"sea marks"

[Harrison Hill]

Tony Hancock (aka Galton & Simpson): "Let the shipwrecks of others be
your sea marks".

[Guy Barry]

"Harrison Hill" wrote in message
news:6e2b6893-3b6c-4154...@x3g2000yqo.googlegroups.com...

> Tony Hancock (aka Galton & Simpson): "Let the shipwrecks of others be
> your sea marks".

On a point of pedantry, I don't think Tony Hancock was ever known as Galton
and Simpson. (Both still going strong by the way.)

--
Guy Barry

[Ian Jackson]

In message
<6e2b6893-3b6c-4154...@x3g2000yqo.googlegroups.com>,
Harrison Hill <harrison...@gmail.com> writes

>Tony Hancock (aka Galton & Simpson): "Let the shipwrecks of others be
>your sea marks".

Where from?
--
Ian

[Harrison Hill]

On Dec 8, 8:41 am, Ian Jackson
<ianREMOVETHISjack...@g3ohx.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> In message
> <6e2b6893-3b6c-4154-8460-60867ac8e...@x3g2000yqo.googlegroups.com>,
> Harrison Hill <harrisonhill2...@gmail.com> writes

>
> >Tony Hancock (aka Galton & Simpson): "Let the shipwrecks of others be
> >your sea marks".

The whole episode is here, for a very short while only (one might
assume):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktm05NVQQFo

...at 21.02. Hancock is quoting well known proverbs. What a rich
source of humour and dialects these comedies were, and how wonderful
that we can drift in and out of them, in this "brave new world".

[David Dyer-Bennet]

Harrison Hill <harrison...@gmail.com> writes:

> Tony Hancock (aka Galton & Simpson): "Let the shipwrecks of others be
> your sea marks".

I guess by analogy to "landmarks"?
--
Googleproofaddress(account:dd-b provider:dd-b domain:net)
Snapshots: http://dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/data/
Photos: http://dd-b.net/photography/gallery/
Dragaera: http://dragaera.info

[fabzorba]

Well I suppose part of the irony is that it is precisely the
technology of this "brave new world" that allows us to "drift in and
out of them". When I was a kid, if you missed something on the (black
and white) tv, that was it. No videos, no DVDs, no Pay TV. Pretty
soon, the final nirvana will be attained. You will find that ANYTHING
and EVERYTHING that has ever been on tv or the movies will be on
somewhere that night.

I am impressed that an old bumbler like Hancock could come up with
proverbs like that. It would never do on Aussie TV. Reminds me of a
British football commentator calling a big soccer match years ago, in
loud and excited voice after a big goal: "Arsenal have risen like a
phoenix from the ashes".

Have to pay the Poms for this, and even more so the Irish. Even their
beggars have got some Latin. Not so here. Any Aussie of working class
origins who quoted proverbs or made classical allusions like the
foregoing would be told "Ya think your shit doesn't stink", and "Pull
your head in, ya dickhead", and "Ya think ya got tickets on
yourself".

[Ian Jackson]

In message
<63dbb4c6-c770-48ab...@f17g2000vbz.googlegroups.com>,
Harrison Hill <harrison...@gmail.com> writes

'The Blood Donor' is one of the Hancock super-classics (the other being
'The Radio Ham'). However, I had never noticed that proverb, and I'm not
familiar with it. It doesn't seem to be in regular use these days -
which is a pity, since many might benefit from taking note of it!
--
Ian

[Guy Barry]

"fabzorba" wrote in message
news:8f680d8b-38ba-4746...@jj5g2000pbc.googlegroups.com...

> I am impressed that an old bumbler like Hancock could come up with
> proverbs like that.

Hancock was scripted (by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, as noted in the
original post).

> It would never do on Aussie TV.

Tony Hancock made a series for Australian television, but only three
episodes were completed, as Hancock killed himself halfway through filming.
There's a clip here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WNe8s9dIB4

Never seen it but I gather it's not very highly regarded.

--
Guy Barry

[Mike L]

On Sat, 08 Dec 2012 16:47:40 -0600, David Dyer-Bennet <dd...@dd-b.net>
wrote:

>Harrison Hill <harrison...@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> Tony Hancock (aka Galton & Simpson): "Let the shipwrecks of others be
>> your sea marks".
>
>I guess by analogy to "landmarks"?

In maritime contexts, the words are synonyms. Though "landmark" is
older in its "boundary-stone" sense, it seems from OED that "seamark"
is rather older in nautical use. (Though I'm still left wondering if
buoys are seamarks - they certainly aren't landmarks.)

--
Mike.

[Whiskers]

Wikipedia thinks that buoys are "sea marks", but as a landlubber I'm only
familiar with the nautical navigation aids placed on land.

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~

[Mike L]

Thanks. That must mean that lightships are seamarks, too. The
ambiguity comes in handy with lighthouses, some of which are on what
I'd hesitate to call "land".

--
Mike.

[Lanarcam]

Like these ones?

https://www.google.fr/search?q=phare+de+la+pointe+du+raz&hl=fr&tbo=u&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=dVDGUI75DcWwhAe984HoDQ&ved=0CEcQsAQ&biw=1920&bih=985

[Mike L]

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 22:14:03 +0100, Lanarcam <lana...@yahoo.fr>
wrote:

Yes. Not to mention these:
http://www.england.pharology.eu/Eddystone.html

--
Mike.

[Whiskers]

Bishop's Rock makes an interesting boat trip from St Mary's, even though
the light is now automatic and usually accessed by helicopter (there's a
helipad on top now).

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 22:14:03 +0100, Lanarcam <lana...@yahoo.fr> wrote:

I see that has a seasonal example: The baby Jesus, his parents, some
sheep with their shepherds, and a lighthouse.
http://www.ladepeche.fr/content/photo/biz/2008/12/29/200812290747_zoom.jpg

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

[Ian Jackson]

In message <8cscc8t72u8rrkp8b...@4ax.com>, "Peter
Duncanson [BrE]" <ma...@peterduncanson.net> writes

>On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 22:14:03 +0100, Lanarcam <lana...@yahoo.fr> wrote:
>

>>Le 10/12/2012 22:09, Mike L a �crit :

No doubt inspired by "I Saw Three Ships". I bet the inhabitants of
Bethlehem got a bit of a surprise when they got to Verse 5!
http://www.carols.org.uk/i_saw_three_ships.htm
--
Ian

[Peter Brooks]

On Dec 11, 1:36 am, "Peter Duncanson [BrE]" <m...@peterduncanson.net>
wrote:
> On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 22:14:03 +0100, Lanarcam <lanarc...@yahoo.fr> wrote:
> >Le 10/12/2012 22:09, Mike L a crit :

> >> On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 14:00:39 +0000, Whiskers
> >> <catwhee...@operamail.com> wrote:
>
> >>> On 2012-12-09, Mike L <n...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> >>>> On Sat, 08 Dec 2012 16:47:40 -0600, David Dyer-Bennet <d...@dd-b.net>
> >>>> wrote:

>
> >>>>> Harrison Hill <harrisonhill2...@gmail.com> writes:
>
> >>>>>> Tony Hancock (aka Galton & Simpson): "Let the shipwrecks of others be
> >>>>>> your sea marks".
>
> >>>>> I guess by analogy to "landmarks"?
>
> >>>> In maritime contexts, the words are synonyms. Though "landmark" is
> >>>> older in its "boundary-stone" sense, it seems from OED that "seamark"
> >>>> is rather older in nautical use. (Though I'm still left wondering if
> >>>> buoys are seamarks - they certainly aren't landmarks.)
>
> >>> Wikipedia thinks that buoys are "sea marks", but as a landlubber I'm only
> >>> familiar with the nautical navigation aids placed on land.
>
> >> Thanks. That must mean that lightships are seamarks, too. The
> >> ambiguity comes in handy with lighthouses, some of which are on what
> >> I'd hesitate to call "land".
>
> >Like these ones?
>

> >https://www.google.fr/search?q=phare+de+la+pointe+du+raz&hl=fr&tbo=u&...

>
> I see that has a seasonal example: The baby Jesus, his parents, some

> sheep with their shepherds, and a lighthouse.http://www.ladepeche.fr/content/photo/biz/2008/12/29/200812290747_zoo...
>
Is the chap in the background with glasses supposed to be Herod?

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:23:51 +0000, Ian Jackson
<ianREMOVET...@g3ohx.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>In message <8cscc8t72u8rrkp8b...@4ax.com>, "Peter
>Duncanson [BrE]" <ma...@peterduncanson.net> writes
>>On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 22:14:03 +0100, Lanarcam <lana...@yahoo.fr> wrote:
>>

Ships of the Desert.

The three ships that sailed into Bethlehem were camels carrying the
Three Wise Men.

Maybe. Perhaps.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_the_camel_become_known_as_the_ship_of_the_desert

[Ian Jackson]

In message <t10ec85trvccme78d...@4ax.com>, "Peter

I had thought of camels, but decided that you couldn't really describe
camels as "sailing". OK, you can use "sailing" metaphorically to
describe movement (such as "One morning, he came sailing into the
office" or "The favourite horse sailed in at 20-to-1"), but "sailing
implies something fairly brisk, and not the usual plodding gait of a
fully-laden camel. As there are several Bethlehems in the world, I guess
the song refers to the little-known hamlet of Bethlehem-on-Sea.
--
Ian

[Mike L]

On Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:31:47 +0000, Ian Jackson

<ianREMOVET...@g3ohx.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>In message <t10ec85trvccme78d...@4ax.com>, "Peter
>Duncanson [BrE]" <ma...@peterduncanson.net> writes
>>On Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:23:51 +0000, Ian Jackson
>><ianREMOVET...@g3ohx.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>>In message <8cscc8t72u8rrkp8b...@4ax.com>, "Peter
>>>Duncanson [BrE]" <ma...@peterduncanson.net> writes

[...]

>>>>
>>>>I see that has a seasonal example: The baby Jesus, his parents, some
>>>>sheep with their shepherds, and a lighthouse.
>>>>http://www.ladepeche.fr/content/photo/biz/2008/12/29/200812290747_zoom.jpg
>>>>
>>>No doubt inspired by "I Saw Three Ships". I bet the inhabitants of
>>>Bethlehem got a bit of a surprise when they got to Verse 5!
>>>http://www.carols.org.uk/i_saw_three_ships.htm
>>
>>Ships of the Desert.
>>
>>The three ships that sailed into Bethlehem were camels carrying the
>>Three Wise Men.
>>
>>Maybe. Perhaps.
>>
>>http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_the_camel_become_known_as_the_ship_of_
>>the_desert
>>
>I had thought of camels, but decided that you couldn't really describe
>camels as "sailing". OK, you can use "sailing" metaphorically to
>describe movement (such as "One morning, he came sailing into the
>office" or "The favourite horse sailed in at 20-to-1"), but "sailing
>implies something fairly brisk, and not the usual plodding gait of a
>fully-laden camel. As there are several Bethlehems in the world, I guess
>the song refers to the little-known hamlet of Bethlehem-on-Sea.

Well, if Enya could sail, among other routes, from New Delhi to
Khartoum..

--
Mike.

[Ian Jackson]

In message <ra6fc8lqckgah60bg...@4ax.com>, Mike L
<n...@yahoo.co.uk> writes

Both are on large rivers, so it would be perfectly feasible - provided
she was not overcome with methane.
<http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/lifeandtimes/delhis-river-of-death-is-one
-of-the-worlds-dirtiest/364957>

--
Ian

[Mike L]

On Tue, 11 Dec 2012 21:38:27 +0000, Ian Jackson

Well, OK. But I can't see her portaging her boat past the cataracts in
that dress.

--
Mike.