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

'dogged' also means to have something (usually unpleasant) stay with you, e.g., 'dogged by bad luck'

And doggèd where you pronounce the last syllable means persistant.

I think it does sort of mean persistent (in the sense of dogs being animals that hunt animals down by endurance). That said, I think it's most often used in the phrase 'dogged persistence', where I guess it really means 'extreme', but extreme in a sense that only really applies to persistence.

I think this forum is a very good example of dogged. We keep settling the dogs points and going off on slight tangents and then someone else will drag us back to the dog's business. Is this the only thread with more than six hundred posts which is STILL on the main point?
I have only very recently reaised the point of "Hush Puppies" being so-called>

Would you care to share this with those of us who are yet to attain enlightenment?

Yeah...spill the beans...............stay lucky.:-0

Some confusion around here (due to pathetic explanations of would-be know-it-alls in my office).

What is the difference between the Queen's English, BBC English and Received Pronunciation - or are they all the same thing?

The Queen's English used to be a generally accepted accent for the upper classes. Almost no-one other than the Queen and the unfortunate Charles now speaks like that.
When BBC radio was set up, all announcers had to speak a slightly modified version of that (eg corf for cough). This stopped in the 1960's when men with regional accents became fashionable (especially Scots and Irishmen)Very few women get away even today with a non-standard accent on the Beeb.
Received (standard) English is British only. There are different standards for other countries.It is supposed to be geographically neutral and class neutral, but of course it isn't. It's still (upper) middle class where the speaker has probably gone to boarding or grammar school.
No-one in their right mind speaks like this any more, but people like me still teach it in foreign countries (very modified in HK) as it is internationally acceptable and what the clients often want.
Standard can also be applied to written English: I hope I'm using a standard spelling and grammar, which would be very slightly different if I were an American or an Indian speaker.
Received pronunciation has changed in the years since it was first called that (by Sweet, I think, before WWI, on whom Shaw based Henry Higgins)For example, my grandfather said "orfen", I say "offen" and my grown-up children pronounce the t in "often".
Basically, in the 1930's they _were_ all the same thing. Now only the last exists for EFL teaching purposes.
(As you can see, there's nothing "would-be" about my knowing it all )

How refreshing - thanks!

The "would-be's" around here look down on me because of my US accent and origins, so when I asked my question, it soon became clear that they hadn't a clue what they were talking about,but were all too proud to admit it!

To be fair, they probably don't look down on me that much, they just tease me because it gives them all something to do.

I'd still like to sound (and look) like Lady Penelope - perhaps someone could coach me, and make a documentary about it at the same time!

I don't think it is fair to say we don't know what we are talkin' about......we have all been using twisted versions of English all our lives so we have some idea of where we picked it up and the context in which it is used.....e.g. the dog's bollox.

...........stay lucky.

Oops... no, no, no!

When I said "around here" I didn't mean h2g2 - I meant my dumb office (see my previous posting).

Apologies for any offence caused.

Everyone seems to be using the spelling 'b*****ks'. The Irish spelling is generally 'bollix' when used to speak derogatively of someone ('he's a right bollix'). It's pronounced as its spelt.

'Ballocks' seems to have gone out of fashion. I think this is more appropriate to what livestock possess (or don't, as the case may be), but I seem to recall Anthony Burgess favoring this spelling in general.

Kaeori! Hi!
Be yourself!
Be proud of your accent - it is part of you and your heritage.....

And if they still take the piss....just remind them of the War of Independance - when the fledgeling American Nation beat us Brits......

(I don't give a damn about that one!!!!)

'G'

I'm afraid teacher's rules only extended to whilst and while. It was my big brother who pointed out that amongst and betwixt were invented to get higher scores in Scrabble. But then again, he always won.
One wonders if this is true of all big brothers.

My experience is that big brothers nearly always win. But that's because they can.

Betwixt? Sounds like a snack.

Surely you can't invent words in Scrabble. That's cheating, isn't it?

Or can I have 'oeeiaao' and 'qrrttnm', which would get me out of many a tricky situation?

I think I'll stick to the spelling "bollocks" - I might need the singular one day and with "bollox/bollix" I wouldn't have one.

Fair play, my mistake.

stay lucky.............

'Bollix' is actually singular when used as a derogatory descriptor. Hence 'Ronan Keating is a useless bollix' and 'Boyzone are a right shower of bollixes'. If you're being strictly testicular, then 'bollock' it is.

A highly entertaining version of Scrabble is one where all words must be invented. The trick is for the word to actually sound feasible; the other players decide whether it's acceptable. Eventually you can end up with a new dictionary resembling The Meaning of Liff.

I think 'oeeiaao' is the technical term for the noise emitted by a burglar alarm as it is switched off.