Been awhile since I was young!
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Story behind your username?
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Me neither.
Agreed.
When I was teaching, my students, bless them, kept me up to date on current argot, patois, or slang, and were happy to do so, and took a perverse pride in doing so.
But, I haven't darkened the door of a classroom for over a decade, and my work environment has taken me far from young people and from native speakers of English fluent in current slang.
Thus, these days, I consult urban dictionaries whenever I trip over strange new words, and wish to learn the meaning of something that I suspect is slang, much as @Clix Pix does.
Likewise.
Hahaha, my 12 year old said, "This is a total banger ...", I asked if it came with mash.
Much confusion ensued ...
Much confusion ensued ...
Even funnier, we used to go to a local pub all the time, used to be terrific, the [former] owner, Ann move here from England, such a fun lady, we closed the place down a few times with her
Anyway, I used to get the bangers and mash, well, because sausage, mashed potatoes and EXTRA gravy, and OMG, I'd hand her a WHOLE sausage (she was like 2 years old) and she'd barehand it, and just straight up devastate it, regardless of the color of her outfit, when we left it was "gravy brown"
As someone who is American by birth, I haven't had bangers and mash all that often. I have had it once or twice and I remember it being really good. That's an awesome story. I love gravy, mashed potatoes, and sausage. Sadly I can't have the former two all that much due to some dietary restrictions. I do enjoy sausage quite a bit though.Even funnier, we used to go to a local pub all the time, used to be terrific, the [former] owner, Ann move here from England, such a fun lady, we closed the place down a few times with her
Anyway, I used to get the bangers and mash, well, because sausage, mashed potatoes and EXTRA gravy, and OMG, I'd hand her a WHOLE sausage (she was like 2 years old) and she'd barehand it, and just straight up devastate it, regardless of the color of her outfit, when we left it was "gravy brown"
Oh - I know. I named my son after him.
To expand - my wife wanted the name as she "liked it", and I eventually conceded - provided that I was allowed to declare that he was named after Troughton. She accepted those terms, although spent a few years trying to deny this fact.
Long long ago I had a bird and took him to the vet. I filled in the paperwork and returned it to the person at the counter. She looked it over and asked what the bird's name was to which I responded "Fred." She took the pen and as she was about to write it she looked up and asked "how do you spell it?" After a split moment of disbelief, I gave her a reason after the fact for asking that question by responding with "Phrehdd."
The story behind my username... Well one night my parents decided to have unprotected sex. I being the competitive and stubborn human being (sperm at the time) rushed to the egg before any other could get there. Well 9 months later i was born and this name was given to me.
I tried to make it sound interesting...
Ugh one of my students loved to use that phrase.
Did naming your bird have anything to do with the bird named Fred on the 70s show Baretta?
That phrase (as well as "banger" and "bop") was my every day for three years. Luckily I'm going into college where such slang is hopefully used less frequently...
The thing about slang is that it either becomes a permanent part of the language - and loses its 'insider appeal' or 'shock value', or, it dies out naturally.
These days, who among us any more uses the word (noun) "yuppie" which was on everyone's lips for a frenzied period of time in the late 80s?
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All the time. As I’m talking on my Motorola flip phone about the latest Madonna single to be released. Or as we used to call them 45’s!
The way language evolves is fascinating. The word of last year was Brexit. Now you never hear it! But only because some other news article is trending!
Language seems to evolve just like popular culture. I'm not sure if it was as big a thing over on your side of the pond, but over here a few years back the song "Gucci Gang" was insanely popular. I personally never cared for it, but a lot of people apparently really enjoyed it.All the time. As I’m talking on my Motorola flip phone about the latest Madonna single to be released. Or as we used to call them 45’s!
The way language evolves is fascinating. The word of last year was Brexit. Now you never hear it! But only because some other news article is trending!
All the time. As I’m talking on my Motorola flip phone about the latest Madonna single to be released. Or as we used to call them 45’s!
The way language evolves is fascinating. The word of last year was Brexit. Now you never hear it! But only because some other news article is trending!
Agreed, that the way language evolves and changes over time is absolutely fascinating.
Reading children's books (and not just Enid Blyton) from the early to mid twentieth century with their enthusiastic cries of "Smashing" (smashing?), "Ripping" (again, ripping, really?) and "Topping" seem to summon forth faint echoes of another - and increasingly distant - time.
Nevertheless, "Brexit" still exists, and will return, as the talks are bubbling away beneath the surface, masked - for now - by the more immediate concerns and challenges of dealing with Covid-19.
However, for an expression once found frequently in political vocabulary, that is no longer - at all - heard, but was once not just used, but actually used to define - with an exquisitely precisely refined calibration - factions, groups and sections within the Conservative Party, I'll refer you to Mrs Thatcher's preferred adjective (intended as an insult, meaning something insipid, something weak and feeble, and was a word which she used to scrawl on margins in the files and notes she received in her 'red boxes' when disapproving of, disagreeing with, or dismissing something) "wet".
As a woman, and as the daughter of a Methodist minister, more robust expressions of disdain would not have been permitted to her, growing up; so, she didn't use them. Yet, nevertheless, when she needed a term to crisply express extreme disagreement - "wet" was what she used, and because of her position - the term gained currency and became a part of the very vocabulary of politics in the years she held office.
Thus, a whole vast and very sophisticated political vocabulary grew out of that one term, one which described her opponents within the party as "wets", perhaps someone who was "dripping wet", "sopping wet", "slightly damp", or, - on the other hand, her supporters, were referred to as not just "dry", but, sometimes, expressions such as "bone dry", or, "absolutely arid", were used to describe those who supported her most enthusiastically, passionately and fervently.
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It maybe a lil bit childish to say but Patrick is my spirit animal. Just look how cute he is on my profile picture.
Back in 1995 there was a fledgling TV network called UPN. In its short life it gave us a show called Star Trek: Voyager. You may have heard of it.
But right before Star Trek was a show I liked better, a Prisoner-esque drama called Nowhere Man. It had a sci-fi-tinged plot about a photographer who took the wrong picture and ended up trapped in a political conspiracy.
The baddies totally erased his identity. His wife didn't recognize him anymore. Nor his friends. His ATM and credit cards stopped working overnight. There was barely a trace of his existence left.
He spent the series' single season trying to investigate who did this to him, why and most bizarrely how.
The ending of the series was one of the finest, wildest, most Twilight Zone-like twists I've ever seen on TV.
Anyway, the main character's name was Thomas Veil, and since he pretty much had no identity left, I figured what could be a better username to provide anonymity on the internet?
Edited to reflect the fact that I misremembered which Star Trek show was on UPN; it was Voyager, not Star Trek: The Next Generation.
But right before Star Trek was a show I liked better, a Prisoner-esque drama called Nowhere Man. It had a sci-fi-tinged plot about a photographer who took the wrong picture and ended up trapped in a political conspiracy.
The baddies totally erased his identity. His wife didn't recognize him anymore. Nor his friends. His ATM and credit cards stopped working overnight. There was barely a trace of his existence left.
He spent the series' single season trying to investigate who did this to him, why and most bizarrely how.
The ending of the series was one of the finest, wildest, most Twilight Zone-like twists I've ever seen on TV.
Anyway, the main character's name was Thomas Veil, and since he pretty much had no identity left, I figured what could be a better username to provide anonymity on the internet?
Edited to reflect the fact that I misremembered which Star Trek show was on UPN; it was Voyager, not Star Trek: The Next Generation.
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From this album, which came out in 1986. I'm a huge fan.
The timing wouldn' t have been that far off but no, not at all named after the cockatoo in the show. I do give props to you remembering that show and the bird's name.
