A few days ago I pulled the following citation out of the OED; can someone from the British contingent explain who or what "Scared Hair" refers to in this context?
"Many times in history we get this type of phonus bolonus from Scared Hair, so we give him the razz and go back to minding our own business." - Sunday Telegraph, 18 Feb. 1990
It doesn't mean anything to me. As it is a report that goes back 17 years it is probably a reference to someone who was important back then and who is now forgotten.
More context might help - if it's political it might refer to Michael Heseltine.
Richard English
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK
While this is most likely not related because the phrase wasn't capitalized, I did find this definition of "sacred hair" in a blog discussion of Allusion in Neoclassical Poetry: "'Sacred hair' recalls the forbidden fruit which causes the fall of humanity 'forever, and forever!'"
It sounds to me like an allusion to the old Our Gang comedies which occasionaly would depict one of the kids with hair standing straight up while being frightened - especially Buckwheat or Stymie, the two black kids. (They never tossed any dwarfs, though)
The Telegraph's on-line archives don't go that far back. (But knowing you, you'd already checked there!) My thought was that since Scared Hair is capitalized, it might be a name, as of a rock group. But any well-known name would certainly appear in the news, and there was nothing of the sort in Google's News-archives. Nor in an Amazon search, for that matter
Scared Hair looks like a nickname for someone, possibly the writer's own. The reference to phonus bolonus might indicate a politician, since that is what they tend to produce. The hair reference could well be to Michael Heseltine.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Richard and arnie seem to have come up with the most likely suggestion in the politico with the unruly coif; but it does seem odd that there is no confirmation to be had online.
does the Telegraph have an ombudsman, or the like, to whom I could email an inquiry?
