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Asa Lovejoy
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When Kalleh, Sunflower and I got together last Wednesday we naturally ended up discussing words. (Well, we discussed Shufitz a bit too, but enough of that... Razz) One term that came up was "to sue." It seems that in the USA when we hear it, we assume a form of adversarial litigation, not an entreaty or request. Is it the same everywhere, or just in the hyper-litigious USA?
 
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arnie
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I think so. Academically, I know that the folks in bygone ages used to sue the monarch to gain some favour or other, but the word isn't used that way anymore, only in the court-case meaning.


Come on you raver, you seer of visions,
Come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!
 
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Kalleh
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We also discussed other meanings of people's names, such as "ken" meaning "knowledge, understanding, or cognizance; mental perception."
 
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tinman
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quote:
Originally posted by Kalleh:
... "ken" meaning "knowledge, understanding, or cognizance; mental perception."

The first time I remember hearing ken used with that meaning was in the song A Wee Deoch-An-Doris by Sir Harry Lauder.
quote:
Chorus
Just a wee deoch an doris, just a wee drap, that's all.
Just a wee deoch an doris before we gang awa.
There's a wee wifie waitin' in a wee but an ben.
If you can say, "It's a braw bricht moonlicht nicht",
Well yer a'richt, ye ken.
Just a wee deoch an doris, just a wee drap, that's all.
Just a wee deoch an doris before we gang awa.
There's a wee wifie waitin' in a wee but an ben.
If you can say, "It's a braw bricht moonlicht nicht",
Well yer a'richt, ye ken.

Meaning of unusual words:
deoch an doris=Gaelic for a drink at the door, a last (?) farewell drink
aye=always
but and ben=a two-roomed cottage
ken=know

Loosely translated: Have another drink before you go home to the wife waiting in your small country cottage. And if you can still talk without slurring you're not too drunk.
 
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jerry thomas
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Me too (different song)

"John Peel"
D'ye ken John Peel with his coat so
gay,
D'ye ken John Peel at the break of
day,
D'ye ken John Peel when he's far away,
With his hounds and his horn in the
morning.
 
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arnie
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I well remember the radio show Beyond our Ken starring the comedian Kenneth Horne. He was also the star of another show with a title containing a pun on his name: Round the Horne. Both programmes were groundbreaking radio entertainment, and, for the BBC at the time, laden with filth and insinuendo (to cross-thread).


Come on you raver, you seer of visions,
Come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!
 
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