfather taught me Pig Latin. He was born in 1908. I wonder how far back it goes?
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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You also asked about "Tile", Rod:
"Oh, where did you get that hat
Where did you get that tile,
Isn't it a nobby one
and just the proper style!"
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Thanks, Hilary. I know the song but had forgotten it. I had remembered its use in "Any Old Iron" where it's ambiguous. But is Tile=Hat from association with roof tiles or from a rhyme, or what?
Rod
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
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"barrow-boys" weren't the same as street kids, and the term could be applied as well to a man of 80 as to one of 18. I'm not sure when that term came into use
Weren't they so called because they trundled their wares in
(wheel)barrows?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The subject of a famous song, Molly Malone, "who wheeled her wheelbarrow through streets long and narrow," has been honored by having a statue portraying the fictional lady built in Dublin, Ireland.
The Dubliners have nicknamed the statue "The tart with a cart."
I understand there are other statues in Dublin with sobriquets spawned by the wicked Irish sense of humor.
Anyone?
wow
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Statues in Dublin (and very fine they are too) Tart with the Cart ..... Molly Malone of the song Hags with the Bags ..... Two ladies shopping Floozie in the Jacuzzi... A woman (Anna Livia - Of James Joyce) in a tub with fountain Fag on the Crag ..... Oscar Wilde Dick with the Stick ..... James Joyce I googled to get Anna Livia's name and was reminded that Molly is also known as "The dish with the fish". And also found out that a lift (sorry - elavator) they have installed on a chimney stack is now known as "the flue with the view". http://www.rootsweb.com/~fianna/travel/dubltour.html has pictures of some of the statues. Rod
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
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and after Nelson's pillar was first blown up-- some time back in the late '60's, (68? 69?) the remaining ruble was called nelson's tomb-- eventually it was total removed.
age 8 i learned Molly Malone as a "recitation piece" i still know the three verses.
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