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

'Couldn't run a whelk stall'

The management of such an enterprise is supposed, by those who know no better, to be a simple thing. The disparagement is misplaced. By the time you have considered the implications of Employment Law, Health Inspections (necessitating knowledge of disinfection, appropriate staff dress etc etc) the usual Accountancy and Money Management considerations, a fairly detailed knowledge of Local laws and by-laws concerning the location of stall's, plus the necessary intimacy with the whelk itself, its life, natural history, and the cuisine related to same, not to mention any impingement of Eurocracy, you will agree that it is not such a simple matter.

'Couldn't manage a piss-up in a Brewery'

is a similar term of abuse. Now, to organise such a shebang, perhaps by charabanc involves........

P.S. There is a healthy trade in Welsh Whelks to Korea. Just in case anyone is interested! Silence came the stern reply.

I am familiar, but not over-familiar, with the phrase 'could not run a whelk stall'. Usage as in 'could not organise a piss-up (should that be hyphenated?) in a brewery'. I presume to assume that we speak here of the edible whelk and not the common (or 'dog') whelk.

Drat, pre-empted.

Just that - "he couldn't manage a whelk stall."
I suppose it must be a very easy form of trade. Winkles are certainly very difficult to get anything out of. So are whelks, but as they're bigger maybe other people find it easier to get the meat out. Thanx for the cockle explanation. It's obvious now you tell me.

Double drat - even more pre-empted.

Well having been to a piss up in a brewery and the dined on hand picked shellfish... Lovely afternoon out

"Couldn't manage a cappuccino evening in a coffee shop."

Sorry, just thought I'd try post-empting. If there is such a thing.

Well, I guess there is now. Help yourself to my new nonce - post-empted!

The piss up in the brewery sounds good - but then again, (thanks to the Hop Store) I have been pre-tempted.

I think we can allow "post-empted" as a brilliant nonce...attempting to remove it would be post-rationalisation

I get the post-impression that the pub could easily be the post-office.

Just back from a week away, so have no idea what I have missed. Would just like to say though, that I have the distinction of failing to organise a piss-up in a brewery. We had to sit outside on the grass, drinking beer from the attached pub, the brewery itself being the size of a spacious squirrel ... living-in thingy. Bother, was about to amaze you with my knowledge of animal house names when I promptly forgot what it was. It's not a dray is it? Doesn't sound right.
"Wanders off mumbling to self about bad memory"

Apologies to fellow threaders.
I know I'm several days behind this (*someone* has to do some work), but, dear Pheroneous, we can't easily discuss the very boundaries of our subject (where the individual strands of the thread dangle in space), without reference to the other many varieties of the language. Understanding the roots of americanisms often sheds light on the mother tongue.
I'm sure you understand really.

Don't squirrels make a nest? (Obviously in a hole in a tree - not out on a limb). Also - would the word be the same for Red and Grey squirrels, or do the latter live in "loft apartments"?

Nikki, my capacity for understanding is immense and all encompassing. My capacity for being a pedantic toe-rag is similar, hence I would contend that squirrels live in dreys not drays which are brewers carts.

Schoolhouse, outhouse, penthouse, henhouse - 'ang abaht? Wotz a pent then?

But would not gray squirrels live in a dray and grey squirrels live in a drey? (In other words, is it a variant spelling? )

So perhaps the brewery was the size of a small dray, rather than a spacious drey.
You can be so right while being completely wrong can't you

I think 'condo' is the answer to everything in the last few posts.

Except no one in the UK seems to have heard of them.

Nutbush (squirrels again!) City Limits!

Clever chap that Percy, and to think....

If you call an outhouse a condo, then I hate to think of the poor sap who buys one of those "Luxury Condos" from an iffy estate agent!!!