"stinker" referring to the weather

[Curmudgeon]

I've never heard that before, is it common? Maybe something from the
60s in Britain when the movie (Withnail & I) is set?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPNA_BoCFPs

The Park [It is pouring down with rain. Withnail offer the bottle
to I]
I:
No thankyou, no more. Look, it's a stinker Withnail, why don't
you go home.
Withnail:
Because I want to walk you to the station.
I:
No, really, I really don't want you to. [They stop by the
wolves.]
I:
I shall miss you Withnail.
Withnail:
I'll miss you too. [I departs. Withnail walks to the fence and
leans against it.]
Withnail:
I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth
and
indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly
frame the earth seems to me a sterile promotory; this most
excellent canopy the air, look you, this mighty o'rehanging
firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire; why,
it
appeareth nothing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation
of
vapours. What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason,
how
infinite in faculties, how like an angel in aprehension, how
like
a God! The beauty of the world, paragon of animals; and yet to
me, what is this quintessence of dusk. Man delights not me,
no,
nor women neither, nor women neither. [The wolves are
unimpressed. Withnail exits into the rain.]

[micky]

On Tue, 6 Aug 2013 21:19:38 -0400, "Curmudgeon"
<num...@curmudgeon.com> wrote:

>I've never heard that before, is it common? Maybe something from the
>60s in Britain when the movie (Withnail & I) is set?

My mother said it since the early 50's and probably much earlier.

A stinker is a hot and humid day. She had lived all her life in
Indiana, USA, except for 5 or 6 years in western Pennsylvania.
(1908-1996)

I don't think it's a stinker when it's raining, although sometimes
afterwards, its as or more humid than ever and just as hot.

[John Dunlop]

Curmudgeon:

> I've never heard that before, is it common? Maybe something from the 60s
> in Britain when the movie (Withnail & I) is set?

The OED gives two weather-related quotes:

1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 72 Stinker, a
disagreeable, highly unpleasant and often humid day.
1959 D. Hewett Bobbin Up (1961) xiv. 216 Already the sky was pale
and smoky with the promise of ‘another stinker’.

But its definition is wider:

b. More widely, something repugnant because of its difficulty or
unendurable nature. colloq.

I'd use "stinker" in that sense, not necessarily about the weather.

--
John

[Derek Turner]

On Wed, 07 Aug 2013 08:09:42 +0100, John Dunlop wrote:

> But its definition is wider:
>
> b. More widely, something repugnant because of its difficulty or
> unendurable nature. colloq.
>
> I'd use "stinker" in that sense, not necessarily about the weather.

(BrE) commonly used of common colds.

[Mike Barnes]

Derek Turner <frd...@cesmail.net>:

And of puzzles, but more with admiration than repugnance.

--
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England

[Gus]

"John Dunlop" <dunlo...@ymail.com> wrote in message
news:pan.2013.08.07....@ymail.com...

So Marwood may not be referring to the weather, but that he is leaving
his friend? I always thought he was commenting on the weather and the
heavy rain storm they were trudging through.... So Marwood by saying
"it's a stinker" he is actually saying part of him is glad to be getting
out of it, there is part of him that remembers what it was like living
with Withnail-- the good and the mostly bad. And that he feels sorry
for his old friend, who he suspects will never get out.

[Gus]

"micky" <NONONO...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:lgg309dkuaqi9mloi...@4ax.com...

> On Tue, 6 Aug 2013 21:19:38 -0400, "Curmudgeon"
> <num...@curmudgeon.com> wrote:
>
>>I've never heard that before, is it common? Maybe something from the
>>60s in Britain when the movie (Withnail & I) is set?
>
> My mother said it since the early 50's and probably much earlier.
>
> A stinker is a hot and humid day. She had lived all her life in
> Indiana, USA, except for 5 or 6 years in western Pennsylvania.
> (1908-1996)
>
> I don't think it's a stinker when it's raining, although sometimes
> afterwards, its as or more humid than ever and just as hot.

I once checked the weather on-line years ago and it said expect "gully
washers" in the afternoon. I have never heard that before or since.
Whatever it was, it didn't sound good. I looked it up and it is a real
phrase.

Definition of GULLY WASHER
dial
: an extremely heavy fall of rain usu. of short duration : cloudburst
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gully%20washer


"This term is used throughout the Midland,[1] Southern[2] and Western
United States.[1] Allan A. Metcalf's 2000 book How We Talk: American
Regional English Today notes "there are gully washers throughout the
South and South Midlands, and this is one Southern term that is
well-known in the central Midwest as well, as far north as Nebraska,
Iowa, and Wisconsin, and as far west as Colorado. But there aren't any
gully washers in New England or the northernmost states, and the word is
rare on the Pacific coast."
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gullywasher

[Robin Bignall]

On Wed, 7 Aug 2013 09:58:01 +0100, Mike Barnes <mikeba...@gmail.com>
wrote:

Richard Murdoch (Much Binding in the Marsh, Men from the Ministry,
Rumpole) was called "Stinker Murdoch" apparently because he went to a
superior Public (read expensive private) School -- Charterhouse. The
reason for that nickname for that reason escapes me.
--
Robin Bignall
Herts, England (BrE)

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Wednesday, August 7, 2013 4:28:29 PM UTC-4, Robin Bignall wrote:

> Richard Murdoch (Much Binding in the Marsh, Men from the Ministry,
> Rumpole) was called "Stinker Murdoch" apparently because he went to a
> superior Public (read expensive private) School -- Charterhouse. The
> reason for that nickname for that reason escapes me.

There was a Rumpole before John Mortimer / Leo McKern's ?

[R H Draney]

Gus filted:

>
>I once checked the weather on-line years ago and it said expect "gully
>washers" in the afternoon. I have never heard that before or since.
>Whatever it was, it didn't sound good. I looked it up and it is a real
>phrase.
>
>Definition of GULLY WASHER
>dial
>: an extremely heavy fall of rain usu. of short duration : cloudburst

Wait till you get to "frog-strangler"....r


--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.

[Mike L]

When Gally finally recognised him through the layers of grime, Lord
Tilbury wasn't pleased to be identified as "Stinker Pyke".

--
Mike.

[Gus]

"R H Draney" <dado...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:ktuhg...@drn.newsguy.com...

egad(s), that is a real thing? Sounds terrible!

I've never heard of it. Looks like it is used in Texas and Florida.

[Horace LaBadie]

In article <23f8d44e-868d-4087...@googlegroups.com>,

He was Uncle Tom, the eldest member of chambers, who never got a brief.

[Peter T. Daniels]

What's that got to do with one Richard Murdoch?

[Horace LaBadie]

In article <0ae500e3-8722-4a45...@googlegroups.com>,

"Peter T. Daniels" <gram...@verizon.net> wrote:

> On Wednesday, August 7, 2013 7:29:37 PM UTC-4, Horace LaBadie wrote:
> > In article <23f8d44e-868d-4087...@googlegroups.com>,
> > "Peter T. Daniels" <gram...@verizon.net> wrote:
> > > On Wednesday, August 7, 2013 4:28:29 PM UTC-4, Robin Bignall wrote:
> >
> > > > Richard Murdoch (Much Binding in the Marsh, Men from the Ministry,
> > > > Rumpole) was called "Stinker Murdoch" apparently because he went to a
> > > > superior Public (read expensive private) School -- Charterhouse. The
> > > > reason for that nickname for that reason escapes me.
> >
> > > There was a Rumpole before John Mortimer / Leo McKern's ?
> >
> > He was Uncle Tom, the eldest member of chambers, who never got a brief.
>
> What's that got to do with one Richard Murdoch?

Richard Murdoch was the actor who played Uncle Tom in Rumpole.

[micky]

On Wed, 7 Aug 2013 10:32:54 -0400, "Gus" <gus.o...@geemail.com>
wrote:

>"micky" <NONONO...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
>news:lgg309dkuaqi9mloi...@4ax.com...
>> On Tue, 6 Aug 2013 21:19:38 -0400, "Curmudgeon"
>> <num...@curmudgeon.com> wrote:
>>
>>>I've never heard that before, is it common? Maybe something from the
>>>60s in Britain when the movie (Withnail & I) is set?
>>
>> My mother said it since the early 50's and probably much earlier.
>>
>> A stinker is a hot and humid day. She had lived all her life in
>> Indiana, USA, except for 5 or 6 years in western Pennsylvania.
>> (1908-1996)
>>
>> I don't think it's a stinker when it's raining, although sometimes
>> afterwards, its as or more humid than ever and just as hot.
>
>I once checked the weather on-line years ago and it said expect "gully
>washers" in the afternoon. I have never heard that before or since.
>Whatever it was, it didn't sound good. I looked it up and it is a real
>phrase.
>
>Definition of GULLY WASHER
>dial
>: an extremely heavy fall of rain usu. of short duration : cloudburst
>http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gully%20washer

I lived in Indiana for 9 years and I know the word. I think it's
impressive that they used it on-line. Was it
countryfolk.weather.com?

[micky]

On Wed, 07 Aug 2013 08:09:42 +0100, John Dunlop

<dunlo...@ymail.com> wrote:

>Curmudgeon:
>
>> I've never heard that before, is it common? Maybe something from the 60s
>> in Britain when the movie (Withnail & I) is set?
>
>The OED gives two weather-related quotes:
>
> 1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 72 Stinker, a
> disagreeable, highly unpleasant and often humid day.

That fits with my mother's usage. She was from Indiana, not
Australia, but she read a lot.

[R H Draney]

Gus filted:

>
>"R H Draney" <dado...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
>news:ktuhg...@drn.newsguy.com...
>> Gus filted:
>>>

>>>Definition of GULLY WASHER
>>>dial
>>>: an extremely heavy fall of rain usu. of short duration : cloudburst
>>
>> Wait till you get to "frog-strangler"....r
>
>egad(s), that is a real thing? Sounds terrible!
>
>I've never heard of it. Looks like it is used in Texas and Florida.

The Eskimos of Texas and Florida clearly have more words for rain that do
yours...(were you also the one who was asking the other day about "the devil
beating his wife"?)...r

[Peter T. Daniels]

Ah. Nothing in Robin's interjection suggested that he was an actor
as opposed to an author. Thank you.

[Gus]

"micky" <NONONO...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message

news:14i609lkdbv81i0g0...@4ax.com...

>>Definition of GULLY WASHER
>>dial
>>: an extremely heavy fall of rain usu. of short duration : cloudburst
>>http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gully%20washer
>
> I lived in Indiana for 9 years and I know the word. I think it's
> impressive that they used it on-line. Was it
> countryfolk.weather.com?

I've lived in Louisville, KY for about 20 years. Never heard any one
here say "gully washer" or "frog strangler" I will have to ask my NIL
father if he's ever heard of it. He's lived on the other side of the
river for decades.

It was Excite.com probably 15+ years or so ago. They used to have an
easy to use TV schedule I liked and I had used Excite for a my
homepage/portal for a while. One day in the forecast blurb it said
"gully washers". Had to look it up. Stuck in my mind.

[Gus]

"R H Draney" <dado...@spamcop.net> wrote in message

news:ktvu2...@drn.newsguy.com...

no, never heard of that one. Around here they say "beat like a
red-headed step-child" which makes me cringe... I have been thinking
about asking about "the rule of thumb" but I think that one probably has
already been beaten to death here.

[Tony Cooper]

I have never heard "frog strangler" used in Florida. (Doesn't mean it
isn't used, but means that I haven't heard it.)

It would seem more applicable in Texas and other states where there
are gullies that flood quickly (by "gully washers") and drown any
creatures caught in the quick flood.

We don't really have gullies in Florida.

In Arizona, once, I was told never to walk in a gully because a flash
flood could come rushing down the gully.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando FL

[Mike L]

It's not unknown in Britain, too. I imagine Snopes would clear this
up, but I've read that more people die of drowning in the Sahara than
of thirst, and never quite believed it. My own thoroughly dry
experience of the North African deserts is too small to count for
anything.

--
Mike.

[Curlytop]

John Dunlop set the following eddies spiralling through the space-time
continuum:

A stinker can be a question (in an examination) or a puzzle that's difficult
to answer or solve. Years ago in the UK, "Weekend" magazine used to publish
the "Weekend Stinker Crossword", so called in the magazine itself because
it was considered to be very difficult to solve.
--
ξ: ) Proud to be curly

Interchange the alphabetic letter groups to reply

[Horace LaBadie]

In article <ku5r0k$561$2...@dont-email.me>,

Curlytop <pvstownse...@ntlworld.com> wrote:

> John Dunlop set the following eddies spiralling through the space-time
> continuum:
>
> > Curmudgeon:
> >
> >> I've never heard that before, is it common? Maybe something from the 60s
> >> in Britain when the movie (Withnail & I) is set?
> >
> > The OED gives two weather-related quotes:
> >
> > 1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 72 Stinker, a
> > disagreeable, highly unpleasant and often humid day.
> > 1959 D. Hewett Bobbin Up (1961) xiv. 216 Already the sky was pale

> > and smoky with the promise of ﾔanother stinkerﾕ.

> >
> > But its definition is wider:
> >
> > b. More widely, something repugnant because of its difficulty or
> > unendurable nature. colloq.
> >
> > I'd use "stinker" in that sense, not necessarily about the weather.
>
> A stinker can be a question (in an examination) or a puzzle that's difficult
> to answer or solve. Years ago in the UK, "Weekend" magazine used to publish
> the "Weekend Stinker Crossword", so called in the magazine itself because
> it was considered to be very difficult to solve.

And it's another Bugs Bunnyism. "Ain't I a stinker?"

[micky]

In a couple of the newspapers my friend reads, the crossword puzzles
start easy on Mondy and get harder as the week goes on. Maybe the
weekend for those papers is even harder. Maybe they think people have
more time on the weekend.

[Peter Moylan]

The Sudoku in my local newspaper has a difficulty level that's rated
from 5 (easy) to 13 (fiendish). (I presume that 1-4 were dropped as not
being interesting enough.) The level seems to vary in a predictable but
not monotonic weekly cycle, although I haven't checked this for certain.
Today, Tuesday, was one of the "13" days.

I recently discovered that this newspaper's crossword puzzle is set by
someone in England. That isn't stated explicitly, but every now and then
there are clues that would be meaningful to someone in England but make
no sense at all to an Australian. (Although AUE regulars would have some
chance, because we do get to hear about words and meanings that are
peculiarly English. The usual problem I have with such clues is that I
can think of the right word, but the meaning does not seem to match the
clue.)

--
Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.

[Cheryl]

On 2013-08-13 8:47 AM, Peter Moylan wrote:

> The Sudoku in my local newspaper has a difficulty level that's rated
> from 5 (easy) to 13 (fiendish). (I presume that 1-4 were dropped as not
> being interesting enough.) The level seems to vary in a predictable but
> not monotonic weekly cycle, although I haven't checked this for certain.
> Today, Tuesday, was one of the "13" days.
>
> I recently discovered that this newspaper's crossword puzzle is set by
> someone in England. That isn't stated explicitly, but every now and then
> there are clues that would be meaningful to someone in England but make
> no sense at all to an Australian. (Although AUE regulars would have some
> chance, because we do get to hear about words and meanings that are
> peculiarly English. The usual problem I have with such clues is that I
> can think of the right word, but the meaning does not seem to match the
> clue.)
>

The sudoku on my phone seems to have two distinct levels of difficulty
among the puzzles at the level I use. It's easy to tell because the
program gives average solve time. That dropped so drastically that I
wondered if I'd run out of puzzles at the top level and was now being
presented with ones from a lower level, but they're still showing up
with the prefix to the id code showing they are at the top level of
difficulty.

I don't think my skills have improved that dramatically; I'm sure the
puzzles are actually easier than they were.

--
Cheryl