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the Omrud
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 11:29 pm
Post subject: Re: "...they're having a row with the wankers" |
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Mike Lyle spake thusly:
| Quote: | Areff wrote:
Troy Steadman wrote:
In "300 reasons why we love The Simpsons" we have [...]
birds, they're having a row with the wankers.'
Could one of you Americans tell me what - if anything - that last
sentence means?
It's just making fun of British people using characteristic British
language not typically used by Americans. The following terms are
thought of as chiefly British:
[...]
"wanker" (all usages)
[...]
But what struck me most forcibly was that the supposedly prudish US
let "wankers" through the TV net. I can't imagine Brit broadcasters
airing that episode unexpurgated -- and, indeed, as it's a prime-time
children's favourite, I'd have found it objectionable.
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US TV programmes have a history of Wankers which have remained
uncensored when transferred to UK children's TV. IIRC, one of the
characters in Mork & Mindy was Mr Wanker, and the music for Buffy was
composed by one Thomas Wanker, whose name is in the end credits. Son
sat transfixed through the credits so that he could laugh at the
name. Every week.
It's just not a rude word in the US. Same with Bollocks - there was
a car in California with a vanity plate of "BOLOCKS" or something
similar (IIUC, vanity plates can only have up to 7 letters).
--
David
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Guest
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 11:42 pm
Post subject: Re: "...they're having a row with the wankers" |
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Tony Cooper wrote:
| Quote: |
"Row", as in "having a row with his wife" is uncommon in AmE?
--
Tony Cooper
Orlando FL
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Floridians use it? I met it first in English-authored books, and it
was years before I learned how to pronounce it. I don't think I've
ever heard it. Of course, I have been hearing more and more BrE --
mostly pronunciations, some vocabulary -- and I believe it's all come
from our local Beeb affiliates, the PBS stations.
Cece |
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Areff
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 11:52 pm
Post subject: Re: "...they're having a row with the wankers" |
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Pat Durkin wrote:
| Quote: | From early childhood, I heard my mother in surprise and pain and perhaps
frustration emit a yell, "Rowdy-Dow". If she was in the kitchen, it meant
she had dropped a pan, perhaps on her foot. There was always a loud bang
when she used the word which, I suppose, kept her from voicing some
obscenity or other. At any rate, "row" to describe a disturbance or a fight
is not strange to me. Apparently, from the answers provided in this thread,
its use is not standard, common, or frequent. However, I think that anyone
hearing the word would understand it, whether or not they used it. I doubt
that familiarity with the word stems from acquaintance with Brit shows on
PBS.
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I agree with that last part -- no one could seriously contend that. In my
case, I think I learned "row" from exposure to British literature. (I'm
thinking particularly of one example -- there was an excerpt of a scene in
a BrE play that I and another student had to perform in a class in 7th
or 8th grade, but I can't remember what it was [possibly _Pygmalion_?].
But I had probably already encountered the word in other British works --
perhaps it occurs in T*lkien.) |
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R H Draney
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 12:24 am
Post subject: Re: "...they're having a row with the wankers" |
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the Omrud filted:
| Quote: |
US TV programmes have a history of Wankers which have remained
uncensored when transferred to UK children's TV. IIRC, one of the
characters in Mork & Mindy was Mr Wanker, and the music for Buffy was
composed by one Thomas Wanker, whose name is in the end credits. Son
sat transfixed through the credits so that he could laugh at the
name. Every week.
|
I don't remember a Mr Wanker on "Mork & Mindy", but it was Peg's maiden name and
the name of the county she came from on "Married With Children"....
| Quote: | It's just not a rude word in the US. Same with Bollocks - there was
a car in California with a vanity plate of "BOLOCKS" or something
similar (IIUC, vanity plates can only have up to 7 letters).
|
I think you can go eight in California...it should be pointed out that the
nearest US equivalent to the word is spelled "bollix", which is a verb, and that
there's a well-known department store chain in California and elsewhere called
"Bullock's"....r |
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R H Draney
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 12:32 am
Post subject: Re: "...they're having a row with the wankers" |
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Areff filted:
| Quote: |
In my freshman year of college, there was a guy who used "wanker" a lot.
I think it might be related to the apparent appropriation of certain
pseudo-British accent features in forming the "stoner accent" (which is
heard on _The Simpsons_ in the 'Spike' character BTW).
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Can't place Spike...if you mean "Snake", he sounds Baltimorean to me....
| Quote: | This is the same
guy who always said "shrooms" for "mushrooms" when ordering pizza.
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You mean "when ordering 'zas", don't you?...and did he live with his 'rents?...r |
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Mike Lyle
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 12:55 am
Post subject: Re: "...they're having a row with the wankers" |
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R H Draney wrote:
| Quote: | the Omrud filted:
US TV programmes have a history of Wankers which have remained
uncensored when transferred to UK children's TV. IIRC, one of the
characters in Mork & Mindy was Mr Wanker, and the music for Buffy
was
composed by one Thomas Wanker, whose name is in the end credits.
Son
sat transfixed through the credits so that he could laugh at the
name. Every week.
I don't remember a Mr Wanker on "Mork & Mindy", but it was Peg's
maiden name and the name of the county she came from on "Married
With
Children"....
[...] |
And there's the immortal Fred Quimby, always greeted with a heartfelt
cheer by the audience.
That's all, folks.
Mike. |
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the Omrud
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 1:20 am
Post subject: Re: "...they're having a row with the wankers" |
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R H Draney spake thusly:
| Quote: | the Omrud filted:
US TV programmes have a history of Wankers which have remained
uncensored when transferred to UK children's TV. IIRC, one of the
characters in Mork & Mindy was Mr Wanker, and the music for Buffy was
composed by one Thomas Wanker, whose name is in the end credits. Son
sat transfixed through the credits so that he could laugh at the
name. Every week.
I don't remember a Mr Wanker on "Mork & Mindy", but it was Peg's maiden name and
the name of the county she came from on "Married With Children"....
|
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/morkepguide2.html:
(I'm sorry to quote this in full, but it is priceless to UK ears)
8. To Tell the Truth (11/21/7
Unfamiliar with Earthlings' "white lies," Mork reviles Mindy's mean
landlord and the man who tried to put her family out of business.
Mork believes that humans are honest because Mindy lectured him on
"splinking", his Orkan word for lying. Then Arnold Wanker, who is
trying to oust Mindy's family from the music store property, dies
while he is in a rage at the store. His widow, Annie, and everyone
else - including Mindy - begin to chorus what a wonderful man Wanker
was. Unfamiliar with Earthlings' little white lies, Mork, hearing
the loving tributes being paid to the deceased landlord, who was the
meanest man in town, decides to jump-start him back to life. Out of
compassion for his grieving friends, Mork employs his Orkan power to
revive the deceased.
Guest cast: Logan Ramsey as Arnold Wanker, Fay DeWitt as Annie
Wanker, Jeremy West as the funeral home attendant, Stu Silver as the
paramedic.
</quote>
| Quote: | It's just not a rude word in the US. Same with Bollocks - there was
a car in California with a vanity plate of "BOLOCKS" or something
similar (IIUC, vanity plates can only have up to 7 letters).
I think you can go eight in California...it should be pointed out that the
nearest US equivalent to the word is spelled "bollix", which is a verb, and that
there's a well-known department store chain in California and elsewhere called
"Bullock's"....r
|
That's one of those common words which sounds a bit like a different
rude word, which excites no comment at all, except in jokes:
- I can see two cows over there.
- That's "bullocks".
- No, really, I can.
--
David
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Tony Cooper
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 1:37 am
Post subject: Re: "...they're having a row with the wankers" |
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On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 17:21:29 +0000 (UTC), Areff <me@privacy.net>
wrote:
| Quote: | Tony Cooper wrote:
On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 15:07:54 +0000 (UTC), Areff <me@privacy.net
wrote:
It's just making fun of British people using characteristic British
language not typically used by Americans. The following terms are
thought of as chiefly British:
"bird" (woman)
"row" (argument) (I wonder if the quotation reveals a lack of
knowledge of the pronunciation? But that just shows you that it's not a
term typically used in AmE [whether it actually is more common in modern
BrE, or just tends to show up in the archaic BrE material we're exposed
to, I don't know])
"Row", as in "having a row with his wife" is uncommon in AmE?
I believe so. Certainly it's uncommon in ordinary conversational usage.
Not so uncommon for me to think of it as British per se, but when I think
of the word I imagine it being said in a British accent.
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How did you get that Cone of Silence from Brooklyn to Chicago to
Seattle? Checked baggage or carry-on?
--
Tony Cooper
Orlando FL |
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Default User
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 1:46 am
Post subject: Re: "...they're having a row with the wankers" |
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Tony Cooper wrote:
| Quote: | "Row", as in "having a row with his wife" is uncommon in AmE?
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Pretty uncommon in my part of the nation. I doubt I've ever heard it in
conversation.
Brian |
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Areff
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 1:57 am
Post subject: Re: "...they're having a row with the wankers" |
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Sara Lorimer wrote:
| Quote: | Alan Jones <atj@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
"R H Draney" <dadoctah@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:ddvvsi031e4@drn.newsguy.com...
Areff filted:
In my freshman year of college, there was a guy who used "wanker" a lot.
I think it might be related to the apparent appropriation of certain
pseudo-British accent features in forming the "stoner accent" (which is
heard on _The Simpsons_ in the 'Spike' character BTW).
Can't place Spike...if you mean "Snake", he sounds Baltimorean to me....
[...]
My RightPondian ears heard him actually as British, and slightly posh at
that: a drop-out from a public [BrE sense] school, perhaps. He doesn't seem
to be in the episodes we see at present.
I've thought he sounded posh, too. Isn't there an episode where he
refers to going to Middlebury, which is one of -- if not the -- most
expensive colleges in the USA?
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I believe so -- I think he speaks of turning to a life of crime in order
to pay his student loans, or something like that. |
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Areff
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 1:57 am
Post subject: Re: "...they're having a row with the wankers" |
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Tony Cooper wrote:
| Quote: | On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 19:30:44 +0000 (UTC), Areff <me@privacy.net
wrote:
"having a row with" 680
"having a row with" site:.uk 523
"having a row with" site:.au 44
"having a row with" site:.nz 12
"having a row with" (Total for UK/AU/NZ): 579
I ask Coop to explain these results.
First, you explain why M-W doesn't say "Chiefly British".
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AFAIC, M-W has lost all credibility by having unblockable popups. |
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Tony Cooper
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 2:01 am
Post subject: Re: "...they're having a row with the wankers" |
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On 17 Aug 2005 19:46:40 GMT, "Default User" <defaultuserbr@yahoo.com>
wrote:
| Quote: | Tony Cooper wrote:
"Row", as in "having a row with his wife" is uncommon in AmE?
Pretty uncommon in my part of the nation. I doubt I've ever heard it in
conversation.
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That might mean more if we knew if your part of the nation was next
door to the Unibomber's hide-away or just off the corner of Nostrand
Avenue and Flatbush Avenue.
Areffites may note that I have used the Areffian style of specifying
"Avenue" in both. Chicagoans would say "...corner of Nostrand and
Flatbush".
--
Tony Cooper
Orlando FL |
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Areff
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 2:03 am
Post subject: Re: "...they're having a row with the wankers" |
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Django Cat wrote:
| Quote: | Areff wrote:
The Junction is right near where Brooklyn College (CUNY)
CUNY is in Brooklyn?
I have been labouring under a misapprehension...
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CUNY /kjuni/ is the City University of New York, and comprises several
constituent units, most notably City College (in the far north of
Manhattan), Baruch College (fka the City College of Business
Administration) (in the far south of Manhattan), Hunter College (once a
women's college) on the East Side of Manhattan, Brooklyn College (in
Brooklyn), and Queens College (in Flushing, Queens, and not downtown
Flushing either). There are some others but they're less important. Oh,
and there's also the CUNY Graduate School, which since the late 'Nineties
has been located in what was the B. Altman department store building, in
Midtown Manhattan. Each of the named entities is, I think, fairly
independent of all the others. |
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Areff
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 2:15 am
Post subject: Re: "...they're having a row with the wankers" |
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Django Cat wrote:
| Quote: | Sara Lorimer wrote:
"Django Cat" <nospam@please> wrote:
CUNY is in Brooklyn?
Among other places, yes.
Ah. Multi-campus then? (I subscribe to one of their email postings.)
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I don't think the term "campus" is used, though "campus" seems to be
commonly used for different geographically dispersed units of a state
university system, in some states. It might be more akin to Oxford or
Cambridge University, not that I understand that system. |
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Alan Jones
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 2:33 am
Post subject: Re: "...they're having a row with the wankers" |
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"R H Draney" <dadoctah@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:ddvvsi031e4@drn.newsguy.com...
| Quote: | Areff filted:
In my freshman year of college, there was a guy who used "wanker" a lot.
I think it might be related to the apparent appropriation of certain
pseudo-British accent features in forming the "stoner accent" (which is
heard on _The Simpsons_ in the 'Spike' character BTW).
Can't place Spike...if you mean "Snake", he sounds Baltimorean to me....
|
[...]
My RightPondian ears heard him actually as British, and slightly posh at
that: a drop-out from a public [BrE sense] school, perhaps. He doesn't seem
to be in the episodes we see at present.
Alan Jones |
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