The other day a friend of mine said ‘he was footless’ – when referring to a drunk. It took me a few minutes to realise she meant ‘legless’ and I suppose it could be a new word which means much the same thing. Then I got to thinking of ‘footloose’ – now there’s an expressive word meaning exactly what it ‘says on the tin’. It’s rather a nice expression and describes a beautiful picture of freedom to my mind.
From there I am now thinking about our very interesting use of slang and idioms. I remember being out with a group of Korean visitors on one occasion. They all spoke very good English and understood most of what we said, but one of them asked what a ‘bit of a do’ meant – an expression I had used without thinking. I explained it meant a party and he was very puzzled that I hadn’t said that in the first place!
Then there's that wonderful phrase 'moveable feast' - as a child I thought it meant picnic and still think that could be one of its meanings, but referring to timing of meals it's brilliant
There are words that mean different things too – for instance oversight can mean being left our or forgotten/overlooked, but it can also mean ‘keeping an eye on’. The two meanings are opposite and yet the same word ecompasses both meanings.
Then there are words that just sound what they mean – what better word than ‘doleful’ it sounds so sad - I see a picture of a bell tolling dismal news. Dismal also sounds how it is pronounced, but the tone of ecstasy and euphoria sound wonderfully exciting and hyper.
Then I got to thinking about the weird things that I get wrong sometimes - the Oyster card for buses and tubes in London I have been know to call the Octopus card and have got some very strange look when I say it. I also enjoyed using acronyms from the 80s (when I was probably the only person in the UK who failed to make money) such as - WOOP - Well Off Older Person (or did I make that up?) I remember telling my parents (now deceased, sadly) that that was their status at the time.
Not sure I like the craze for certain words like 'wicked' 'cool' taken to mean much the same and I think eclectic is over- used. But then I like some of the American expressions which I find particularly funny such as 'putting your arse on the line' and 'awesome' said with an American accent always makes me laugh. I also like the the 'y'all' used mostly by Texans I believe and 'you guys' encompassing male and female is great; also 'sidewalk' is so much better than 'pavement'.
And now I really must sign off - my man says my stream of consciousness can be a bit much for him (but usually it is spoken to/at him and the so and so tunes out). I hope writing it instead might improve our relationship - well, I live in hope.
I used to look the 'jolly hockeysticks' expression to describe happy and well-spoken women, but there are less and less boarding schools where I think the words started from.
Then I got to thinking about the weird things that I get wrong sometimes - the Oyster card for buses and tubes in London I have been know to call the Octopus card and have got some very strange look when I say it. I also enjoyed using acronyms from the 80s (when I was probably the only person in the UK who failed to make money) such as - WOOP - Well Off Older Person (or did I make that up?) I remember telling my parents (now deceased, sadly) that that was their status at the time.
Not sure I like the craze for certain words like 'wicked' 'cool' taken to mean much the same and I think eclectic is over- used. But then I like some of the American expressions which I find particularly funny such as 'putting your arse on the line' and 'awesome' said with an American accent always makes me laugh. I also like the the 'y'all' used mostly by Texans I believe and 'you guys' encompassing male and female is great; also 'sidewalk' is so much better than 'pavement'.
And now I really must sign off - my man says my stream of consciousness can be a bit much for him (but usually it is spoken to/at him and the so and so tunes out). I hope writing it instead might improve our relationship - well, I live in hope.
I used to look the 'jolly hockeysticks' expression to describe happy and well-spoken women, but there are less and less boarding schools where I think the words started from.
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