England Word Association
Write down the alaphabet on a piece of paper and then do an England word association for each letter of the alphabet. Pick the first thing that comes into your head.
This is what I came up with.
A. Agincourt
B. Brunanburgh
C. Cricket
D. Double decker
E. Elephant and Castle
F. Football
G. Ginger biscuits
H. Hob nob
I. Innit
J. Jerusalem
K. King Alfred the Great
L. Luddites
M. Mother of Parliaments
N. Nobby Stiles
O. Ozzy Osbourne
P. Post Office
Q. Queensbury Rules
R. Rhubarb Crumble
S. Stonehenge
T. Tower of London
U. Umpire with jerseys around his shoulders
V. Victoria
W. Whittle
X. oXo
Y. York Minster
Z. Zebra Crossing (Abbey Road)
Those were the first things that came into my head. As a point of interest 'hob nob' refers not to the biscuit but to the Old English words 'habban' and 'nabban' (habban meaning 'to have', and nabban meaning 'to have not') which, in the realm of drinking and taking turns buying, meant having to buy a round. Which is why we hob nob over a pint, or indeed drop a soggy and steaming Hob Nob into our rosie lee.
As another point of interest it turns out that OXO is German in origin rather than English. Who knew? Bisto is better anyway.....Aah!
I don't know why I put Whittle (Sir Frank, inventor of the jet engine) for W. As I said, it's just the first one that came into my head - much as Mandy Smith said when she repled 'Bill Wyman' when asked to 'name a Rolling Stone'.
In a feeble attempt to establish this as an irritating blog 'meme' I will ask a few people to do the same for their country. But who to annoy with this irritation? Let's try:
Birdman at Raised by Chaffinches
Wonko at Wonko's World
John at the England Project
Tom at The Green Ribbon
Timothy Worstall at Tim Worstall
Alfie at Waking Hereward
Stuart at Independence
Gavin at GavPolitics, and;
Simon at Simian Farmer
If just one of them indulges me I'll be shocked.
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Canada Word Association
from Toque on Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:14Sitting here supping a Sleemans and waiting for Mrs Toque to get back from IKEA, on a Friday night no less, I decided to try word association for Canada.
A. Alberta
B. Bare Naked Ladies
C. Cowboys
D. Donut (yes, that's how they spell it)
E. Eh?
F.
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Like, stick your tongue on a
Like, stick your tongue on a 9-volt battery shocked, or peeing on an electric fence shocked?
Whittle? Nothing wrong with
Whittle? Nothing wrong with Sir Frank. In one of those minor examples of how small the world is my grandfather, Bill Worstall, was a engineering apprentice then cadet at the RAF Officer’s College with him. They were going to let 8 such apprentices become oficers (we are talking a long time ago and a very much more class based society) and Whittle was number 9 on the list and wasn’t going to go. Then one of the eight broke his leg and he was in.
I said that I'd be shocked if
I said that I'd be shocked if just one did it. As it turns out a few did.
That's one claim to fame Tim. If he left you his memoires you should publish them, it'd be a fascinating read I'm sure.
Hey there Gareth, sorry I
Hey there Gareth, sorry I didn't respond to this but I've been rushed off my feet of late.
Ditto to what JohnJo said -
Ditto to what JohnJo said - I've only just found out it, sorry about that, coz I'd have liked to have done it. Interesting that you should put 'Brunanburgh' for 'B' though. A battle against the Vikings - reckoned to have been fought at modern day Bromborough on the Wirral, not far from where I live.
(Although there are other sites suggested, including Axminster)..
But, the largest hoard of silver ever found in England - a Viking treasure hoard found at Curdale (in the mid 19th century) on the banks of the River Ribble just near Preston is reckoned to have been put there just before the battle for safe keeping by the very Vikings who took part in the fight - and probably died in the slaughter.
Some local historians reckon they have found the field near Bromborough where it happened.They also found some old lane names and field names that supported the battle site.....