English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
Brickbats.... Wherev on earth did that come from!?
Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
A brickbat is a broken brick with one good end. The term and bat more generally are used in the trade:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brickwork#Cut
That makes a convenient weapon. OED's first recorded use is from 1563/1570.
And that became a figurative weapon. Milton 1642.
Jonathan
PS: ... bouquets or brickbats 1878.
Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
Ah, that makes sense. What about Mollycoddle?
Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
Mollycoddle seems to be undergoing a slight revival after its 20th century decline, possible as its roots in molly (think gangster's moll) are forgotten.
Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
Edited: Crossed post.
Two old words recently stuck together.
Molly has many current meanings beyond the given name, and the most common are connected to soft. Mollify, emollient, mollusc (but not moule/ mussel).
Coddle might be derived from hot water, and remains in current use for soft-boiling (is this regional?) although it has several other culinary uses. Possibly related to scald.
So two words with connotations of softness put together give mollycoddle. First recorded in 1823, but as a noun describing a person. It's also been used as an adjective and an intransitive verb, but is now overwhelmingly used as a transitive verb.
But there's more to it than that. Both words have associations of effeminacy and molly has meant homosexual in several British eras. See, for example, molly house:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_house
I'd guess that whoever first-used mollycoddle was aware of this.
Jonathan
Two old words recently stuck together.
Molly has many current meanings beyond the given name, and the most common are connected to soft. Mollify, emollient, mollusc (but not moule/ mussel).
Coddle might be derived from hot water, and remains in current use for soft-boiling (is this regional?) although it has several other culinary uses. Possibly related to scald.
So two words with connotations of softness put together give mollycoddle. First recorded in 1823, but as a noun describing a person. It's also been used as an adjective and an intransitive verb, but is now overwhelmingly used as a transitive verb.
But there's more to it than that. Both words have associations of effeminacy and molly has meant homosexual in several British eras. See, for example, molly house:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_house
I'd guess that whoever first-used mollycoddle was aware of this.
Jonathan
Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
Yes, same roots, as above. Before gangster's moll it already had the meaning of *pprostitute.
Of course homosexual activity and prostitution are both underrepresented in nice literature so usage is harder to analyse. This also meant that words were used in error, and that they could be smuggled through as in-jokes.
Jonathan
* Spelt like that to defeat the autocensor. Ironic or what!
Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
Kingsley Amis is said to have been fond of using the word "queer" in contexts where most readers and publishers (were books also subject to censorship? If so, then censors too) would have taken it to mean "odd" but some would have been aware of a double meaning. Even the BBC was not immune to this, eg "Round the the Horn".Jdsk wrote: ↑21 Sep 2022, 8:57amYes, same roots, as above. Before gangster's moll it already had the meaning of *pprostitute.
Of course homosexual activity and prostitution are both underrepresented in nice literature so usage is harder to analyse. This also meant that words were used in error, and that they could be smuggled through as in-jokes.
Jonathan
* Spelt like that to defeat the autocensor. Ironic or what!
Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
Seen in Lidl's today.
"Automatic Welding Goggles"
What is automatic welding?
"Automatic Welding Goggles"
What is automatic welding?
Mick F. Cornwall
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
Not immune to double entendres? Round The Horne revelled risque jokes, especially Sandy and his friend Jules who enoyed speaking Polari.Bmblbzzz wrote: ↑21 Sep 2022, 10:16am Kingsley Amis is said to have been fond of using the word "queer" in contexts where most readers and publishers (were books also subject to censorship? If so, then censors too) would have taken it to mean "odd" but some would have been aware of a double meaning. Even the BBC was not immune to this, eg "Round the the Horn".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PolariPolari had begun to fall into disuse amongst the gay subculture by the late 1960s. The popularity of Julian and Sandy, played by Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams (introduced in the radio programme Round the Horne, in the 1960s) ensured that some of this secret language became public knowledge.[15] The need for a secret subculture code declined with the partial decriminalization of adult homosexual acts in England and Wales under the Sexual Offences Act 1967.
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
Yes, but how much of the management structure above the writers and actors knew what was going on? That's what I'm getting at.
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Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
You may be right, but I find it difficult to believe the most obtuse bureaucrat could miss the joke.
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
People saying "oh, that's regional" to excuse simple ignorance. OK, sometimes an aberration can be regional, but in the majority of cases the region was on the far side of the Atlantic and the deviant usage got here via the media.
Have we got time for another cuppa?