The first "twat" on TV?
John Davies
think I have until today, when it surfaced in a live BBC news broadcast
of the anti-war march in London (currently estimated at half a million
demonstrators, and rising -- over 1% of the population of England).
A rather nice young woman had been interviewing some of the marchers
about why they were there, and was just turning away when a genial young
chap with a northern accent ambled into camera view and accosted her.
"D'yer want to know why I'm here today?" he asked "--because Tony
Blair's a lying twat, basically."
"Thank you very much sir" said the interviewer politely, probably
unaware she'd just made television history. I wouldn't mind betting it
won't be repeated in future bulletins, though it might well resurface in
one of those compilations of out-takes and gaffes that fill the
schedules when the programme makers run a bit short of money.
Interesting word, twat. NSOED, predictably, says its origin is unknown.
First recorded in the mid 17th century, when it was simply yet another
name for the female genitals. In the early 20th century it gathered what
I think is now its more common meaning, a fool or stupid person. I
hadn't realised until looking it up that in the US it means the buttocks
-- an exact parallel with the UK/US difference in the meaning of
"fanny".
--
John Davies (jo...@redwoods.demon.co.uk)
Robert Lieblich
[ ... ]
> Interesting word, twat. NSOED, predictably, says its origin is unknown.
> First recorded in the mid 17th century, when it was simply yet another
> name for the female genitals. In the early 20th century it gathered what
> I think is now its more common meaning, a fool or stupid person. I
> hadn't realised until looking it up that in the US it means the buttocks
> -- an exact parallel with the UK/US difference in the meaning of
> "fanny".
Not sure where you looked it up, John -- no American dictionary
within my reach agrees with you -- but (quotations from Browning
aside) I've never seen or heard it used in the US for anything but
the frontal view. M-W says, laconically, "usually vulgar : VULVA
". That's how I know and use it.
The "foolish person" usage is a metaphorical extension, and I think
it's far commoner in the UK than on this side of the pond.
--
Bob Lieblich
Browning rhymed it with "hat"
mickwick
[...]
>A rather nice young woman had been interviewing some of the marchers
>about why they were there, and was just turning away when a genial young
>chap with a northern accent ambled into camera view and accosted her.
>"D'yer want to know why I'm here today?" he asked "--because Tony
>Blair's a lying twat, basically."
[...]
I enjoyed the bit on BBC News 24 this morning when the woman from
Republicans Abroad finally got her chance to speak and, crammed into a
corner of the screen by a giant picture of the marchers, she complained
that she had been sitting there for an hour listening to anti-war
sentiments from the likes of Jesse Jackson and she very much hoped that
she would now be allowed to put an opposing view.
The presenter (another rather nice young woman) didn't even let her
finish this little speech but angrily and very pompously shouted her
down: "You are on the BBC! If you want to make a political point you
should do so elsewhere."
Priceless!
It seems that Jesse Jackson and the marchers aren't making a political
point. No, they merely drawing attention to a universal 'scientific'
truth.
--
Mickwick
Neither a war-monger nor a fan of that lying twat, Tony Blair
Matti Lamprhey
> John Davies wrote:
> [ ... ]
> > Interesting word, twat. NSOED, predictably, says its origin is
> > unknown. First recorded in the mid 17th century, when it was
> > simply yet another name for the female genitals. In the early
> > 20th century it gathered what I think is now its more common
> > meaning, a fool or stupid person. I hadn't realised until looking it
> > up that in the US it means the buttocks -- an exact parallel with
> > the UK/US difference in the meaning of "fanny".
>
> Not sure where you looked it up, John
<Sarcasm, Mode=Ambuhl, Intensity=5>
What part of "NSOED" don't you understand, Lieblich?
</Sarcasm>
Matti:)
Matti Lamprhey
>
> I enjoyed the bit on BBC News 24 this morning when the woman from
> Republicans Abroad finally got her chance to speak and, crammed into a
> corner of the screen by a giant picture of the marchers, she
> complained that she had been sitting there for an hour listening to
> anti-war sentiments from the likes of Jesse Jackson and she very much
> hoped that she would now be allowed to put an opposing view.
>
> The presenter (another rather nice young woman) didn't even let her
> finish this little speech but angrily and very pompously shouted her
> down: "You are on the BBC! If you want to make a political point you
> should do so elsewhere."
>
> Priceless!
>
> It seems that Jesse Jackson and the marchers aren't making a political
> point. No, they merely drawing attention to a universal 'scientific'
> truth.
I simply don't believe you.
Matti
John Davies
<Robert....@Verizon.net> writes
>John Davies wrote:
>
>[ ... ]
>
>> Interesting word, twat. NSOED, predictably, says its origin is unknown.
>> First recorded in the mid 17th century, when it was simply yet another
>> name for the female genitals. In the early 20th century it gathered what
>> I think is now its more common meaning, a fool or stupid person. I
>> hadn't realised until looking it up that in the US it means the buttocks
>> -- an exact parallel with the UK/US difference in the meaning of
>> "fanny".
>
>Not sure where you looked it up, John -- no American dictionary
>within my reach agrees with you -- but (quotations from Browning
>aside) I've never seen or heard it used in the US for anything but
>the frontal view. M-W says, laconically, "usually vulgar : VULVA
>". That's how I know and use it.
I should have been more careful in transcribing NSOED, which I now see
says "US dial. M20" for the buttocks meaning. It doesn't say which
particular dialect, unfortunately.
--
John Davies (jo...@redwoods.demon.co.uk)
sa...@non.com
<jo...@redwoods.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>Interesting word, twat. NSOED, predictably, says its origin is unknown.
>First recorded in the mid 17th century, when it was simply yet another
>name for the female genitals. In the early 20th century it gathered what
>I think is now its more common meaning, a fool or stupid person. I
>hadn't realised until looking it up that in the US it means the buttocks
>-- an exact parallel with the UK/US difference in the meaning of
>"fanny".
I don't think "twat" has ever meant "the buttocks" in North America,
but I sure could be wrong.
I first heard (well, saw) "twat" on an episode of /Fawlty Towers/, in
the intro, where the sign had been anagrammed to "Flowery Twats".
I do think that the only reason people think "fanny" means the front
in North America is because people tend to wear a "fanny pack"
incorrectly.
Larry
Harvey V
> On Sat, 15 Feb 2003 15:01:34 +0000, John Davies
><jo...@redwoods.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> Interesting word, twat. NSOED, predictably, says its origin is
>> unknown. First recorded in the mid 17th century, when it was
>> simply yet another name for the female genitals. In the early
>> 20th century it gathered what I think is now its more common
>> meaning, a fool or stupid person. I hadn't realised until looking
>> it up that in the US it means the buttocks -- an exact parallel
>> with the UK/US difference in the meaning of "fanny".
>
> I don't think "twat" has ever meant "the buttocks" in North
> America, but I sure could be wrong.
It didn't when I first heard the word in Ottawa, c.1967, and it
certainly hadn't lost its genital implications.
Scene: school auditorium, where the (male) teacher who had long run
the drama club was challenged by an anonymous voice about something he
said. He challenged back with "who said that?", and was told "I did"
by another (female) teacher. (She was a let-it-all-hang-out type who -
- as we all knew at the time -- was in the process of annexing this
particular little fiefdom.)
In front of the students (we were suprised) he angrily said that he
wouldn't be told what to do "by some god-damned twat". We knew that it
didn't imply just that she was a fool: there was definitely a sexual
slur involved.
--
Cheers, Harvey
For e-mail, harvey becomes whhvs.
BLACK AVENGER
Black Avenger
--
Have gun will travel is the story of a man;
A knight without armor in a perilous land;
A soldier of fortune is a man called Black Avenger
Black Avenger, Black Avenger where do you roam?
Black Avenger, Black Avenger far, far from home ...
mickwick
Assuming that's not a left-liberal's humorous self-parody:
The interviewee's name is Colleen Graffy and she is the main UK
representative of Republicans Abroad. (I'll send you her e-mail address
if you want to ask her about this: I don't, not at the moment anyway.)
None of the pictures at the BBC News 24 website look exactly like the
presenter but it might have been Philippa Thomas or Joanna Gosling. The
spat happened around about lunchtime today rather than in the morning,
as I wrote earlier, and went out under an 'Iraq Crisis Live' banner.
It was so weird that it's sure to crop up in print or on the Web before
too long. The presenter was so angry (in part with her own foolishness,
I imagine) that she fluffed the rest of the interview. Professor Graffy
was very calm and polite but also, after her initial irritation, faintly
amused - she was like a tactful adult confronted by a gauche and
flustered teenager.
There's nothing about this at the Beeb's website yet but I'll check
their Iraq feedback page tomorrow.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/2742687.stm
--
Mickwick
Harvey V
>>> The presenter (another rather nice young woman) didn't even let
>>> her finish this little speech but angrily and very pompously
>>> shouted her down: "You are on the BBC! If you want to make a
>>> political point you should do so elsewhere."
>>>
>>> Priceless!
>>>
>>> It seems that Jesse Jackson and the marchers aren't making a
>>> political point. No, they merely drawing attention to a
>>> universal 'scientific' truth.
>>
>> I simply don't believe you.
>
> Assuming that's not a left-liberal's humorous self-parody:
>
> The interviewee's name is Colleen Graffy and she is the main UK
> representative of Republicans Abroad. (I'll send you her e-mail
> address if you want to ask her about this: I don't, not at the
> moment anyway.) None of the pictures at the BBC News 24 website
> look exactly like the presenter but it might have been Philippa
> Thomas or Joanna Gosling. The spat happened around about lunchtime
> today rather than in the morning, as I wrote earlier, and went out
> under an 'Iraq Crisis Live' banner.
>
> It was so weird that it's sure to crop up in print or on the Web
> before too long. The presenter was so angry (in part with her own
> foolishness, I imagine) that she fluffed the rest of the
> interview.
I agree that it sounds weird, but I think I can probably imagine what
was going through the presenter's mind when she first interrupted.
Beeb presenters, as I'm sure you're aware, are fairly paranoid about
party political comments: comments on politics are OK, but the scoring
party points is monitored.
So while it was OK to make a "small-p political point" as to being for
the war, to oppose the march which was against it, it would be a
different matter for a Republican to try and score "party political
points" by slagging off the position of other political parties.
I suspect her radar -- perhaps wrongly -- was picking up an anticipated
"party political" broadcast, and being live she tried to nip that in
the bud.
Phil Carmody
Cue 'Manc' band in record company office, band seated round Mr. Wells'
desk, band's tape playing in the stereo...
"""
I don't want to be in your world
I don't want to be a part of your world
Mr Wells you're a twat,
you're a bad old twaaaaaaat.
...
"""
The Fast Show, Series 2, Episode 3, sketch 16
BBC, BBFC certified 12, suitable for persons of 12 years and over.
Also contains wanker, shithead, tosser, and jerking off.
Phil
Dave Kenworthy
"John Davies" <jo...@redwoods.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:D5QGlRAO...@ntlworld.com...
> Has anyone ever heard the word "twat" on television before? I don't
> think I have until today, when it surfaced in a live BBC news broadcast
> of the anti-war march in London (currently estimated at half a million
> demonstrators, and rising -- over 1% of the population of England).
>
The earliest broadcast I can recall was the use of 'twat' as verb - to kick
or punch very hard.
I heard Glen Hoddle (in his playing days) use it in an after-match TV
interview, must have been about 1981, maybe a little later. He was
describing a goal he'd scored, and said something like "the ball popped up
in front of me and I just twatted it".
--
Dave Kenworthy
-----------------------------
Changes aren't permanent - but change is!
David Buttery
> Has anyone ever heard the word "twat" on television before?
Yes, several times. The "Polymorph" episode of "Red Dwarf" contains
the line: "I say we get out there and twat it!" ("it" being the
polymorph). It certainly wasn't censored in 1989 when it was
broadcast on BBC2.
> I
> don't think I have until today, when it surfaced in a live BBC
> news broadcast of the anti-war march in London (currently
> estimated at half a million demonstrators, and rising -- over 1%
> of the population of England).
<snip>
A nice formula I picked up from somewhere to arrive at a reasonable
number of people in a crowd: double the police estimate, halve the
organisers' estimate, then take the mean of the two. As the Met.
Police are currently saying 750,000 and the organisers are saying two
million, that works out at 1.25 million.
--
Above address *is* valid - but snip spamtrap to get me to *read*!
Mike Lyle
So much so that I had to explain the basic meaning to my children --
one of whom was already in his teens at the time. (I didn't throw a
ment, of course: that would have been reggie.)
Mike.
mickwick
>I agree that it sounds weird, but I think I can probably imagine what
>was going through the presenter's mind when she first interrupted.
>
>Beeb presenters, as I'm sure you're aware, are fairly paranoid about
>party political comments: comments on politics are OK, but the scoring
>party points is monitored.
>
>So while it was OK to make a "small-p political point" as to being for
>the war, to oppose the march which was against it, it would be a
>different matter for a Republican to try and score "party political
>points" by slagging off the position of other political parties.
>
>I suspect her radar -- perhaps wrongly -- was picking up an anticipated
>"party political" broadcast, and being live she tried to nip that in
>the bud.
Possibly - although Prof. Gaffry only had time to complain about being
kept waiting before she was interrupted by the presenter. And anyway if
you don't want a Republican viewpoint why invite the representative of a
Republican organization onto the programme and introduce her as being a
representative of that organization?
I suspect that the good professor, who is probably a very busy woman
(even on a Saturday), had been creating a bit of a stink off-camera and
that the presenter (who - sexist comment alert! - gave as good an
impersonation of pre-menstrual rattiness as I have seen on TV for a
while) resented her for spoiling the party atmosphere - because the
programme was, in essence, a celebration of the march (NTTAWWT).
--
Mickwick
Robert Lieblich
[ ... ]
> LOL! "Twat" meaning ass! Hell no! I can't believe in British "fanny"
> means "twat"! LOL!
Your incredulity does you no credit, Young Joey. British usage is
as described. See
<http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=fanny*1+0>.
--
Bob Lieblich
And where is Youthful Leah these days?
Harvey V
> DE781 wrote:
>
> [ ... ]
>
>> LOL! "Twat" meaning ass! Hell no! I can't believe in British
>> "fanny" means "twat"! LOL!
>
> Your incredulity does you no credit, Young Joey. British usage is
> as described. See
><http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=fanny*1+0>.
It even appears in a relatively recent (10 years ago?) movie, where the
young lass raises her dress and says "What? Haven't ya' ever seen a
fanny before?".
[Can't remember the name of the movie.]
Matti Lamprhey
Well, there IS something wrong with that, of course. And I was watching
BBC News 24 on and off during the day, noticing that they interspersed
the live feeds with studio interviews of largely anti-anti-war
personnel, such as Michael Gove, the editor of _The Times_, and a
biographer of Saddam's (Simon somebody?). Normally they would have bent
over backwards to seize an opportunity to increase the all-important
"balance", so I suspect you're right that Prog Gaffry had been setting
the scene a bit too fervently with the presenter off-camera.
Matti
Irwell
>Robert Lieblich <Robert....@Verizon.net> wrote in message news:<3E4E5A86...@Verizon.net>...
>> John Davies wrote:
>>
>
>LOL! "Twat" meaning ass! Hell no! I can't believe in British "fanny"
>means "twat"! LOL!
A twat is a backward tawt.
sa...@non.com
<Robert....@Verizon.net> wrote:
>DE781 wrote:
>
>[ ... ]
>
>> LOL! "Twat" meaning ass! Hell no! I can't believe in British "fanny"
>> means "twat"! LOL!
>
>Your incredulity does you no credit, Young Joey. British usage is
>as described. See
><http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=fanny*1+0>.
I can't understand how they got it so wrong. You'd almost think they
didn't bother researching it.
Larry
Martin Ambuhl
> <Sarcasm, Mode=Ambuhl, Intensity=5>
> What part of "NSOED" don't you understand, Lieblich?
> </Sarcasm>
It may seem to you that that's my mode. However, the expression "What part
of ... don't you understand" is not mine. I *may* have used it, although I
don't remember doing so. If I have, I apologize to the cliche police.
Raymond S. Wise
news:3E4E5A86...@Verizon.net...
>
> [ ... ]
>
> > Interesting word, twat. NSOED, predictably, says its origin is unknown.
> > First recorded in the mid 17th century, when it was simply yet another
> > name for the female genitals. In the early 20th century it gathered what
> > I think is now its more common meaning, a fool or stupid person. I
> > hadn't realised until looking it up that in the US it means the buttocks
> > -- an exact parallel with the UK/US difference in the meaning of
> > "fanny".
>
> Not sure where you looked it up, John -- no American dictionary
> within my reach agrees with you -- but (quotations from Browning
> aside) I've never seen or heard it used in the US for anything but
> the frontal view. M-W says, laconically, "usually vulgar : VULVA
> ". That's how I know and use it.
>
One interesting aspect of the OED is that it includes nonce words. I can
remember coming across at least one word which was likely used only by Lewis
Carroll, and Browning's use of "twat" is a nonce usage which also made it
into the OED. See
http://omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu:8080/hyper-lists/classics-l/99-07-01/0452
.html
> The "foolish person" usage is a metaphorical extension, and I think
> it's far commoner in the UK than on this side of the pond.
>
> --
> Bob Lieblich
> Browning rhymed it with "hat"
I wondered when I saw the name of this thread whether the Browning poem in
question has ever been read on television. My guess is that it hasn't been.
--
Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com
Jacqui
> Has anyone ever heard the word "twat" on television before?
<Dame Celia> Many, many times.
There's a "tell us a joke" segment on endless repeat on Paramount at
the minute which features a joke with the punchline "so she knows what
an irritating twat is". It was also in The Fast Show, and ISTR it
in shows such as The Young Ones, Bottom, Filthy Rich and Catflap, etc.
I think it may not have made it onto the news before now, but it's
hardly a "never-heard" word.
Jac
mickwick
>[...] so I suspect you're right that Prog Gaffry had been setting
>the scene a bit too fervently with the presenter off-camera.
If I had suspected that, you might have been right about suspecting that
I was right to suspect it. It's a plausible theory. It's not my theory,
though. My theory is that she had complained about being kept waiting.
(It's Prof Graffy. I got it wrong in one post.)
--
Mickwick
Mike Lyle
> LOL! "Twat" meaning ass! Hell no! I can't believe in British "fanny"
> means "twat"! LOL!
Abbreviation for "Fanny Brown": has a long and respectable ancestry.
Mike.
Matti Lamprhey
Indeed, and I watched her debate with Glenda Jackson on the Dimbleby
programme this lunchtime. Neither of them did at all well, in my view.
Matti
GrapeApe
>>means "twat"! LOL!
> A twat is a backward tawt.
In that case, the first twat on TV was in the early 60's, when CBS started
using the Looney Tunes library, airing the first Tweety Bird and Slyvester
cartoons. Of course it was backwards masked at the time.
tatyttup a was I twat I
mickwick
>> (It's Prof Graffy. I got it wrong in one post.)
>
>Indeed, and I watched her debate with Glenda Jackson on the Dimbleby
>programme this lunchtime. Neither of them did at all well, in my view.
Glenda was never very convincing with her clothes on (except perhaps
when she played Elizabeth I).
--
Mickwick
John Dean
tatyddup a wat I twat I, Shirley?
--
John Dean
Oxford
De-frag to reply
Edward
Last night I was listening to a recording of the 30th anniversary
edition of "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" (preposterous panel game on
BBC Radio 4) wherein Stephen Fry redefined "countryside" as "killing
Piers Morgan". My first hearing of the "c-word" on BBC though of
course it may have been cut from the original broadcast.
Edward
Jacqui
> Last night I was listening to a recording of the 30th anniversary
> edition of "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" (preposterous panel game
> on BBC Radio 4)
Preposterous? PREPOSTEROUS?? I think not!
Plinth.
Jac
Padraig Breathnach
M. J. Powell
<sirlawren...@hotmail.com> writes
Jackdaw.
Mike
>
>Jac
--
M.J.Powell
GrapeApe
Stop calling me yelrihs.
When I was in Manhattan, I asked where I could catch the bus to Jersey. They
told me to go to the Port-a-Toity.
Oops, I thought this was the euphemisms for taking a crap thread.
Edward
Rest assured I meant preposterous only in the sense of absurd. I am a
fan. Exercise bike.
Graeme Thomas
<teddy...@hotmail.com> writes
>Last night I was listening to a recording of the 30th anniversary
>edition of "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue"
Good man!
>(preposterous panel game on
>BBC Radio 4) wherein Stephen Fry redefined "countryside" as "killing
>Piers Morgan". My first hearing of the "c-word" on BBC though of
>course it may have been cut from the original broadcast.
Many years ago (late 70s? early 80s?) Kenny Everett acted out the
following skit:
1st person: You must come to my club. I'm a country member.
2nd person: I'll remember.
--
Graeme Thomas
Linz
> Last night I was listening to a recording of the 30th anniversary
> edition of "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" (preposterous panel game on
> BBC Radio 4) wherein Stephen Fry redefined "countryside" as "killing
> Piers Morgan". My first hearing of the "c-word" on BBC though of
> course it may have been cut from the original broadcast.
It definitely wasn't cut from the original broadcast, or from the Saturday
repeat. Every time I hear it it makes me laugh and it makes me think "how on
earth did they get away with that?".
Richard
wrote:
Just as Scunthope does not *really* contain cunt, St Stephen didn't
say "cunt" he said "country". You can't ban "country". If people with
sick minds <sic> want to read something into the word, then all power
to them!
--
Richard Bollard
Canberra, Australia
Jerry Friedman
Hahahaha!
As an American, I had to look up
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1896686.stm> to see how accurate it
was.
--
Jerry Friedman
Athel Cornish-Bowden
>
> it's far commoner in the UK than on this side of the pond.
So much so that I suspect that most people who use it (it the UK) to
mean "foolish person" are barely aware that it means anything else.
Much like "con" in French, which is used so freely (including by
respectable people on television) to mean "foolish person" that it has
both masculine and feminine forms when used as an adjective, "con" for
a man, "conne" for a woman. (Which raises the curious question of how
it came to be masculine in the first place, like its medical
equivalent "vagin".)
athel
--
Athel Cornish-Bowden
at...@ibsm.cnrs-mrs.fr
sa...@non.com
richardbD...@amt.canberra.edu.au (Richard) wrote:
>Just as Scunthope does not *really* contain cunt, St Stephen didn't
>say "cunt" he said "country". You can't ban "country". If people with
>sick minds <sic> want to read something into the word, then all power
>to them!
A Canadian duo, McLean and McLean, did a pseudo Country and Western
'show' on one of their albums. The 'show' was the "McLean and McLean
Takin' the 'o' out of Country Show"
Larry
---
There are 10 kinds of people --
those who understand binary, and those who don't.
-- Uncle Phil
Mike Oliver
> The interviewee's name is Colleen Graffy and she is the main UK
> representative of Republicans Abroad.
What is this "Republicans Abroad" anyway? Does that mean it
has some connection with the GOP? I would have thought that
"republican" in the UK would mean that you wanted to privatize
HM the Q. (Or, just maybe, that you had Provo sympathies.)
Matti Lamprhey
Here in Britain someone with "republican views" would want to replace
the monarchy with a presidential system. I seem to remember being told
(here?) that it was a criminal offence to publish suchlike exhortations.
Matti
Steve Hayes
wrote:
When I was about 10 my mother ticked me off for referring to a foolish person
as a twat (I'd never seen it written, and thought of it as "twot"). She
wouldn't tell me what was wrong with it, though.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
Raymond S. Wise
news:3e54675b....@news.saix.net...
[...]
> When I was about 10 my mother ticked me off for referring to a foolish
person
> as a twat (I'd never seen it written, and thought of it as "twot"). She
> wouldn't tell me what was wrong with it, though.
What is the meaning of "ticked me off" in your first sentence above?
Interpreting "ticked me off" as if it were American English, the sentence
would be saying "When I was about 10 my mother annoyed me for referring..."
which does not make sense in this context, of course.
Jacqui
> Steve Hayes wrote
>> When I was about 10 my mother ticked me off for referring to a
>> foolish
> person
>> as a twat (I'd never seen it written, and thought of it as
>> "twot"). She wouldn't tell me what was wrong with it, though.
>
>
> What is the meaning of "ticked me off" in your first sentence
> above? Interpreting "ticked me off" as if it were American
> English, the sentence would be saying "When I was about 10 my
> mother annoyed me for referring..." which does not make sense in
> this context, of course.
Told off. A ticking off is a scolding.
Jac
John Dean
Punishment - life imprisonment under the 1848 Treason and Felony Act
--
John 'Down with the Monarchy!' Dean
Oxford
De-frag to reply
mickwick
>What is this "Republicans Abroad" anyway? Does that mean it
>has some connection with the GOP?
Yes. It's a ginger group for Republicanism.[*] (You know, like Cream was
a ginger group for Progressivism.)
>I would have thought that
>"republican" in the UK would mean that you wanted to privatize
>HM the Q. (Or, just maybe, that you had Provo sympathies.)
More like 'outplace HM the Q'.
[*]: http://www.republicansabroad.org/about_us1.htm
Which says that there are six million Americans living abroad. Which
means that all those European sophisticates who claim that Yanks are
insular and ignorant are going to have to eat their words, because there
are at least a million more Americans who know where Abroad is than
there are Danes who know where Abroad is.
--
Mickwick
Matti Lamprhey
> Matti Lamprhey wrote:
> >
> > Here in Britain someone with "republican views" would want to
> > replace the monarchy with a presidential system. I seem to
> > remember being told (here?) that it was a criminal offence to
> > publish suchlike exhortations.
>
Right, so I fail to understand why the friends and supporters of the
fragrant Piers Morgan haven't, following the necessary alcoholic
preparations, persuaded him to challenge this archaic law. Pro bono
pubico, and all that.
Matti
John Dean
The Guardian have been challenging it (unsuccessfully) for some time. The
even got a tame MP to introduce a 10-minute rule Bill, which failed.
Apparently, according to Stephen Fry, doing harm to Piers is classed as
'countryside'
--
John 'Down with the Royals. To the Scaffold with them' Dean
Oxford
De-frag to reply
Edward
> On 19 Feb 2003 15:41:28 -0800, at...@ibsm.cnrs-mrs.fr (Athel Cornish-Bowden)
> wrote:
>
> >Robert Lieblich <Robert....@Verizon.net> wrote in message news:<3E4E5A86...@Verizon.net>...
> >>
> When I was about 10 my mother ticked me off for referring to a foolish person
> as a twat (I'd never seen it written, and thought of it as "twot"). She
> wouldn't tell me what was wrong with it, though.
When I was about 11 I borrowed the soundtrack to "Hair" and played one
of the songs to my mother and her friend, who sat horrified as the
first line sang out:
"Sodomy, fellatio, cunnilingus, pederasty"
Needless to say, when I found out what they meant I was mortified. I
just like the tune. And there was the time when I recited the
following limerick to the babysitter:
There was a young man from Belgrave
Who kept a dead whore in a cave
He said "I admit
I'm a bit of a shit
But think of the money I save"
I knew that "shit" was risqué, but had no idea what "whore" meant and
naturally pronounced it "wore". She wasn't very impressed, either. I
think I wasn't a very nice teenager.
Edward
Hedberg
<matti-...@totally-official.com> wrote:
> Pro bono
>pubico, and all that.
>
Oh, my.
Harold
Phil Carmody
> "Steve Hayes" <haye...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:3e54675b....@news.saix.net...
> person
>> as a twat (I'd never seen it written, and thought of it as "twot"). She
>> wouldn't tell me what was wrong with it, though.
>
>
> What is the meaning of "ticked me off" in your first sentence above?
> Interpreting "ticked me off" as if it were American English, the sentence
> would be saying "When I was about 10 my mother annoyed me for referring..."
> which does not make sense in this context, of course.
"Ticking off" is "telling off", often with a wag of the index finger.
Phil
Steve Hayes
<illinoi...@mninter.net> wrote:
>"Steve Hayes" <haye...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:3e54675b....@news.saix.net...
>
>
>[...]
>
>
>> When I was about 10 my mother ticked me off for referring to a foolish
>person
>> as a twat (I'd never seen it written, and thought of it as "twot"). She
>> wouldn't tell me what was wrong with it, though.
>
>
>What is the meaning of "ticked me off" in your first sentence above?
>Interpreting "ticked me off" as if it were American English, the sentence
>would be saying "When I was about 10 my mother annoyed me for referring..."
>which does not make sense in this context, of course.
Reprimanded.
Charles Riggs
OK, but not in AmE. Have we done this one before?
--
Charles Riggs
chriggs|at|eircom|dot|net
Bruce Tober
<oli...@math.ucla.edu> writes
>mickwick wrote:
>
>> The interviewee's name is Colleen Graffy and she is the main UK
>> representative of Republicans Abroad.
>
>What is this "Republicans Abroad" anyway? Does that mean it
>has some connection with the GOP?
Yeah, it's the GOP's association of ex-pats. I suspect the Dems have a
similar organisation.
BTW she was on last night's Trial of America on Channel 4 and although I
disagree with her views I have to admit she held her own. OTOH her side
lost.
--
| Bruce Tober, <t...@star-dot-star.co.uk> , <http://www.star-dot-star.co.uk> |
| UK, EU +44-780-374-8255 (Mobile) |
| Now represented by The Speakers Agency Ltd |
| <http://www.thespeakersagency.com/speakerdetail.asp?speaker=160> |
david56
> Has anyone ever heard the word "twat" on television before? I don't
> think I have until today, when it surfaced in a live BBC news broadcast
> of the anti-war march in London (currently estimated at half a million
> demonstrators, and rising -- over 1% of the population of England).
>
> A rather nice young woman had been interviewing some of the marchers
> about why they were there, and was just turning away when a genial young
> chap with a northern accent ambled into camera view and accosted her.
> "D'yer want to know why I'm here today?" he asked "--because Tony
> Blair's a lying twat, basically."
>
> "Thank you very much sir" said the interviewer politely, probably
> unaware she'd just made television history. I wouldn't mind betting it
> won't be repeated in future bulletins, though it might well resurface in
> one of those compilations of out-takes and gaffes that fill the
> schedules when the programme makers run a bit short of money.
>
> Interesting word, twat. NSOED, predictably, says its origin is unknown.
> First recorded in the mid 17th century, when it was simply yet another
> name for the female genitals. In the early 20th century it gathered what
> I think is now its more common meaning, a fool or stupid person. I
> hadn't realised until looking it up that in the US it means the buttocks
> -- an exact parallel with the UK/US difference in the meaning of
> "fanny".
I've had to wade through all the responses to see that nobody has quoted
the Trans World Airline joke:
Stewardess: Sir, would you like some TWA Coffee?
Passenger: No, but I would like some TWA Tea.
--
David
I say what it occurs to me to say.
=====
The address is valid today, but I will change it to keep ahead of the
spammers.
david56
> John Davies wibbled:
>
>>Has anyone ever heard the word "twat" on television before?
>
>
> There's a "tell us a joke" segment on endless repeat on Paramount at
> the minute which features a joke with the punchline "so she knows what
> an irritating twat is". It was also in The Fast Show, and ISTR it
> in shows such as The Young Ones, Bottom, Filthy Rich and Catflap, etc.
> I think it may not have made it onto the news before now, but it's
> hardly a "never-heard" word.
I think it's one of those words not used on US TV.
IIRC it's also freely sprayed around in Two Pints of Lager... I would
guess that my children don't know the derivation.
Frances Kemmish
>
> I think it's one of those words not used on US TV.
>
> IIRC it's also freely sprayed around in Two Pints of Lager... I would
> guess that my children don't know the derivation.
>
Were you the person who advised me to watch that programme? My brother
thought I'd lost my mind when I told him I wanted to see it. I must say
that the trailers didn't make it look promising.
It was on at 9pm on Sunday, but we were eating dinner then, so I missed
it. I thought about about staying up until 12:45am to see it, but I had
to get up very early to get to the airport so I didn't bother. I can't
remember why I was advised to watch it, anyway.
Fran
david56
> david56 wrote:
>
>> I think it's one of those words not used on US TV.
>>
>> IIRC it's also freely sprayed around in Two Pints of Lager... I would
>> guess that my children don't know the derivation.
>
> Were you the person who advised me to watch that programme? My brother
> thought I'd lost my mind when I told him I wanted to see it. I must say
> that the trailers didn't make it look promising.
Yes, both I and Linz recommended it.
> It was on at 9pm on Sunday, but we were eating dinner then, so I missed
> it. I thought about about staying up until 12:45am to see it, but I had
> to get up very early to get to the airport so I didn't bother. I can't
> remember why I was advised to watch it, anyway.
Because it's set in Runcorn with views of the bridge, power station,
river, etc. And because it's as funny as one can hope for - not Fawlty
Towers or Round the Horne, but what is?
Aaron J. Dinkin
first "crap" in the newspaper comic strips: today's "Curtis" strip has the
line:
: I don't bother with TV much these days! Most of today's programs are
: scraped from th' bottom of th' "crap-barrel"~
Have I just been oblivious to all the other uses of "crap" in mainstream
comic strips, or is this a first?
-Aaron J. Dinkin
Dr. Whom
Dena Jo
> Stewardess: Sir, would you like some TWA Coffee?
> Passenger: No, but I would like some TWA Tea.
Have you seen Crimes of Passion (1984) with Kathleen Turner and Anthony
Perkins?
--
Dena Jo
david56
Not that I recall. <imdb>. Nope, which is surprising since it's Ken
Russell, although it came out just before we reproduced which put a dent
in our cinema going for about 15 years. Should I watch it?
Simon R. Hughes
line.
The first twat on TV was Jonathan Ross.
Thank you for listening.
--
Simon R. Hughes
"I often think there should exist a special typographical
sign for a smile -- some sort of concave mark, a supine
round bracket" -- Vladimir Nabokov, _Strong Opinions_.
mickwick
>I would like to take this opportunity to get back to the subject
>line.
>
>The first twat on TV was Jonathan Ross.
>
>Thank you for listening.
Oy! What about Norman Wisdom?
--
Mickwick
Dena Jo
> Not that I recall. <imdb>. Nope, which is surprising since it's Ken
> Russell, although it came out just before we reproduced which put a dent
> in our cinema going for about 15 years. Should I watch it?
They used the joke you posted to great effect. It's quite an entertaining
movie, probably Ken Russell's best, although that's not saying much.
(Probably not a fair statement. I recall liking The Music Lovers.)
--
Dena Jo
david56
I probably got it from a Rag Mag circa 1975. If you wait I could
probably quote date and page as I have them here somewhere ... (nope,
can't be bothered). So they seem to have nicked it from Mancunian students.
R H Draney
news:MPG.18c691d55...@news.online.no:
> I would like to take this opportunity to get back to the subject
> line.
>
> The first twat on TV was Jonathan Ross.
>
> Thank you for listening.
I've been wondering how long it would take for someone to come up with
a response of that form...I was about to suggest Martha Stewart....r
Jacqui
> I would like to take this opportunity to get back to the subject
> line.
>
> The first twat on TV was Jonathan Ross.
ITYM pwat.
Jac
Larry Phillips
I very much liked 'Mahler'.
Larry
---
There are 10 kinds of people --
those who understand binary, and those who don't.
-- Uncle Phil
Dena Jo
> I very much liked 'Mahler'.
I enjoyed it too, particularly the priceless conversion-to-Catholicism
scene, where Mahler slaughters and eats the pig, then downs a beer stein of
milk, with the Nazi dom woman singing, "No longer a Jewboy, now you're a
goy!" -- or something like that -- to the strains of Wagner. (I'm working
off of 25-year-old memories.) The Music Lovers and Mahler were always
double-billed together at the local art house theater. TML was less
typically Russell, and for that reason, I preferred it to Mahler.
I can't recall a single bit of Mahler's music from that movie.
--
Dena Jo
Dena Jo
> Larry
> ---
> There are 10 kinds of people --
> those who understand binary, and those who don't.
P.S. I keep meaning to tell you that I love that joke.
--
Dena Jo
Evan Kirshenbaum
One of these days you'll get around to it.
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |Bullwinkle: You sure that's the
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 | only way?
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |Rocky: Well, if you're going to be
| a hero, you've got to do
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com | stupid things every once in
(650)857-7572 | a while.
Dena Jo
> Dena Jo <den...@csNOSPAM.com> writes:
>
>> Larry Phillips <sa...@non.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Larry
>> > ---
>> > There are 10 kinds of people --
>> > those who understand binary, and those who don't.
>>
>> P.S. I keep meaning to tell you that I love that joke.
>
> One of these days you'll get around to it.
Yeah, one day. Hope one day soon.
--
Dena Jo
R J Valentine
Larry Phillips
>Larry Phillips <sa...@non.com> wrote:
>
>> There are 10 kinds of people --
>> those who understand binary, and those who don't.
>
>P.S. I keep meaning to tell you that I love that joke.
I wish I could take credit for it. I picked it up from a fellow named
"Uncle Phil" Kingery. I don't know if it's his.
Larry
---
There are 10 kinds of people --
those who understand binary, and those who don't.
-- Uncle Phil
Larry Phillips
>I can't recall a single bit of Mahler's music from that movie.
Though I couldn't name it, I remember one piece well. It was playing
in his mind, while walking around in circles inside the small house
out at the end of a dock in a lake. It was a powerful scene, and
captured what I imagine a creative mind experiences during the
creation of a complex piece.
R H Draney
news:Xns932EAA54BCB...@163.1.2.7:
> Simon R. Hughes wibbled:
>
>> The first twat on TV was Jonathan Ross.
>
> ITYM pwat.
I can but wonder how many other Yanks will get that...I know of Mr
Ross and his speech impediment from his involvement with "The
Incredibly Strange Film Show"...that's also the place I first heard of
Jackie Chan....r
Linz
"Frances Kemmish" <fkem...@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:3E5BB303...@optonline.net...
> david56 wrote:
>
> >
> > I think it's one of those words not used on US TV.
> >
> > IIRC it's also freely sprayed around in Two Pints of Lager... I would
> > guess that my children don't know the derivation.
> >
>
>
> Were you the person who advised me to watch that programme? My brother
> thought I'd lost my mind when I told him I wanted to see it. I must say
> that the trailers didn't make it look promising.
Shame. They're not always the best bit, though.
> It was on at 9pm on Sunday, but we were eating dinner then, so I missed
> it. I thought about about staying up until 12:45am to see it, but I had
> to get up very early to get to the airport so I didn't bother. I can't
> remember why I was advised to watch it, anyway.
Because it's funny!
Leah
> DE781 wrote:
>
> [ ... ]
>
> > LOL! "Twat" meaning ass! Hell no! I can't believe in British "fanny"
> > means "twat"! LOL!
>
> Your incredulity does you no credit, Young Joey. British usage is
> as described. See
> <http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=fanny*1+0>.
Youthful Leah's right here!! I'm doing great, Liebs, how are you?
How are all you AUE people doing - I haven't been here in awhile....
Bruce Tober
<shu...@tromso.online.no> writes
>I would like to take this opportunity to get back to the subject
>line.
>
>The first twat on TV was Jonathan Ross.
And on radio.
>
>Thank you for listening.
I try not to.
Peter Moylan
>When I was about 11 I borrowed the soundtrack to "Hair" and played one
>of the songs to my mother and her friend, who sat horrified as the
>first line sang out:
>
>"Sodomy, fellatio, cunnilingus, pederasty"
>
>Needless to say, when I found out what they meant I was mortified. I
>just like the tune.
Then you'd probably like one of the Monty Python songs, the one
that starts with "Inflammation of the foreskin reminds me of your
smile". The chorus has some people with low-status accents (as
I hear it, anyway) reciting some rather long words:
Gonoco'al euryfri'is
Streptoco'al balini'is
and so on, complete with the glo'al stops. A beautiful contrast.
> And there was the time when I recited the
>following limerick to the babysitter:
>
>There was a young man from Belgrave
>Who kept a dead whore in a cave
>He said "I admit
>I'm a bit of a shit
>But think of the money I save"
>
>I knew that "shit" was risqué, but had no idea what "whore" meant and
>naturally pronounced it "wore". She wasn't very impressed, either. I
>think I wasn't a very nice teenager.
A friend of mine, when he was a boy, was with a group of boys
swapping jokes, and one of them recited the limerick:
There once was a boy from Horsham
Who took out his balls to wash 'em
His mother said "Jack
If you don't put them back
I'll step on the buggers and squash 'em"
The young sister of one of the boys was present, and nobody
noticed that she was listening. Later she recited the whole
thing to her parents, but replaced the naughty word "buggers"
by "things".
--
Peter Moylan Peter....@newcastle.edu.au
http://eepjm.newcastle.edu.au (OS/2 and eCS information and software)