Oolite Bulletins

"He may be a world-class narcissist, but this doesn't make him mentally ill, because he does not suffer from the distress and impairment required to diagnose mental disorder." He added: "Mr Trump causes severe distress rather than experiencing it and has been richly rewarded, rather than punished, for his grandiosity, self-absorption and lack of empathy.

Thus spake Dr Allen Frances, a trick-cyclist.

A trick-cyclist? Surely not. Still: a magnificent quote for the week.

UK_Eliter wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2017 7:40 pm

A trick-cyclist? Surely not.

Military slang.

Ah. Thanks for the information. Sounds more like cockney rhyming slang to me, though.

From Brian Bilston, "the Poet Laureate of Twitter":

PRESS CONFERENCE

searching
inside his cranium

trying to find
a brain to rack,

he found the word
"uranium"

and launched
an unclear attack

https://twitter.com/brian_bilston/statu ... 5146260481

(relating to this recent alternative fact)

UK_Eliter wrote: ↑Fri Feb 17, 2017 8:40 am

Ah. Thanks for the information. Sounds more like cockney rhyming slang to me, though.

Possibly, but the only place I remember seeing it is in a war story ("Commando" Picture Library or some such).

The Oxford English Dictionary refers to her as "unintelligent, promiscuous, and materialistic", while Collins adds "devoid of taste" to the mix.

Essex Girl? How very dare they! Calls for a song, does that.

Cody wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2017 3:50 pm

Calls for a song, does that.

'Pranet?' Pomegranate? 'Alter Rag'? (Oh, hold on, I think I can work out the last one - and the general sense of 'pomegranate' is clear enough . .)

If everyone in Essex were like Dury, we'd be better off, it seems to me.

Malacandra wrote: ↑Fri Feb 17, 2017 3:39 pm

UK_Eliter wrote: ↑Fri Feb 17, 2017 8:40 am

Ah. Thanks for the information. Sounds more like cockney rhyming slang to me, though.

Possibly, but the only place I remember seeing it is in a war story ("Commando" Picture Library or some such).

Seen it again in Gunner's Moon, a RAF autobiography - the writer is not a Londoner.

Army slang has always been a huge melting-pot for various regional slangs, especially during periods with conscription/National Service. Hence "Ruby Murray = curry" is common to both Glaswegian and Cockney rhyming slangs - but, due to differences in pronunciation, "Joanna = piano" only works in London, and "corned beef = deaf" only works in Glasgow.

I've greatly enjoyed George Macdonald Fraser's army stories and they make regular use of Glasgow expressions. One phrase that's remained with me is "Darkie's got a rare hatchet on" meaning "Darkie is in a really bad mood today". It was some time before the narrator found out who "Darkie" actually was.

Yes, the McAuslan stories are very funny … if you've not read it yet, you might also like GMF's memoir of his wartime experiences as a private in Burma, called Quartered Safe Out Here. It's not funny (and for funny wartime memoir, you can't beat Spike Milligan's Hitler: My Part in His Downfall and others), but it's interesting to read as the real-life background of the narrator "Dand MacNeill" in the McAuslan books.

My uncle was stationed in Burma during WWII - from what little he'd talk about, it sounded nasty!

The first war memoir I read (as a kid) was One of Our Submarines - a very good read.

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