biggish data

Oh yeah. I live in mortal fear of some unknown blind spot in my own grammar nazi world. I'm sure I'm going to find out I've been spelling necessarily wrong all these years, or something. Keeps me up at night.

'definately' gets me growling but it's only spelling so thats ok

'ok' is American so thank you guys for that coz it's very useful (guy refers to Guy Fawkes of course and is English in origin) as in 'some GUY tried to blow up OUR parliament'.

GUY was a religious fundamentalist terrorist murderer . Sort of a militia man - tree of liberty blah blah. A true patriot in his book. Things don't change much in 400 years. Even the torture when they caught him.

America does have a history - a lot of history - because it's a continuum of English history and I am going to make a note of every old word and new concoction from now on.

ps 'Yonder' is old English and is used in Mississippi at least. I like yonder. You won't hear that much in England outside the old timers in the North.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-04 15:01:00

Yeah I try to make a distinction between regional usage, like a low-level patois, versus true errors based on ignorance. I don't mind someone saying they're "fixin' to" do something. That's a cultural adulteration. I do mind "supposably," because it's not dialectical, it's just wrong.

Verging on a Bushism. Actually, educated Americans seem to fall into two camps - those who are VERY good at English (a lot better than me), and those who extend the language because they feel no obligation to it's history. Why would an immigrant from say Poland or Romania or South Korea, feel the need to keep English authentic ? Actually I think a lot of the just plain wrong stuff is the result of immigrants learning English badly and perpetuating their mistakes. I have to be careful with that one because some of the words are English as it was in 1776 and which are not, or hardly, used in England now.

The new country always keeps the old language. Icelandic is ancient Danish but modern Danish has moved on. So it is with the U.S. and it's quite charming to hear words which went out of everyday use in England in the 1700's.

Felon and escrow and Sheriff and incarcerated etc sound really Dickensian though felon was still in use in English law until the mid 20th century.

A lot of it is the shortening of phrases into one word - incarcerated would be 'put in prison' in England and nouns into verbs have the same effect. McLanguage - quick ! instant ! move on !

I love finding Yorkshire words that express a whole sentence so I am not opposed to it. But the words must be original and not mutations.

eg THOIL = ' I can afford it but I can't bring myself to pay that because it isn't worth it'
as in 'It's ok but I can't thoil it'

NESH = feels cold more than the average
as in ' I am sweating cobs here but I have to sit next to her and she turns the heat up coz she is right nesh.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-04 13:28:00

There was 'a bunch ' of cops at the end of the road !

Wish I could do photo shop and combine cops and bananas

Actually, it seems strange to an English ear (or two in my case) but that isn't actually wrong - it's just usage, and a 'bardle of wadder' is still correct - that's just accent. So I have no problem with usage and/or accent - its the 'new' words that pop my skull. Actually, if they were new words then again that's ok - it's when they take an old word and butcher it into a verb that I get a skin rash.

I shall have to have a biscuit and serenatize myself

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-04 12:56:00

Yeah emote is a legit word. It usually means a more dramatic delivery than simple expression of thought. Actors emote, for instance.

Drug is one of those technically incorrect forms that is sort of tied to regional dialect and will probably become accepted at some point.

My personal flinch-makers:

"I have drank..." The form is drunk, as in "I have often drunk more than I should."

"I could of..." I could *have*.

That's it for now before my eye starts twitching.

I don't mind the various American accents at all. I was in the Britannia hotel in Bramhope, England last week and it's favoured by fleets of tour buses from Glasgow. I couldn't make out anything. When I got back to Washington State it was great to understand every word - even if spellingly they were just plain wrong (usage-wise)

Edited by saywhat, 04 June 2010 - 12:37 PM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-04 12:36:00

My wife is from Milwaukee-- lend and borrow are smashed to pulp - her ma comes from missisippi

'He borrowed her fifty dollars '

aaargghhh!!!!

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-04 12:30:00

I won't try to defend "drug" but, the verb to emote has been around longer than the intarwebz.

http://www.merriam-w...ictionary/emote

It says date 1917 - 3 years into the war... a bit recent so I have my suspicions ...

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-04 12:24:00

Found this Ogden Nash (an American) poem:

Let us pause for a moment to consider the English,

Who, when they pause to consider themselves,

Get all reticently thrilled and tinglish.

Because all Englishmen are convinced of one thing, viz:

That to be an Englishman is to belong to the most exclusive club there is,

A club to which benighted bounders of Frenchmen and Germans cannot even aspire to belong,

Because they don't speak English,

And Americans are worst of all because they speak it wrong

Edited by saywhat, 04 June 2010 - 12:22 PM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-04 12:21:00

The Americans are slaughtering my lovely English language and it's making me weep.

I will have to keep a record but the last few weeks I have been hearing 'DRUG'

As in ' He was knocked down by a car and drug along the road'

It makes my muscles go into spasm all over my body and I get a choking sensation similar to waterboarding.

Today I hear 'Emote' My god the noun 'emotion' used as a verb ? 'He was able to EMOTE his feelings so expressively'

'After he had emoted this, I spoke to him at his home'

I can hardly bear any more and it's raining too and my shares are down and the oil is gushing.

I could handle all of this except nouns used as verbs and appalling invented verb conjugations that deny two thousand years of craftsmanship around the language.

My feelings have been desperated by this....

Is anyone else desolized by this sort of conduct and do you have any other recordizations of Americanisms that make you ill (illify you) ?

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-04 12:03:00

Anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area want to watch the World Cup?

The local pub/movie theater is showing the game. It's still up in the air whether we will go there or to another pub..

I will show my bottom in Walgreen's window if we lose

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-10 17:57:00

Anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area want to watch the World Cup?

Crazy you should mention that - this is the pub we decided on yesterday! I talked with the owners on the phone. They were definitely British (always a plus) and have a big screen for the game. We'll be there starting at 10am if anyone wants to drop by!

What brand of Brit ? It does matter you know...

The Scots and Welsh hate us Saxons and they spit in our beer if they own the pub

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-10 17:40:00

Anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area want to watch the World Cup?

BTW UK includes Scotland. So they may be both supporting the same team.

It will be great to have the Welsh and Scots cheering for us...

That little misunderstanding with the small Australian/American actor is all forgotten now.

And as for Owain Glynd?r - well we are all friends now eh ?

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-10 17:35:00

Anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area want to watch the World Cup?

Isn't the Pig and Whistle in Vancouver, BC? I walked past some bar with that kind of name in Vancouver just as a patty wagon was pulling up - going the wrong way on a one way street! Then a bunch of cops went running in to break up a brawl. If I hadn't of been underage I probably would have been there participating in the melee.

It's paddy wagon as in drunken irishmen

patty wagons are mobile burger vans

Edited by saywhat, 10 June 2010 - 05:33 PM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-10 17:32:00

It was British born not English born.

That would be a bit like saying you are a Native American because you were born in the US.

ENGEEEEERLAND!

British born ? That must have been some big afterbirth.

Come on own up - isle of man ?

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-11 12:03:00

I'm supporting England even though I'm the USC. I learned to love football by watching it over there and I identified with the team after seeing them in 3 World Cups over there, plus associated other skirmishes. If anyone has a problem with that, I will gladly show them my fist.

3

I watched the US in the last world cup and they were highly impressive and went a long way.
If England does lose, I want them to lose to the USA
But I would rather they didn't - I think

Although if the US does go along way, it might finaly open up the US to 'soccer'

I think the US promoters are missing a trick - if they had a winning team, the money intake would be huge if they had teams coming to the US from all over the world to get whupped by the US
I am sure Americans would pay to see that

However, we digress, I want to know if Bangadeshi Americans would support the US against the country of their birth. People from the Indian sub continent have no probs not choosing England, but they are ducking the question.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-11 10:57:00

It's extremely Orwellian to expect a person to support his adopted country's sports team over his personal favorite. There are millions of Americans who'll be rooting for Brazil. These people maybe from Brazil or they may not be. Or they may speak Portuguese or they may not. They may have visited Brazil or they may not have. To take sports and to make into something about allegiance is utterly stupid and is only expected out of nanny states like UK. You'll have national insecurity problems. Me thinks.

I'll be supporting USA because USA is the underdog in this match.

and if it were Bangladesh v USA ?

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-11 10:06:00

Norman Tebbit - Mrs Thatcher's close confidant introduced the 'cricket test'

He objected to English born Pakistanis and no doubt naturalised Pakistani English, riding round with Pakistani flags and supporting Pakistan when they were playing England at cricket

AS a GC walla, I will be behind England's football team tomorrow, but what about you naturalized bods ?

Have you changed your allegiance when you took the oath, or are you supporting this foreign team against your new country ?

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-11 09:44:00

Traveling in EU countries when UK hubby has debt in UK

What law has the OP's husband broken? Debt is also a civil infraction

It's morally reprehensible - ask anyone who has lent money and been repaid with derision.

It's much worse than infractions like dropping litter/overstaying because there is always a victim

The sociopaths who do it just can't see that and never mend their ways. They always make out they are nice people while feeding off the work of others.

Bernie Madoff and his ilk are best behind bars as are country skippers. Any sign of 'intent' makes it 'obtaining money by deception' and that IS a crime and a serious one too. Trust me, I used to arrest people for it.

Edited by saywhat, 15 June 2010 - 04:45 PM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-15 16:45:00

Traveling in EU countries when UK hubby has debt in UK

May I ask, in a totally non-menacing, non-RUB "get off mah lawn" kind of way, why you are so fascinated with posting in the UK forum recently?

Lawn trespass is a crime - capital offense - ask Clint

(F)

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-15 16:12:00

Traveling in EU countries when UK hubby has debt in UK

I wrote my senior thesis on Little Dorrit. She never gets any love compared to Oliver, Pip and David Copperfield.

I am impressed by your beneficence in limiting these people to life imprisonment; truly you are just AND merciful. Especially since your GIN money is involved.

You now have me wondering whether I was TOO merciful....
Trouble with debtor's prisons is they are too cushy
Cleaning up demolished nuclear plants with a toothbrush while dressed in shorts and flip flops would be more appropriate

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-15 10:28:00

Traveling in EU countries when UK hubby has debt in UK

Let it be known: Alan supports the re-establishment of the Marshalsea, where once Little Dorrit's father languished.

Why do you hate Little Dorrit?

Little Dorrit is a person for whom I have supreme indifference as she is

A dead
B fictional

However, just to show that I am not too hard on welshers and scammers and 'make off with your money' types, I would limit the sentence for civil debt to no more than natural life

What gets me is that these people usually spend their ill gotten gains on rings from the shopping channel and open top sports cars and designer shoes etc. It's not like they scam the banks in order to give their kids an education.

This is no joke and that was my GIN money they 'madoff' with.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-15 09:56:00

Traveling in EU countries when UK hubby has debt in UK

Man, a BP shareholder and now NatWest/RBS? You must love investing in shitty companies that go tits up.

Perhaps you prefer your shagees tits down ?

I own a FTSE 100 ETF which includes all companies

I can't stand these itinerant debtors who beg loans all smiley like - and then do the dirty on the people who lent them the money by skipping off to another country. No doubt they will do the same when they leave the US

Bring back debtor's prisons I say

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-15 09:24:00

Traveling in EU countries when UK hubby has debt in UK

Not sure where to ask this, but hope asking in this forum is alright!

My husband's parents live in Greece & have invited us to visit them. We live in the U.S. & when he moved over here, he had left his debt behind. That debt is with Natwest. Furthermore, he owed on overdraft & a small loan. When we searched airline tickets, so far the connecting flights have been through Switzerland & Germany. Would passport control in any EU countries stop him if they see any of that information on their computers when they scan his passport? If so, what would be the consequences...hold him hostage or something?

He's a bit worried about it, but we also can't just go & pay off his debt right now as we don't have the extra funds to do so.

Does anyone know anything about the new EU law that took place in January 2009? It had something to do with debt, but I didn't quite understand it.

As a NATWEST shareholder (the people you have stolen from), I hope it rains on your holiday and those Greek toilet pipes get all bunged up

That's fair enough isn't it...

I have sent an advance email to Natwest Athens so they will be waiting

Otherwise, have a great holiday !

Captain Oates

Male

England

2010-06-10 22:22:00

QUOTE (Kezzie @ Mar 17 2008, 09:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I too have a photo license and a paper copy... I called than and asked the same questions... I was told that your do not loose your license it is still valid and you do not have to retake your test if you return to the UK to live.... all you have to do is file a standard change of address form advising them of your new address and they will issue a new photocard.... but they wont let you change your address to a address outside the UK or to an address you are not registed at....

Kez

hey that's great info ! that's the ifo i needed..good i can relax and avoid possibly committing an offence

thank you indeed

alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-03-17 16:59:00

QUOTE (rkl57 @ Mar 17 2008, 09:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Allan - I think it best you look after your ticker, exercise, avoid alcohol, tobacco and red meat and eat plenty of fresh fruit and veg. I would hate to think you might go through the immigration process a third time!

Heck no - if Carolyn left me for Jose the muscle man gardener I would just buy a pet cat and call it a life.
I could always send postal orders to eliot spitzer's emperor's club if i get fed up of the cat
A couple of years ago we went to an immigration lawyer and he said he had a male client and he had imported SEVEN russian women for him ! (before the bag limit came in)

thats what i call stamina in many ways

Now I have turned 60, every twinge is interpreted as jaw cancer /heart attack/stroke /athiritis etc etc and every time i get guts ache after eating 2 lbs of raw peanuts i put it down to a perforated ulcer at least - I am getting used to it now and it's possible i will live on - but no more immigration stuff EVER !

When we are both retired and want to spend the summer in britain, carolyn can stay 6 months on her US passport so no problema - the winter ? now way !

I will send in my n400 eventually and then forget it -as long as something happens before the 10 year green card runs out then thats ok - no more sweating on the uscis - shudder

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-03-17 16:56:00

QUOTE (Kezzie @ Mar 17 2008, 08:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Alan you can keep your UK license but you cant change your address or renew it unless you are living and are registered at an address in the UK....

DVLA use the same system to verify your details as the Department for Work and Pensions and the inland revenue... so if you have notified any of them that you are no longer resident in the UK or have filed form P85 or are having state pension paid to you here, then they will not reissue or change your address.... if you do return to the UK to live then all you have to do is update your address with DVLA and they will issue you with a new license at your new address....

Kez

Hi Kez - thanks for that - really they should not write to me unless they change to some super new license with bio stuff on it. I know they are talking about that. I do have a photo licence about a year old.

If they did write to me i wouldnt get it as I am selling the house

I just wonder if it can be suspended like someone who has a stroke - then you just ask for it to be re-issued when you are well - in my case when you return to live

That would be the best option

I could call them anonymously and ask what the position is I suppose

It would be a bit hard if they said it would be cancelled and i would have to re-take the test

Just when I thought I had it all nailed down !

hum

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-03-17 16:10:00

QUOTE (elmcitymaven @ Mar 17 2008, 07:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Alan -- I have no idea what the answer to your question is but glad to see you back posting!

yo Elmcity ! yes I am a real yankee now ! after I sell my UK house in the next 2 weeks, my only possessions outside Florida will be 2 boxes of photos and 1 box of smaller waisted trousers in my daughter's loft in the UK !

My only possessions in the U.S. will be my fantastic 3.5 litre 268 horse power Toyota and 3 computers and 4 suitcases of stuff.

When I was back in england 10 days ago I threw away or gave away 60 year's of stuff. A brand new start and all boats burned.

Some of my friends from over 20 years turned their noses up at me when i said that if i got seriously ill and my US insurers would not pay up, I could always resume my UK residence to get treated free. I meant huge life threatening stuff and I did mean after properly resuming my residence.

Even so they were clannish and hostile to that idea and I realised I wasn't really a Limey any more - I am someone who chose to join another group. I felt like an outsider. Then I went to York museum and the lady smiled and asked if I was a UK resident and if so I could sign this and they would get a tax rebate. When I said no I wasn't any more, she went cold too !

Heck people really are like chimps with their tribes and their howling and their stick waving. Seems I am a yank now and the Brits have finished with me.

Well ok that attitude will help me settle in the US faster than anything else. Roll on 2 years and 6 months so I can apply for nationality.

I would still like to keep a UK licence though !

alan

Edited by saywhat, 17 March 2008 - 02:39 PM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-03-17 14:38:00

QUOTE (rkl57 @ Mar 17 2008, 04:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Allan - it's been over 10 years, but when I applied for my UK license they took my US license and issued me a UK one. I recall taking the road test. Of course, things may have changed since then.

I don't know of any problem with hanging on to the UK license, but if there is I'm sure someone will correct me.

when i got my wisconsin license (took the test) they tried to take my uk license but i told em it wasnt my property - its owned by the queen of england - they said 'oh oh ok then' and i kept it

then i swapped it for a florida one

yes i would like to keep the UK one just in case i commit 'moral turpitude ' and get thrown out. I used some of that stuff to remove a bumper sticker

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-03-17 11:32:00

QUOTE (Poiteen @ Mar 17 2008, 04:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Alan - You're back!!!!

I have absolutely no idea what the answer is, but just replying to say hi, and hope that Florida's treating you well

Love Florida ! and dream of the Yorkshire Dales in June and Inverary in september
Got my car and motorbike license and 5 bank accounts and 2 credit cards and a 2 share broking accounts and tamed 2 squirrels to take peanuts out of my hand and I have huge egrets and turtles and bullfrogs on my back garden ! I walk 400 yards to the park on tampa bay to watch the sting rays and dolphins and sea trout

Nobody here comes from Florida so we are all danged ferriners and yankees and so it's great and it doesn't feel alien at all !

70's almost every day since 10th november - oops november 10th. Love the thunderstorms. Back to Yorkshire 2 weeks ago to sell my house (hopefully in 2 weeks) and topped up on fish and chips and cheshire cheese and bisto then couldnt wait to get back 'home' to florida... Don't care for the rest of florida much but this bit is superb. Wife has worked 10 hours a day since nov 10th on getting a job - nothing. Nobody is hiring except people who require her to be fully engaged 24/7 with jesus christ's empire on earth and it's getting worse. She got a job in england easily.

Glad I am not slogging it on VJ now with all these awful delays - it must be terrible

alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-03-17 11:23:00

I am 60 years old and I have a UK driving licence and a US Driver's license

The UK licence is registered at my UK address which i am selling within the next 2 weeks

I should not get any correspondence from the UK government until I am 70 when they ask if my eyesight is ok and renew the licence then

I was thinking of changing the address to my daughter's in the UK as she will never move house, but on the form it says you have to be UK resident to 'get' a licence

Now does 'get' mean have a new one issued or does 'get' include changing the address ?

Big penalties if I get it wrong

What do you folks think ?

If I ever get some really expensive disease and my US insurer wont cover it , I can legally and morally resume my UK residency and get treated for free and I would not want to retake the driving test which is really hard now. I dont believe the UK will swap my US license for a UK licence

alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-03-16 16:12:00

QUOTE (bakofoil @ Sep 8 2008, 09:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Old Fire Station! Your friend was stood up pretty recently? I think that became a health or community centre before a wine bar because I can recall going there as a toddler for my polio sugar cube. It's been a long while since I frequented Bingley town centre for boozing purposes anyway. My favourites were the Midland and The Old White Horse.

I try to bring Stilton with me everytime I come over - I usually buy one of those crock pots with the cheese inside and cleverly declare it as a Stilton crock pot and worry about it slightly but no one really knows what that means and so I have never been asked about it. I figure I can always play dumb. I even had my bags inspected one time complete with cheese and they didn't care.

I would say that was 5 years ago - the old fire station

I had been single 18 years so I knew all those places...

Threw it all away and ended up married in a washington state desert with only tumbleweed and rattlesnakes and red necks ..

just kidding chucky - er hum

ok i will print off the dept of agriculture thing that says hard cheese is ok and bring it with me under my arm pit manchester/heathrow -- heathrow/seattle -- seattle /the desert - yum yum nothing like a bit of maturing the cheese
Allowed - but more dangerous than pair of nail clippers - i could asphyxiate the pilots with that cheese !

I used to work with a 300lb guy who brought the fish and chips back to the office under his arm pit when it was raining - and the girl he brought them for stuck em in the bin as soon as he left the room !

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-08 17:10:00

QUOTE (bakofoil @ Sep 8 2008, 09:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for this! It's Monday and I started yet another diet and I come across a flipping post on Yorkshire fish and chips. Now I'm salivating. I would kill for fish and chips right now. Or 'fish and a firkin' as my brother would always say. 'Firkin lot of chips!'

Park Road fisheries in Bingley is great. Not familiar with the Greengates chippy but anywhere that still uses beef dripping you can't really go wrong. I do like fish from the seaside though. Skin on! Yummy.

I'm Bradford born and bred and I can confirm that Harry Ramsden's is not as it was. I remember being taken there as a kid - it was a real treat - and their fish and chips were second to none. Plus you simply have to have a cup of tea and bread and butter with your Fish and Chips. It's not right without. Nowadays Harry Ramsden's just isn't even quality. What a shame.

Anyway, thanks a firkin lot! I'm starving.

Confirmed - fish and firkin ! that's genuine local lingo...

Bingley was part of my stamping ground too - hello Jane !

My pal got a hot date and she said she would meet him outside the fire station in bingley

After an hour she was a no show and he went home

He didn't know there was a wine bar called the fire station !!!

i don't mind leaving the skin on cod - lets go cave man !

i will be there 17th septemeber so I will top up..

I reckon I can bring some cheshire cheese back as it is 'hard cheese' but it will mean form filling and arguments i bet

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-08 16:26:00

QUOTE (English Muffin @ Sep 8 2008, 08:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (ginger1981 @ Sep 8 2008, 01:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I love the family stories...pants set on fire in ovens, the dude that invented the dye that makes margarine appear more palatable.

I always laugh at this picture...one of my Welsh ancestors...with sheep

A Welsh sheep farmer and he's not wearing wellies!!

he is a good looking guy and thats a good looking sheep so it was probably concensual on this occassion

Compared to a bradford singles club on a wet sunday night in november , he is doing ok and i know

Edited by saywhat, 08 September 2008 - 03:36 PM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-08 15:36:00

QUOTE (Laura+Tom @ Sep 8 2008, 08:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Off topic again but my mum's great gran was a Barrett, she was from Lancashire (as my mum and all her relatives).

Barrett Obama would sound good

yes it's french and means a dealer or trader and it got corrupted into someone who argues and talks as in street trading

The Norman French who took over in 1066 owned all the valley where i grew up and they are still there with their big estates and with names like vavasoeur and verity - so the iraqis should watch out coz these invaders hang around 1000 years sometimes and not the 100 that john mccain would like

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-08 15:30:00

QUOTE (ginger1981 @ Sep 8 2008, 06:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Sep 8 2008, 01:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here is my grandad 3 months before he was killed and thats my dad sat on his knee
[attachment=8337:alf.jpg]

Forgive me if you have mentioned it already, but do you happen to know what battle he died in?

Yes it was Oppy Wood near Arras.. I think it was the 3rd battle of the scarpe

It was 3.45am on thursday 3rd May 1917 and they attacked with a full moon behind them (good idea eh ?)

They slogged forward with their rifles while the germans had concrete bunkers with water cooled machine guns.

The wounded were left out in no mans land in blazing hot sun until they died...

I have been there twice and from the plans I got to within 50 yards of the spot for certain...

Not allowed in the actual wood as it is full of unexploded ordnance

No ghosts and no spirits - nothing except unexploded shells everywhere and spoons and forks etc ..

I thought I might bring a nice 6 inch unexploded shell on the car ferry but decided to leave it !

oops i shouldnt say that - Al queda might go and pick it all up !

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-08 15:08:00

QUOTE (NickyMcMillan @ Sep 8 2008, 07:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Reading online articles, it seems like leaving on the skin is a southern thing. I'll recommend that Bradford place to my folks in Halifax, as my mum says she has yet to find anywhere there that does decent fish suppers.

I love how they do fish suppers in Edinburgh with brown sauce..

Though right now, I fancy a good old fried pan pizza sandwich.

East coast of yorkshire they leave the skin on

whitby scarborough flamborough etc

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-08 14:57:00

QUOTE (Poiteen @ Sep 8 2008, 06:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Sep 8 2008, 09:46 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

'Don' is old celtic British for 'hill' - the language that exists more than 2000 years ago before the Romans arrived

So Americans who talk about tennis at 'Wimbleton' (90%), only get it wrong because they dont know the origins of the language...

Near where I lived I could see 3 hills not far off
Rawdon
Baildon
Yeadon

The suffix 'by' is viking for 'town' - this word is current in modern danish as are most yorkshire words like 'lug' for 'ear' and 'laking' (playing) - which most people think are just slang

Within 10 miles of where I lived was the town of Huby (Hugh's town) and this was in the ancient Danish lands - the Danelaw
From there to the east coast there are literally hundreds of town names ending in 'by'
- whitby, selby, Derby etc
But where I lived a few miles away and to the west and south there was a line on the map and zero town names ending in 'by' as this was saxon land

Here endeth the language history lesson - just an aside

what this has to do with fish and chips escapes me

Sorry to bring back up the language portion of the evening, but in Irish Dún (doon) means fort, usually on a hill or a cliff, perhaps related to don? We also use it in plenty of place names, Dún Laoghaire being one of the best known.

Also in modern Irish we use lug for ear, funny, I didn't realise they used it elsewhere

Absolutely - Irish/Welsh/Breton (Brittany)/Cornish are very similar and use the basic celtic language that was all over the british isles before Claudius and them other dang italians turned up in ad 43 and gave us two words for every one...

Yorkshire is awash with viking/german words but it's held in the slang vocabulary mostly - I love finding slang words that are not slang - they are ancient:

lanky --- german 'schlang'

ligged out like lettuce - german liegen to lay down

The Welsh know that they and the other Celts were forced out of England by the saxons and form a long line to resent the English. I was called a 'saxon' in a pub in Wales and they said if I went to swansea, i would be in trouble

They said I looked like one

In a 100 years from now the English will be brown and moslem, but the present majority ethnic group will not hold a grudge - or will they ? Perhaps they will move to Wales and Ireland or Washington State - or perhaps it will be different this time and everyone will be pals. If the history of any country at any time where this has happened is a guide to the future, I wouldn't bet on it being all smiles.

At least the Welsh and Irish and Scots won't have reason to resent the english any more so something good will have come out of it for sure

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-08 14:54:00

QUOTE (ginger1981 @ Sep 8 2008, 05:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There's a guy who worked hard and didnt have a lot of processed food and had a waist ! Those braces (suspenders) had a function in those days

Here is my grandad 3 months before he was killed and thats my dad sat on his knee
[attachment=8337:alf.jpg]

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-08 13:05:00

QUOTE (elmcitymaven @ Sep 8 2008, 05:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Sep 8 2008, 09:46 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Norman French (barratt)

Alan, just curious here. My ex-husband's grandmother (with whom I was very close until her death some years back) was a Barratt. The other spelling of Barratt -- Barrett -- is so much more common that this piqued my interest. I *think* her family was from North Yorkshire. I know that her father was Newton Barratt, who was a food scientist at the turn of the 20th century and is responsible for the dye added to margarine to make it yellow instead of gray! He also developed a strain of apples much like the Orange Pippin that are fantastic.

Totally, totally off topic, sorry.

Hi there !

They are confused about how to spell their names but yes Barrett seems to be the one they used mostly.

My mother's dad

He went to australia as a gold miner and returned to open - a FISH SHOP !

He ended up as a nightwatchman in a brick yard where he fell asleep and the ovens set fire to his pants

He was an inventor I suppose as he invented 'keyholing'. He was too soft to drown the unwanted kittens so he tied a string noose round their necks, pushed it through the keyhole, and then went outside, closed the door and pulled on the string !

Not something you could patent

Sounds like Norman French ingenuity to me

Edited by saywhat, 08 September 2008 - 12:44 PM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-08 12:44:00

My dad's dad is commemorated in Beverley cathedral

Killed in action at Oppy wood on Thursday 3rd May 1917 while serving with the East Yorkshire Regiment

He was not an East Yorkshireman but they were sending people to far flung regiments (50miles) to stop the loss of whole towns full of men, by spreading them around the army

He left a wife and 5 small children and there was no social security, so she took in washing from the whole village and did it by hand

As soon as she raised my dad they sent him to the jungles of Burma to fight the Japanese and he was never the same

To say we are anti-war is an understatement, and all this flag waving and glorification of war is nauseating

I went out with a German lady for a while, and spent time over there, and they are more anti war than anyone

If it ever really came to the US civilian population instead of other civilian populations, then the US would soon change it's mind about how necessary and glorious it all is

The average losses at Arras/Oppy wood were 4,600 per day, every day for 42 days.

That is, 150% of 9-11 every day for 6 weeks - but who has heard of Oppy Wood ?

There are a third of a million unrecovered bodies still laid in that region - and thats just the Brits

Hey - Getting a town named after you is impressive !

So life is short and in the hands of your government - so eat as much fish and chips as possible

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-08 12:37:00