Forum Topic

Lovely language is English.

Hi folks - I've just been reading through the past topics on this site and I've been so impressed and amused by the use of language and the numerous words(some of them slang) used to describe just one thing. Here's an example: Several beautiful words have been used to describe "a stupid person" and those words have been used by Brentford posters - here they are:pillock, twerp, prat, idiot, wanker, plonker, nutter, dipstick, potty, dickhead, dunderhead, fruit and nut case, scrote, scumbag, old fart, etc etc. (guess there are many more - please add to this list, if you'd like to).As a matter of interest and fun, how many words can you think of that mean a policeman? I'll start: the bill,.......Yeh, I think English is a beautiful language! ;-o

Gerry Tan ● 7456d29 Comments

And don't forget ''Acch no, you've beaten us  fair  & square again England, Here's the Calcutta Cup & the Five/Six Nations Trophy''.............Only joking lads......Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to you all....

Kevin Farnan ● 7454d

I hope this goes in at the right place...I seem to remember my mother saying we were attached to the Fraser clan.  I looked up the clans on the internet and there is nothing under Gibb directly.

Sarah Felstead ● 7455d

Yes we can. Most languages are a mixture of dialects and accents,but are allowed to be 'owned' by cultures if they have been used in antiquity.The Americans some day will have the right to call their language American,the more they drift away from English

Keith Iddon ● 7455d

I suppose we can call any language by any name. Don't we have the choice?I quite like 'mirth'.

Ian Campbell Barr ● 7455d

a cock-chafer is a beetle that destroys the roots of cereal crops.

Angus James ● 7455d

GerryCan we really call the language 'English' when so many words are derived from other languages? Just a thought ;-)

Gareth Evans ● 7455d

Keith Please excuse either my stupidity or naivety but other than something of a sexual nature, what in the world is a cockchafer?

Gareth Evans ● 7455d

Yes Gerry, Ostler is a real nice one.I didn't realise that you were so au fait with the horsemen of the postilion, which I understand as a word is itself of Italian origin.

Gareth Evans ● 7455d

Geezer,chav,bad(as in good),phat(as in 'that's a phat tune,geezer')...

Keith Iddon ● 7455d

Hey, and what about words like:Wannabee, Gotcha, Nerd, Blimey and Nimby?Are these in the OED yet? Should they be?  :-o

Gerry Tan ● 7455d

Yeah, like mangleworsel,pusillanimous,cockchafer(!)...the list is endless with our lovely language.

Keith Iddon ● 7455d

"Was he a Stable Master or an Ostler?" - Gareth.Excellent word is ostler GARETH. I think he had dealings with the horsemen on the "postilion" too, I believe!  ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 7455d

Was he a Stable Master or an Ostler?

Gareth Evans ● 7455d

KEITH, fantastic words! Hows about "flibbertigibbet"! Isn't that just great? ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 7455d

Egregious,lachrymose,obstreperous,belicose,mistletoe...what lovely words!

Keith Iddon ● 7455d

SARAH, m' bonnie lassie, what's the clan to which you belong?!  ;-o

Gerry Tan ● 7455d

It is amazing what tracing your ancesters trumps up - my Cousin is responsible for tracing the family tree back to near Edingurgh around the beginning of the 1400's.  Gareth would be thrilled to hear James Gibb born around 1460 was in charge of the Kings stables!

Sarah Felstead ● 7455d

"(I have Scottish ancestors)" - Sarah F.What's your clan SARAH? My dear mother was from the north of Scotland and her maiden surname was Polson. She told me she was descended from the Danes and that she was a member of the clan McLeod. ;-)     

Gerry Tan ● 7455d

"Curmudgeonly has a wonderful aged quality to it and seems almost Scottish?"IAN, an old and dear Scottish friend of ours always uses a delightful phrase when he comes to visit us; he says "Gee, I'm wappet oot!"...which I take to mean "Gosh, I'm tired out!" or something similar. Another phrase he uses is "I'm fair scunnered"...which I think means "I've been done".Lovely words I feel. Do you have any other unusual Scottishwords?  ;-o

Gerry Tan ● 7455d

"Stocious" and "Jiggerypokery" are two lovely words - didn't know the former means being drunk though.I have a nice old Irish neighbour and when we chance to meet, he always greets me with a quaint and pleasant greeting, which is: "Ah, its yourself then!" Another Irish word I like is "egit"(spelling?). Have you any other delightful Irish words or phrases? ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 7455d

Curmudgeonly does sound Scottish - declare you heritage Mr Tan!  (I have Scottish ancestors)    :-) It wouldn't concern me if I was asked to explain a word's meaning - it is a fond part of sharing language and the evolving of language.  Could easily start a number of threads now, couldn't we?  Words which have changed their meaning over time springs to mind.  There is the generation difference in the use of words too, which is interesting and 'street speak' of course... I often ask the meaning of words it seems!I have been carrying a newspaper cutting around with me for ages about a dictionary of words which are not commonly used - bit like that 'call my bluff' programme.  I think it was written by 2 people who work on the full English dictionary (any of you bright people know how many volumes there are in the full English dictionary?).  Scrabbling (!) around to find it now, and I must have filed it in one of those really useful places....

Sarah Felstead ● 7455d

Curmudgeonly has a wonderful aged quality to it and seems almost Scottish? - like me - so no offence intended to other Scots. Could it also be a good name for a whisky.What about 'stingy'. "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things" (Lewis Carroll).

Ian Campbell Barr ● 7455d

How about "stocious" possibly only used in Ireland meaning drunk.Jiggerypokery" years ago I said this word whilst with a crowd of people and I couldn't believe none of them had ever heard of it.I come from an Irish family who possibly used a lot of expressions not widely used in the UK and I tend to assume that all the words and expressions I have heard or may use are common therefore it always surprises me when people look bewildered and I have to explain words to them.

Bernadette Paul ● 7455d

IAN, I too like the word "frugal" - a nice way of saying someone's "as tight as a duck's arse on a frosty morning"!I love the word "curmudgeonly" - it too has a lovely ring when its pronounced - wad yer think?Are there other favourite words?  ;-o

Gerry Tan ● 7455d

I like the word 'frugal'. something oddly nice about it. A polite way of describing a tight sod. Usually an ageing relation? So whats wrong with drying out your tea bags to use again?

Ian Campbell Barr ● 7455d

My husband and I took a friends daughter for a pizza one night, she was only about 5 at the time. I asked the waiter for 'the bill' at the end of the meal and she (the little girl) looked at me all confused and asked why I wanted the police! :o)

Rebecca Hobson ● 7455d

(Well there you go - what a poe-lite man - he didn't tell me to leave his thread alone!  On Chis-wick I would have been told to buzz off!)  Sorry Gerry, but you just don't hear the nice descriptions of the Police - and there are many fond nicknames as you say.  I will always feel kindly towards Bobby!

Sarah Felstead ● 7456d

Well OK SARAH, I take your point. But there ARE some pleasant words used to mean "the police"...like peelers, the old bill, plod, the rozzers(whatever that means, anybody know?), the law, coppers, the fuzz etc etc. Regarding "skulduggery"...what a delicious word - I love pronouncing it! Hows about trickery? Working a flanker?

Gerry Tan ● 7456d

Gerry - I am going to be a real killjoy now because most of the names around for the Police are not nice! and I wouldn't want to see them repeated on the forum or anywhere!How about changing this to your favourite word? I used Skulduggery yesterday - I love that one!

Sarah Felstead ● 7456d