tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post3683743640032739607..comments2024-03-25T09:56:16.164+00:00Comments on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure: For the Love of Words - Elen CaldecottUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-59780179786242664922011-04-01T16:55:05.440+01:002011-04-01T16:55:05.440+01:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-67589866130920658842011-02-24T20:13:45.405+00:002011-02-24T20:13:45.405+00:00The other summer I was at a jazz jam in a small vi...The other summer I was at a jazz jam in a small village in the Cilento, and the lead sax had a face like a week of wet Sundays. I commented on this to a local friend, and he replied instantly, "Si, sembra che il gatto e morte." = "Yes, he looks like the cat died." This totally cracked me up. Now it's one of our favourite phrases, and we have translated it into English: when someone is a bit of a misery guts, we say to each other "He's a bit dead cat, int he?"Leilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02890097085059764567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-61078882282686660822011-02-24T15:22:45.603+00:002011-02-24T15:22:45.603+00:00I love all this stuff - one of my favourite idioms...I love all this stuff - one of my favourite idioms is the Welsh expression 'dimm siawns canary' (no chance canary). Sadly, I don't hear it often and wonder if it's passing out of use. Obviously, it refers to the poor canary taken into the pit to test for poisonous gases.Andrew Stronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04875188855955154864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-67035888858769114022011-02-23T12:54:15.259+00:002011-02-23T12:54:15.259+00:00So now I can choose between being over the crocker...So now I can choose between being over the crockery or a bit yonderly? Like that! Thanks for this post. So much of our history is tied up in words. Even if we've lost our Holy Days to holidays, and the festivals behind them are hidden.Penny Dolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-51023405717708503732011-02-23T12:02:57.541+00:002011-02-23T12:02:57.541+00:00I love this post! Thank you Elen. My son finds wor...I love this post! Thank you Elen. My son finds word and phrase origins really interesting at the moment, so we're going to hot foot it over to Sally Prue's The Word Den - thanks for that Adele.Savita Kalhanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07977368691995933130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-46819474993481994612011-02-23T11:44:13.332+00:002011-02-23T11:44:13.332+00:00Good post, Elen! Do you know THE WORD DEN? It'...Good post, Elen! Do you know THE WORD DEN? It's a fascinating blog all about words set up by Sally Prue. For both children and adults. Just type THE WORD DEN+ Sally Prue into google and that will get you there.adelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15826710558292792068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-67061109743987787872011-02-23T11:09:33.861+00:002011-02-23T11:09:33.861+00:00The expression 'sent to Coventry' comes, I...The expression 'sent to Coventry' comes, I'm told, from a period when soldiers were billeted in Coventry (I don't know what period of history this was) and got a rather poor welcome when the local inhabitants objected to their presence and chose to ignore them.<br /><br />As a current Coventry-dweller, I'd hope we were more welcoming to our newcomers nowadays.<br /><br />Lynda - when I was a girl in West Yorkshire we called a forward roll a 'tipple-over-tail' - that's the Lancs/Yorks divide for you!Rosalie Warrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10790708661647164052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-53181489550588836762011-02-23T10:15:01.471+00:002011-02-23T10:15:01.471+00:00As a schoolgirl in Oldham when it was icy we made ...As a schoolgirl in Oldham when it was icy we made slides or 'slippy curries' in the playground. I think it comes from courir - to run in French. A forward roll was a tipply-top-tail. If you grow old and forgetful in Oldham you are described as yonderly.Shame these wonderful turns of phrase remain local.Lynda Waterhousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04880769618542325268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-13978741190500470282011-02-23T07:24:50.528+00:002011-02-23T07:24:50.528+00:00Thanks for such a fun post! And comments.
Expr...Thanks for such a fun post! And comments. <br /><br />Expressions are such delightful, colourful things. And it's interesting to see which ones remain local, and which ones have spread out to become somewhat "universal" in a language.Lynnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01674923395134039554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-2169790716895415602011-02-22T21:29:29.227+00:002011-02-22T21:29:29.227+00:00Yay!
Two new good ones. Thanks, Pat and John!Yay!<br />Two new good ones. Thanks, Pat and John!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10637748186552893016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-50012453195024322312011-02-22T21:28:29.885+00:002011-02-22T21:28:29.885+00:00Great post! I love words and finding out what old ...Great post! I love words and finding out what old expressions mean, so thanks for this!<br /><br />JulieJulie Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06546678603569056691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-75506061776298139132011-02-22T21:24:57.345+00:002011-02-22T21:24:57.345+00:00I live in a town with a history of cloth-making; i...I live in a town with a history of cloth-making; in fact, when the British Army wore red coats, they were clothed in Stroud Scarlet. The cloth was dyed red and then stretched out on the hillside on great frames called tenters. And, of course, it were held there with hooks.<br /><br />This cloth was pretty expensive, and a great prize for thieves, but if you wanted to nick a length you'd have to take it before the rightful owners came to claim it, which meant taking it whilst the dye was still wet. Which meant, in turn, that it would stain your hands. And if you were caught, you had no chance of pretending you were innocent, because you'd been caught red-handed.John Doughertyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11937505376169411724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-63211564440101035902011-02-22T18:55:20.831+00:002011-02-22T18:55:20.831+00:00I love Frog in the Throat. It dates from when peop...I love Frog in the Throat. It dates from when people drank water drawn from ponds and streams and accidentally swallowing frogspawn that had been laid there. According to folk tradition, tadpoles could hatch inside the drinker and, eventually, turn into a frog. If the frog found its way back up the drinker's throat it could cause a choke or a loss of voice.Pat Posnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09024751148905919332noreply@blogger.com