Dedicated to the Restoration of Progressive Democracy
Monday, August 03, 2020
James Lovelock - The Old Git Greets His Second Century
James Lovelock has now logged a full century on this Earth. He just turned 101. And, while his opinions of Gaia, Earth, can ebb and flow, even the pandemic doesn't get him down.
I stand corrected, BM. A weak grasp of British slang is a common problem to those of us from this side of the pond.
When I first moved to London I took a job to cover my expenses over the winter. The Inner London Education Authority had an assistant-schoolkeeper's position in Bermondsey that fit the bill. My job was tending the boilers, etc. We had char women who came in before class and after to do the cleaning.
One morning there was a skiff of snow on the streets. I was riding a BSA in those days. I made it to school but only just. When I walked in there was the head schoolkeeper, Charlie, and the char ladies and I got the predictable jibes about what kind of idiot rides a motorcycle in the snow. I said there were a couple of close calls where I almost wound up on my "fanny." They broke out in unrestrained laughter.
Eventually they explained that "fanny" had a considerably different connotation in Britain than as we used it in Canada. Lesson learned.
One reason I was never keen on exploring SE or South Asia, the ME or Africa was discovering, through my travels, the depth of cultural differences from region to region, especially the innocuous postures, gestures and such that can prove highly offensive, sometimes unforgivably so, in unfamiliar cultures. It's one thing if you're on a tour or going to a resort but something else if you're riding alone on a motorbike.
Git is a pejorative term in England. Lovelock is hardly a git, old or otherwise.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_(slang)
I think you mean old geezer. The Americans ruin that meaning by assuming a geezer is old, but in Blighty a geezer is just a bloke.
BM
We do have 'elders' around.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame that so few listen.
I stand corrected, BM. A weak grasp of British slang is a common problem to those of us from this side of the pond.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first moved to London I took a job to cover my expenses over the winter. The Inner London Education Authority had an assistant-schoolkeeper's position in Bermondsey that fit the bill. My job was tending the boilers, etc. We had char women who came in before class and after to do the cleaning.
One morning there was a skiff of snow on the streets. I was riding a BSA in those days. I made it to school but only just. When I walked in there was the head schoolkeeper, Charlie, and the char ladies and I got the predictable jibes about what kind of idiot rides a motorcycle in the snow. I said there were a couple of close calls where I almost wound up on my "fanny." They broke out in unrestrained laughter.
Eventually they explained that "fanny" had a considerably different connotation in Britain than as we used it in Canada. Lesson learned.
One reason I was never keen on exploring SE or South Asia, the ME or Africa was discovering, through my travels, the depth of cultural differences from region to region, especially the innocuous postures, gestures and such that can prove highly offensive, sometimes unforgivably so, in unfamiliar cultures. It's one thing if you're on a tour or going to a resort but something else if you're riding alone on a motorbike.