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

We recently had a thread on alternative words for policemen: F19585?thread=8298574

But what about your favourite words for prison, jail, chokey.

Any favourites?

My grandad used to use the euphemism "At Her Majesty's Pleasure", which always confused me when I was little. I wondered where the next door neighbour had been the last 6 months, and how he might be amusing the queen.

Clink - but mostly because of The Ballad of Bethnal Green which my mum has on a record. It used to amuse me endlessly as a kid.

The pokey was popular in America, especially old westerns.

Me old mum called it the 'hoosgow'.

Just realised I'd never written that
or ever seen it written before - not
really sure if there's a correct spelling,
I just tried to spell it phonetically as
I recall her saying it. It sounds sorta
German in origin. Or maybe Scots.

~jwf~

"The Gray Bar Hotel"

My granny never referred to anyone being "in jail". They were always "in the bowels of the jail".

The thing is, "Her Majesty's Pleasure" has a specific meaning in law. It refers to sentences which are indeterminate in length. Not everyone (indeed, hardly anyone) in prison is there "during Her Majesty's Pleasure". Most know how long they're in for (generally about half the length of time they were actually sentenced to... but that's a rant for another day.)

The Slammer. Club Fed. The Brig.

The first two mostly USAian and the Brig, military?

The jug, the big house, inside, stir, doing porridge.

I've used 'clink' many a time too. It was an actual prison in Southwark for something like 400 years, I think.

House of correction
Pokey
Penitentiary

I went to university in Huntsville, Texas, a town infamous for its death row. The unit which houses the death row inmates is known locally as simply, "the Walls" or "Walls Unit". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HuntsvilleUnitBrickWalls.jpg

Did we have 'banged up' yet? Also 'in the nick' and 'doing a stretch'. I really like the descriptive ones, like 'sewing mailbags'

"Working full-time for his OU degree" was one I once heard.

I really like the descriptive ones, like 'sewing mailbags'. Did we have 'banged up' yet? Also 'in the nick' and 'doing a stretch'.

What's the noun describing a group of Chinese prison officers?

A correction.

>I've used 'clink' many a time too. It was an actual prison in Southwark for something like 400 years, I think.<

Indeed - it's right next to where a mate of mine lives. It's a museum now.

I always liked the word gaol. Primarily because it seems to be mainly used by journalists who want to look erudite.

Gaol is a spelling I never encountered until fairly recently, definitely well into my thirties, so it will always look foreign, alien, affected, archaic... just odd, really.

Used in The Guardian a lot in my experience

Yeah, in the sports pages?

Joey Barton in Gaol Celebration?