Oddie erith, Packham morpeth As all regular readers know, or should I say, frequent readers ..they're an entirely different lot, them, anyway, I've invented lots of birding slang/expressions which I have generously told you all about so you can use them free of charge. Far Rockaway is one of my favourites ... a lot of them are based on place-names. Shitterton also comes to mind. BUT ..I have a rival ..... In the front of that Jenguin Pennings book (go back to post 591) I noticed something I hadn't noticed before ... a list of "place-name-meanings" that he's invented for himself. That dates from 1963 or even earlier ... the book is a compilation from some of his earlier collections. And quite a few of them are relevant to us lot .... as you will see ..... and I've added an example of how each one could be used in a birding context. Babbacombe n. An idle or nonsensical rumour ... as in " that Thrush Nightingale was just a load of babbacombe. Bawtry adj. Used for windy and rainy cold weather ...as in " 'tis far too bawtry for any vis mig.! Bovey Tracey adj. Headstrong, wilful. As in " take no notice of any of his sightings, he's far too bovey tracey." Brasted (adj) Term of ( humorous) abuse ... as in "the brasted tripod's seized up !" Cromer n. A mistake, a blunder . ...as in " you made a right cromer with that Citrine Wagtail." Dunstable, adj. ( archaic) = possible. Possible...as in ... " I s'pose 'tis dunstable 'tis a Yellerthroat " Dungeness, n. = Uninterestingness .. as in " the view from that so-called Raptor Watch-point was the epitome of dungeness." Erith, v. (obsolete) Only used in the third person, in the proverb " Oddie erith, Packham morpeth." Glossop, n. a dolt, a clot. as in ... "Take no notice of any of his sightings, he's a total glossop !" Ilkley , adj . Having large elbows. ..as in .. " Don't sit next to him in the hide, he's ilkley " Kenilworth , n. A trifling or beggarly amount. "When it comes to sharing out the petrol cost, she'll only put in a kenilworth." Kettering, adj, from the verb " ketter" (obsolete) Like the flight of a butterfly, as in " The red-rumped were kettering really close up." Leek, adj. Very cold. As in .. "It were far too leek for seawatching, so I went home." Lydd , adj. Useless, defunct, inactive. As in .... " Me satnav's bloody lydd again, we'll have to get the brasted maps out." Morpeth. See Erith. Pershore, adv. ( archaic) .Certainly, for sure. "Pershore it had white outer tail feathers mate." Priddy , adj, Neat. He can't be a proper birder, his car's far too priddy pershore. Uttoxeter, n. A charlatan. As in ... " That uttoxeter makes out he knows all about feather tracts but I know , pershore, that he's lydd and glossop. Wembley, adj. Suffering from a vague malaise. As in "I can't do any ringing this morning, I'm a bit wembley ." Woking, present participle of v. to woke ( obsolete). Day-dreaming. " He didn't see owt of the sort, he was bloody woking as per usual. (Little was the author,Paul Jennings, to know that "woke" would re-emerge as a new word with a completely different meaning in 2018 or thereabouts.) These "Cranberry" lot are dunstably bovey tracey, and do far too much woking as well .... or was all that up there just my imagination ?
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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