I feel it is sad that apologies have to be made for the past when things were looked at differently. I think it is better to concentrate on a better future.

I have always loved the book and movie of "Gone with the Wind" and have the DVD, so there! It is fiction, folks!

Where does it stop if anything that doesn't suit modern thinking is banned? There are a number of issues I have when reading Golden Age mysteries, about the class system but as the saying goes "It is what it is!"

If Blackface shows and films are bad, what about portrayals of Orientals by white people? There are plenty of examples of that. Mickey Rooney, Louise Rainer, Sir Alec Guiness etc. There was no disrespect intended.

Ann, I'm afraid I have to disagree with you about the use of theatre in Australia, as I would say it is used exclusively for live shows. I think most older people would still say 'going to the pictures' for a film, but younger ones would say 'going to see a movie'.

Another statue coming down is that of Robert Baden-Powell the founder of the Boy Scout movement. Apparently he is now considered by some to be a homophobic racist . . .

Baden-Powell

Kath, I could be mistaken but I think it was used in WA in the past if not now.

I don't mix with people much to notice a change. If it gets mentioned that someone of my age is going to see a movie, they usually tell you that they will be seeing "The title" if they can remember it! They might mention the location of the cinema complex.

However, rather than the title, it is sometimes a case of "Oh, that thing with whats'ername in it. About a dog...you know"

Younger people seem to be more precise!

Kath, calling the movie place a Theatre must indeed be a WA peculiarity.

I Googled and found the latest upmarket complex in Perth CBD is grandly named Palace Raine Square Movie Theatre! It sounds very comfortable but I usually get a DVD of anything I fancy and watch at home.

I wonder if the local population took umbrage at the Hulme's attitude ie what they said rather than the way they spoke?

Vee, as Peter Graham explains the mutual contempt of the Hulmes and New Zealanders: The Hulmes rubbed the 'Cantabrians' (the term refers to the inhabitants -- particularly the local upper-crust -- of Christchurch and the Canterbury Plain region of the South Island where Christchurch is located) the wrong way almost from the very beginning on their arrival in NZ from England. To the NZ'ers the Hulmes were full of themselves, epitomized by their hoity-toity English accents that they refused to tone down. So it was partly the way they spoke, as well as what the Hulmes said that lost most of the goodwill they could have had as newcomers to NZ. The NZ'ers were a bit prickly, too, possibly because they were sensitive to being 'looked down on' by the Hulmes.

A telling anecdote involves Ngaio Marsh, the crime novelist and theatrical producer who was born and bred in Christchurch and had lived and spent a good deal of time in England. Ms Marsh was guest-of-honour at an elite school function in Christchurch. The Hulmes made their appearance at the affair. Hilda Hulme, especially, did not want to be upstaged by a 'colonial' so she swept into the room, flashing smiles at those who carried clout, cutting dead anyone who didn't matter. . . After the introduction between Hilda H and Ngaio M, Noel Coward's name came up. Hilda inquired if Marsh knew him and when Marsh said she did, Hilda knowledgeably asserted:

"Ah yes, he's a dear isn't he?"

"No," Marsh said firmly, "he's a bit of a s**t actually."

This exchange was greatly enjoyed by all present. It was game, set and match to Marsh, who rolled her eyes heavenward as the Hulmes made an early departure.

I’ve heard it can “picture theatre” or a “cinema” but never just a “theatre” in WA.

Frieda, re the Hulme family, we would call them, among other things stuck up. Nowadays this has become up themselves less polite but with a similar meaning.

Colleen , the term of just "Theatre" for a cinema has fallen out of favour. As the old ones are being refurbished the name is being dropped in favour of just "Cinema" as with the Piccadilly Theatre in the Piccadilly Arcade.

My husband and I went there quite often as it was close to home.

When I came to live in Perth in the 1960s "Going to the theatre" (the person meant "to see a picture") was a common expression. So much has changed since!

Oh I get naming a cinema “Whatever Theatre”, and I think that’s a holdover from the days when they did double duty as theatre and cinema. We came to Perth in 1969, and I’ve never heard anyone say they were going to the theatre if they were going to see a film, so it must have fallen out of use by then.

Colleen, yes, I suppose it had. Most of the people I knew in the early Sixties were older generation and they used a lot of language from even earlier times!

I still use some of the colourful phrases, e.g. "Carrying on like a two-bob watch" for someone who is acting frantically!

Vee, is 'toffee-nosed' still used in the UK to mean an arrogant, pompous, pretentious person?

It's funny to me that many words which describe people who think they are superior -- insufferably so -- have to do with the nose. There's a snoot (noun) and the adjectives snooty, snotty, sniffy (I don't recall if those are predominantly U.S. usages). Then there are the phrases: 'nose in the air' and 'looking down [one's] nose' which I think are understood widely by many speakers of most varieties of English. Why the nose, I wonder? But it is very easy to visualize!

We don't hear 'toffee-nose' these days far more ruder expressions about! I don't know if it is true elsewhere but over here this 'superior' attitude is far more prevalent among the wives of men who have 'done well'.

Many years ago I was out with my Father when we met the wife of one of his friends, the local bank manager. He said "Good Morning Mrs C" and she only acknowledged him with a slight regal nod of the head. "Why didn't she speak to you?" I asked and Dad replied "Oh! she's just noveau riche" At the time I didn't know what that meant but now realise it did sum-up her 'type'.

Had she been genuinely well-bred rather than having just reached the pinnacle of her ambition for her husband she would not have been SO ill-mannered.

I have an app of word and logic games on my iPad, and I suspect the game designers are British, due to many of the crossword clues (plus the fact they use the word “adverts” instead of “ads,” and I’ve never heard an American say that). Anyway, today one of the crossword clues was “temporary home for moggies.” I have no idea what a moggie (or moggy) is, but the answer was cattery. Are those British terms?

Donna

Donna, a moggy is a cat, a 'very ordinary' cat rather like describing a dog as a 'mongrel'. A cattery is a place, I suppose, where cats are bred/kept/go for their holidays.

I found a few Americanisms when I recently read Wicked Autumn Over here we never say so-and-so 'taught school'. We would say either 'taught at school' or 'was a school teacher' Nor do we say 'out back' of the house, when describing something at the back. But then we drop the 'the' when saying 'Jim was taken to hospital' . . . no reasoning for any of this!

Also the word rube is never used here for describing someone from the country(side).

Otherwise the author had done a good job of making the story 'sound' English'.

Here's another word I discovered which is different : story/ storey when referring to a two-story home. i began to wonder if perhaps I had been using the wrong spelling all my life ?!

Thanks, Vee! The cats in my house are on holiday all the time, so no need for a cattery. And I'm sure they would object to being called "moggies," as they are far from ordinary! LOL

Bon, I think also the first story/storey in the UK is what we would call the second floor. :) It's probably one of those words that can be spelled either way.

Donna

Donna, depending on the size of the house, there would be a Basement, usually below a Ground Floor, then the First and Second Floors etc. up to the attics. For a while, as a child, I lived in a converted Victorian terrace house.

We had the second floor which was originally the bedrooms with bells by the fireplaces. The room with the bath was in an attic. We were intrigued to know what a small thing that looked something like a fireplace was, that was set into the front wall. I later discovered it was a boot-scraper from the days of horses!

Ann, that sounds like a very cool house! In Florida we don't have basements (at least I've never seen one down here).

Donna

Donna, when describing a home you'd say "two story " rather than " two floors" ....as in : A two story bungalow. My observation was more in the way the word was spelled.

yoyo, a two storey/story bungalow?!

Yes !

https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/two-story-bungalow-69227am

OK yoyo, maybe in the US but the house in your picture would not be described as a bungalow in the UK.

Collins Dictionary

I only recently found out that story was a legitimate spelling of the level of a house. I was taught story was a tale, and storey was for houses.

Moggy is used in Australia too.

I wouldn't have called a two-story house a bungalow either. Vee, do you think we are showing our age?

Carolyn, of course I can't speak for you but sometimes when I pass a mirror I see my elderly mother looking back at me . . .

So does my daughter see me and she hates it! Actually she has more developed jowls but I say nothing!

The house in the link I would regard as a large, detached character property... however, we do have something here called a 'Chalet Bungalow'... vee will confirm, that involves upstairs living accommodation, and can resemble a two storey house..

Marlorena, yes and now many people add a storey above a small bungalow which involves putting in stairs, dormers or windows in the roof to give themselves some extra space. House prices in the UK being way over-the-top so many people cannot afford to move to a bigger place.

For Brits, or others who know, what, pray tell, is a "punter"? i just finished a novel set in the UK in part and the term was used repeatedly. I gather it is not complimentary.

re "punter" some context for the word would be useful. It could be someone who poles a punt (flat-bottomed boat) or someone who gambles/puts a bet on the horses or dogs or anyone engaged in commerce/trade with someone else. Not necessarily rude!

Vee, it was used by a female who was working in a series of London bars. Clearly she was referring to males she found to be problematic, at least in this book.

Yes, I am familiar with the other meaning, as I went punting on the River Cam in the early '60's!

It‘s a kind of slang term for ”customers” as in ”give the punters what they want”, or ”the punters were all getting stuck into the hard stuff”.

Thanks, Colleen. That makes sense in the context of the novel.

Came across this expression in Beatriz Williams' The Golden Hour ... " up the duff".

It apparently means 'pregnant'. Right ?

Correct! We sold a pregnancy information book by an Australian author known for her comedy and it was called just that.

Kath....where does that expression come from ?? Is "the duff" anatomical ?! LOL

Google suggests it’s a variant on another slang expression for being pregnant, being ”in the pudding club”. I guess this originated from a pregnant belly looking like the woman has a (British style) pudding under her dress. Steamed puddings were traditionally ball shaped as they were boiled in a pudding cloth which was drawn up to make a sphere by its nature. ”Plum duff” (steamed pudding with raisins) was a popular dessert, ”duff” being a dialectical variant pronounciation of ”dough” (rhymes with ”enough” and ”rough” and ”tough”).

The duff word seems to have several slang meanings over here and I didn't know that 'duff' and dough had any connection. We also refer to something as 'duff' if it is broken/useless, or 'duffer' as someone not very clever, or to 'duff someone up' meaning to beat them up/hit them.

I think the word has even more meanings over in Aus.

Not an expression........I was surprised that Wallis Simpson called her husband David.

Was that a middle name?

yoyo, Although Edward was his first name, after his grandfather Edward VII, he was always known in the family as David (the last of his many names),

His brother who became George VI was named Albert, as were all Royal males at the time, at the insistence of Queen Victoria, but was known as Bertie in the family.

In fact most of Victoria's very many grand and great grand children had what we might consider rather silly 'nick names', I thing it was rather a 'thing' in those days. Even in my humble family many boys were know as Sonny, and the girls as Sissy.

A propos of royal stuff, HM Queen is 96 tomorrow. I think COVID has rather knocked her back, plus the death of Prince Philip and the unfortunate scandal over Andrew, not to mention that couple now in California, just about to produce a book revealing the truth about how ill-used they have been.

Vee......thank you for the clarification. You are my go-to for British info !!

Regarding "that couple in California" they are shameless publicity seekers.

I always remember that you suggested , as Milne would say , he is a "bear of little brain" and his words and actions certainly support that. Poor Elizabeth.

I don’t think that the gentleman in question is a ”bear of little brain” so much as a damaged little boy still looking for his mother. The harpy in question has preyed on that and sucked him in as narcissists do with their victims. Having grown up with the belief that being chased by paparazzi resulted in the death of his beloved mother, and having his wife constantly claim that she is being harassed by the press for being a POC, he feels he needs to be loyal to her and protect her to avoid her suffering the same fate.

I did think at the beginning of the relationship that it was lovely that he had found someone who made him happy, but as soon as her claws were well embedded her true colours started to show.

And let's not omit that she seems to be using him now to promote her radical racist views...much to the detriment of his family relationships. I feel that a man with a bit more intellect would have seen through her ploys.

There’s a very crude expression for his condition - the first word I can’t use, the second is ”struck”.

Also, those in a narcissist’s clutches are often unable to see how awful their abuser is. This is why so many abused women stay with their abusers.

We have a very crude expression for his condition and it's " ***** whipped".

Same idea.

I understand narcissists very well as my daughter married one, and the results aren't pretty.

Never thought of the narcissist angle, but it does make sense. When you think how welcoming everyone over here was, with as far as one can tell little bother about POC, in fact it appeared like a breath of fresh air. Grandmother-in-law took her under her wing (perhaps remembering how D had been treated in the early days with little apparent concern for her welfare). Lots of smiling, glad-handing, beautiful wedding etc.

How/why did it all go wrong SO quickly?

At the moment yet another legal dispute in underway between the Home Office and the couple concerning their security when/if they visit these shores. They feel their family will not be safe as they are no longer entitled to round the clock police protection, and "Sorry Sir but you cannot hire the Metropolitan Police by the hour/day. That isn't their job." BTW Don't forget that Daddy has already given you millions of £££'s. You are not on the breadline.

A short afternoon tea visit to Windsor has given him the realisation that he must 'protect' HM and make sure the 'right people' are around her; whatever that means.

I wondered what was meant by that too! Such an odd remark...

Perhaps it implies that MeggieMarkle might be too toxic for tea with HM.