British expressions found while reading...........
5 years ago
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guess what I found while digging up my walkway
Comments (42)Chelone, the cat's name is Lily, sister (in spirit) to Tiger, an orange male and the coolest cat who ever walked the face of the earth. Lily is more normal cat, Tiger thinks he is a person. He knows more people in the neighborhood than I do, and frequents most of their homes. There is also a third orange long-hair named Molly. Orange cats have the best temperaments IME. Thanks for the compliments - - it's nice to hear after all that sweat I invested! All of the materials used were found on my property except for the stone dust, which I got at a discount through a friend. I have to say right now I actually love the look of the walkway, while I think the patio is just "ok". I do prefer the irregular stones, impractical as they may be. The patio stones are a bit out of line since I was just eyeballing them and then I had friends come in to help finish who weren't as picky as me! As for Poor Martha (as she has come to be known in the neighborhood), my next step if the town historian doesn't call back and take over is to go to the Bureau of Vital Statistics (I think that's what it's called) in Hartford and search for that date of death. If there is a Martha, well, Bingo. If not, and there are one or two other people with that DOD, I can check which cemetery they were buried in and see if they have stones (and whether they are replacement stones). If there is no match that way, I might be out of luck because that means the stone was not local. In that case I would just beg the historical society or a cemetery to take it. The woman from the Connecticut Gravestone Network also said she can search ancestors.com because she has a membership. So we'll see if she comes up with anything. For now Poor Martha has been moved to the patio, where I'm sure she's doing a great job of freaking out the mailman when he walks up to my house everyday. Hopefully he has figured out that she was unearthed during the walkway reno!...See MoreRegional or NYC expression?
Comments (33)I don't think it's a new trend lukki (at least based on my hearing it in movies, going back quite a ways). It's not common, tho. But then when Sonja & occasionally one of the others started saying it a lot, that's what made me start to wonder again. I need to reread terriks link, looks rather fascinating but definitely not a skim over type article. Thanks! :) Jen, interesting about the British. (I often wonder if they view us as having butchered the King's English. ;) Look how much their language has changed just since the Tudor/Elizabethan eras. I saw a special on History Channel once, about how language evolved in Britain tracing it as far back in recorded history as they could. Honestly what they started out with isn't even close to what's used today. I get so engrossed in all this!...See MoreOdd British sayings...........help!
Comments (2)To be 'at sixes and sevens' means to be all over the place, as momj says. Not said so much these days but if for eg. you are late for an appointment, the car wont start, a child says they feel too ill to go to school, your husband suddenly remembers he is bringing home a couple of work colleagues for dinner . . . then you may be/or soon will be at sixes and sevens. Spotted Dick is a very traditional English pudding (the word 'dessert' is usually reserved for rather fancy cold dishes). These hot, filling puddings used to be the mainstay of school meals, though these days, with all this calorie control, sedentary life-style etc, plus the fact that they take some time to prepare plus a couple of hours to 'steam' they are much less popular. Made with a suet-crust pastry with a scattering of raisins, currants (hence the 'spotted' appearance) rolled into a wide sausages shape and cooked in a steamer in a 'pudding cloth'. Served with lots of custard they are very yummy. Didn't know they sold them in cans (which we call 'tins'). Don't you have any pudding-type 'desserts' in the US? Perhaps those of you with German/Dutch/Polish ancestry have similar recipes. Here is a link that might be useful: Make your own Spotted Dick...See MoreDiscovering new words while reading ...
Comments (130)That's interesting @yoyoybon_gw. The Oxford Dictionary defines palaver as palaver/pəˈlɑːvə/ informalnoun: palaver unnecessarily elaborate or complex procedure."there's a lot of palaver involved" :fuss fuss and bother bother commotion trouble rigmarole folderol ado song and dance performance to-do carry-on carrying-on kerfuffle hoo-ha hullabaloo ballyhoo business pantomime hoopla historical: an improvised conference between two groups, typically those without a shared language or culture. verb: palaver; 3rd person present: palavers; past tense: palavered; past participle: palavered; gerund or present participle: palavering talk unproductively and at length."it's too hot for palavering" My mother in law frequently uses it in the first sense....See More- 5 years ago
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