h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Happy birthday, Gnomon!

And I would love to share some crumpets with you - but I'll pass on the scrumpy, it would go straight to my head!

Does the phrase "Essex Girl" have any meaning, other than "a girl from Essex, England"?

As far as 'Essex girl' jokes go, stereotypically :- Blonde, airheaded, slutty, white-stilletoed. Often called Sharon or Tracy, works at supermarket checkout.

Oi!
I have two cousins who are Essex girls and they are both very nice. Except they inherited their mother's laugh and can stop hens laying at a range of 5 miles.

I've finally got round to reading a huge backlog. It's 4 am and anyone who has a snoring partner will know that there's no POINT in trying to get back to sleep. So what better way to use the time than this. I am reading from somewhere around the 3800s and will no doubt not be able to resist putting in some - what now may seem - very diverse non seqs.

Question from out-of-touch expat. Ictoan - what's a BYF?

I notice that Mycroft hasn't been seen since February (rather like me, but I have thrown a few comments into other conversations) Was it something we said? Has anyone noticed that he has a really cool U number : 177277?

This is really cosy, sitting reading all your gems of the last couple of months.

To join two topics from way back. The devil appeared at one point and we were reminded that there is always a Devil's hill, or devil's way wherever you live. Where I come from, we had a **Devil's Dyke**!!. (And a Devil's punchbowl.)

I am still reeling from Gnomon's mention of a boss in Post 3889. That guy must have a hard time. My impression was always that Gnomon is too great and wonderful an entity to actually be subordinate to anyone else.




Plaguesville found "Hundehütte" for kennel which is right, but on automatically translating the German into the French, dictionary.com gave him what would translate back into Hütte des Hundes - with the German use of the word "Hütte" for foundry - if you get my meaning... The German for "in the doghouse" as in "out of favour" could be "in Ungnaden" ... can't think of a colloquial expression off hand.

In post 3961, Potholer quotes an example of 18th Century English, where all the nouns are capitalised (except in "felt only flat like the rest" - where, in German, at least, "the rest", being a noun like any other, would also be capitalised.) There certainly seems to be a system to it, though, as verbs, for example, are not capitalised willy nilly.

So did we find a satisfactory answer to the question(s) "when" and "why" did the use of capitals for all nouns cease in written English? (Maybe the passage quoted was a transcription of a hand-written report and the usage continued in handwriting for longer than in printing)

OK - I've got up to Post 4000 and the rest of the house is waking up now and I've got cold feet. Will join you all again later!

>>Gnomon is too great and wonderful an entity to actually be subordinate to anyone else



Unfortunately, we all have to work.

Not all of us, Gnomon!

TC, great to see you're back!

Now, can someone please explain to me what the difference is between a 'principal' and a 'head teacher' in UK state schools? - because I can't find any reason why some choose to be called one rather than the other!

I think it's a generation thing. The older the school the more likely it is to have a head (sometimes referred to as such). Even older schools had headmasters or headmistresses (eg the ones I went to in the dark ages)

TC, a BYF is what I guess I must be! Since I get the impression that the average age of the frequent posters here is, at least until recently, somewhere in the forties, and I haven't made 30 yet, I must be a Boring Young Fart.

Although as that is phonetically the same as BIF, scouse slang for a dirty slapper (male or female - and akin, I guess, to trailer trash from the US of A) taken from the bin company Biffa, I perhaps should choose something else.

Not that that makes you all BOFs, oh no, erm, perhaps I'll stop now while I have a chance....

Actually, I'm more a BOFH than a BOF.

Belatedly, it occurs to me that an invitation to sit down would be phrased "sit thee down, lass", while "Sithee 'ere, lass" is a somewhat stilted way of saying "(now) see here, young woman" - the "thee" is superfluous, I think.

Pattern-chaser

"Who cares, wins"

Me too, but not on BritEng! Unfortunately.....

The 'thee' may be technically superfluous, but for ease of pronunciation, 'Sithee' seems superior to a contraction of 'See here', since the latter seems to carry more risk of blurring into 'See-ear if speaking quickly. 'Sithee' also seems to fit better with a hard northern pronunciation. ('Look here' is a little more robust than 'See here').

I always thought it stood for Big Ignorant erm...Fellah From Offaly

but that'd be BIFFO

Headmaster isn't that old a term. I had one in primary school. Although it was a principal in secondary. I assume it is just an evolving term, but for why I have no idea.

I always thoguht Principal was the American term for Head Master/Mistress. Didn't know we had them here.

Looking for a pattern on the web (to take to my Shanghainese tailor) I discovered the history of this interesting formal style of neckerchief. Guess which language the word comes from originally.

Oh, and Kelli's quite right. It's well known that the British have no principles (according to the French who referred to us as "perfidious Albion")