Archive for the ‘Phrases and Sayings’ Category

‘Blighty’ is a common term for ‘Old England’, indeed there’s a new satellite TV Channel over here playing ‘Brit’ TV… although since I’m not blessed with a wok on the side of my house I’m not privy to their output.

The term ‘Blighty’ can be traced back to the Hindu word ‘Bilyati’ – meaning ‘far away’ – it’s actually derived from the Arabic ‘wilyati’ meanining a ‘foreign country’.

For example ‘bilyati panee’ – meaning ‘foreign water’ was served with Gin in the Gin and Tonics that served to prevent Malaria - and so for the British soldiers serving in India in Victorian times ’Blighty’ was associated with home, and the name stuck.

The phrase ‘bless their cotton socks’ is quite common, often said as a ‘thank you’ and often ironically or patronisingly, but it appears to have an interesting historical origin.

George Edward Lynch Cotton who lived between 1813 and 1866 was a clergyman and educator. He spent a number of years at Rugby School and Marlborough College before becoming Bishop of Calcutta in 1858, performing missionary work and founding the famous ‘Cotton’s Schools’.

Cotton, as a religious man, was known to bless all the equipment used in his schools.

Seeing the abject poverty in Calcutta he regularly requested donations of warm socks for the children of the slums; and socks by the thousand were dutifully knitted and sent to Calcutta labelled  “Cotton’s socks for blessing”.

This soon became abbreviated to ‘cotton socks’ and the phrase ‘bless their little cotton socks’ entered into the language.

Cotton died in October 1866, when he slipped into the river Ganges at Kushtea after consecrating a cemetery. His body was never found, but the schools he founded in Bangalore, Bombay, Calcutta and Shimla continue to this day.

London,  is one of twenty three cities in England to have a Lord Mayor but, to my knowledge is the only city to be ‘blessed’ with two mayors; the City of London has a Lord Mayor – a role created in 1189 and elected each year by the Aldermen of the City, while the role of Mayor of London was introduced in the year 2000.

Lord Mayor

By far the most famous of the Lord Mayors of London is Dick Whittington who was Lord Mayor on four separate occasions between 1398 and 1420, hence the rhyme in the famous pantomime of Dick Whittington and his Cat:

Turn again, Whittington,
Once Mayor of London!
Turn again, Whittington,
Twice Mayor of London!
Turn again, Whittington,
Thrice Mayor of London!

The cat, incidentally was not of the feline variety, but rather a small sailing vessel, as Whittington was a prosperous trader before entering politics. But we Brits never let the facts interfere with a good pantomime.

The Lord Mayor is elected each November, and his (or her – there have been over seven hundred Lord Mayors, and thus far only one woman has served – Dame Mary Donaldson, elected in 1983) election is followed by the ‘Lord Mayor’s Show’ which is a ceremonial parade through the City of London. The great Livery Companies are represented along with various privileged military regiments. On occasions in 18th and 19th centuries the parade took place on barges on the River Thames, giving rise to the term ‘float’ beaing used for canival vehicles.

Mayor of London

In contrast the Mayor of London is head of the London Assembly and is elected by the population of Greater London.

The first Mayor of London was Ken Livingstone (Socialist) a former leader of the Greater London Council and long time thorn in the side of both Labour and Conservative governments.

 Ken Livingstone was elected in both 2000 and 2004, but unexpectedly beaten in 2008 by the eccentric Conservative Boris Johnson.

This topic was suggested by a friend as there are some significant differences between ‘American English’ and ‘English English’:

Fanny
In America, a women’s fanny is her backside. In Britain it’s (ahem) a more intimate part of the female body. I recall that I once performed in an amateur production of ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ which featured the instruction “Mortimer pats Elaine on the fanny.” – you can see the potential confusion.

Fanny is also military slang for a mess tin, after the tragic story of Fanny Adams who was brutally murdered and butchered in the village of Alton in Hampshire in 1867. Her body was so badly butchered that the term ’sweet Fanny Adams’ or ’sweet FA’ became synonymous with poor quality canned meat and later with something of negligible worth.

Bum

To Brits ‘bum’ refers to what Americans would call a ‘fanny’. The polite casual term is ‘bottom’ and a less polite version is ‘arse’ – note the difference in spelling.

What Americans call ‘fanny packs’ we Brits call ‘bum bags’.

We Brits don’t use the term ‘bum’ (or hobo) to refer to vagrants, we normally call them ‘tramps’ – and that’s all we tend to call tramps.  

Collective wisdom would have it that sailors in the Royal Navy were served their meals on square plates (or trenchers – hence trenchermen) that would be more stable in rough seas, particularly between meals when they might be in racks.

This, it is said, is the origin of “three square meals a day” and indeed this might well be the case, but there is no written evidence of this origin despite extensive naval records.

Incidentally, the ridge around the outside of the plate or trencher was known as the ‘fiddle’ so someone who was getting more than a fair share was said to be ‘on the fiddle’.

A more likely explanation for a square meal is that, in Masonic terms, if something is fair and honest it is said to be ’square’ – hence ‘fair and square’.

Freemasons are well known for dining well after their meetings, and so the connotation of a ’square meal’ could well have come from this.