Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[EvilPie]

Ha, worth it just to see an expression I have not seen for years, "his nibs".

There's an engineer that we do some work for who always uses this expression when talking about his boss.

Absolutely love it but no idea where it comes from. Any ideas without googling?

[tikay]

Ha, worth it just to see an expression I have not seen for years, "his nibs".

There's an engineer that we do some work for who always uses this expression when talking about his boss.

Absolutely love it but no idea where it comes from. Any ideas without googling?

Not got a clue, but I now discover that, far from being a neutral or warm reference, it actually means.....


Often Facetious. a person in authority, especially one who is demanding and tyrannical


I had previously thought it was sort of gentle but good-natured mocking.
Marv.

[Doobs]

Ha, worth it just to see an expression I have not seen for years, "his nibs".

There's an engineer that we do some work for who always uses this expression when talking about his boss.

Absolutely love it but no idea where it comes from. Any ideas without googling?

Not got a clue, but I now discover that, far from being a neutral or warm reference, it actually means.....


Often Facetious. a person in authority, especially one who is demanding and tyrannical


I had previously thought it was sort of gentle but good-natured mocking.
Marv.

I'd assume it was good natured, but would assume that you thought your boss needed taking down a peg or two. 

[tikay]

Knowing wily old Methuselah, he knows EXACTLY what it means.

He's the best ever with clever wordage. If only we could get him to write a Diary.

I thought Tom's story about watching TV as a kid was pretty neat, too, he tells stories so well.

His nibs can but admire.

[RED-DOG]

When I was little, if I got a bit above myself, i.e. refusing to wear my grannies boots, my mam used to call me Little Lord Fauntleroy.

[RED-DOG]

When I think back, there were lots of little sayings that I took for granted. If, for example, we were on a muddy camp and all our tackle (Lorries caravans etc) had got clarted up, my granny would say, "We're in a wusser state than Russia.

[tikay]

When I was little, if I got a bit above myself, i.e. refusing to wear my grannies boots, my mam used to call me Little Lord Fauntleroy.

I remember that one well.

Another similar phrase, now in disuse I believe, is "he thinks he's the cats whiskers". Gawd knows what the origin of that is.

[MintTrav]

Caution! This link has been certified as suitable for softies only. All others look away now.


http://www.buzzfeed.com/javiermoreno/a-man-shared-a-photo-of-his-dedicated-exhausted-girlfriend-t

Lovely, but the shine was taken off it for me by the girl in question popping up in the comments, asking for contributions to fund their wedding.

Cynics 》Softies.

[MrDickie]

The dog’s bollocks

..........who thought up that one and why while we are at it?

[Nakor]

The dog’s bollocks

..........who thought up that one and why while we are at it?

My old man who was a printer always told me . . . .

One use was the original Emoticon :-
In the printing industry in the 70's end of printing plates were marked with :- to signify the end of a printed area.  So the printer ran until he saw "the Dog's Bollocks".
This was associated with the end of a run or day so it moved to slang for meaning something good.

[Karabiner]

Knowing wily old Methuselah, he knows EXACTLY what it means.

He's the best ever with clever wordage. If only we could get him to write a Diary.

I thought Tom's story about watching TV as a kid was pretty neat, too, he tells stories so well.

His nibs can but admire.

It certainly wasn't meant to be at all derogatory.

I always felt that "his nibs" was the title used about the boss by the servants in the days of upstairs/downstairs, although that would only be amongst themselves of course.

[RED-DOG]

Caution! This link has been certified as suitable for softies only. All others look away now.


http://www.buzzfeed.com/javiermoreno/a-man-shared-a-photo-of-his-dedicated-exhausted-girlfriend-t

Lovely, but the shine was taken off it for me by the girl in question popping up in the comments, asking for contributions to fund their wedding.

Cynics 》Softies.

Yeah, that did kind of sour it a little for me too now that you've brought it to my notice.

I spend my life firmly wedged between cynicism and softness and it's a very bumpy ride.




While I've got your attention, I feel I need to take you to task regarding that post you made on the politics thread. I wouldn't usually go this far, but I like you, I enjoy your posts and I don't want to get the wrong end of the stick but it seems racist to me. Would you mind explaining it a bit further, or alternatively, you could tell me to fuck off.


I've C&Pd it below and highlighted the bits that bother me.  To be honest, I hope I've been whooshed or it's a wind up or even that I'm just too sensitive to this stuff because I have to admit, no one else seems bothered.

Why does any on the things you say matter? Your only point seems to be "They're foreign".







What is going on? Why are so many people who have non-British wives/partners being made leadera of their parties?

Nigel Farage, Nick Clegg, Jeremy Corbyn and Ruth Davidson of UKIP, Lib Dems, Labour and Scottish Conservatives all hear foreign accents at home, as does future Labour leader Stephen Kinnock. And Natalie Bennett, the leader of the Greens, is a foreigner herself, as is future Tory leader Boris Johnson.

How can these people understand the concerns of normal British people, when they have such an untypical home life? And how do we know where their sympathies really lie? Our newspapers haven't highlighted the foreign influences being brought to bear on our leaders at their weakest moments, suggesting that there is a conspiracy running through Westminster and the Press to prevent us asking too many questions about it.

[tikay]

Knowing wily old Methuselah, he knows EXACTLY what it means.

He's the best ever with clever wordage. If only we could get him to write a Diary.

I thought Tom's story about watching TV as a kid was pretty neat, too, he tells stories so well.

His nibs can but admire.

It certainly wasn't meant to be at all derogatory.

I always felt that "his nibs" was the title used about the boss by the servants in the days of upstairs/downstairs, although that would only be amongst themselves of course.

Ha. I'm joshing, Ralph.

Seriously, I never realised it's true meaning until this morning.

When I first started working with John Kirkland at B & K, the staff referred to him as "Yoda".

Well I had no idea what "Yoda" meant, but as JNK was much respected by everyone, I assumed it was a compliment. So, one day, I was in the car with him on some dreadful away trip to Newton Abbott, snarled up in Motorway traffic, & we were idle chit chatting, & I called him Yoda to his face. I as, at the time, quite puzzled by his cool reception of that.

To be fair, the likeness, which I later discovered, was uncanny.  

He was, in some ways, a most odd man. Despite his immense wealth, he travelled Economy on Long Haul Flights, whilst his wife sat upstairs in First Class, he had no airs & graces in that respect. But he had a facelift, which doubtless cost thousands, & which was something of a disaster, & he ended up looking even worse. Such a contradiction, in so many ways.  

He has a brother, too, Robert, good looking sort, handsome & much younger looking. I knew Robert long before I knew John. On my first ever meeting with John, I made mention that I knew his son. At the time he never had a son, & he told me so. "Robert is not your Son? never went down at all well.

No idea how I survived 22 years with him, but I did.

In case of doubt, I doubt I loved & respected any man much more than I respected John, he was immensely good to me. 

John Kirkland's real Christian name was Jack, he was named after his father, who was officially named John, but was known as Jack. When JNK had his son, he Christened him John. He's now known as Jack.

Here's the Great Man, amazingly this was back in 1984, just after I began working for him. At he time, he was embroiled in Derby County affairs, as they were being wound up for non-payment of VAT. And who should come along to rescue the situation but one Robert Maxwell. So I got to meet him a lot, too. That's a whole other story.  


 

[MintTrav]

Caution! This link has been certified as suitable for softies only. All others look away now.


http://www.buzzfeed.com/javiermoreno/a-man-shared-a-photo-of-his-dedicated-exhausted-girlfriend-t

Lovely, but the shine was taken off it for me by the girl in question popping up in the comments, asking for contributions to fund their wedding.

Cynics 》Softies.

Yeah, that did kind of sour it a little for me too now that you've brought it to my notice.

I spend my life firmly wedged between cynicism and softness and it's a very bumpy ride.




While I've got your attention, I feel I need to take you to task regarding that post you made on the politics thread. I wouldn't usually go this far, but I like you, I enjoy your posts and I don't want to get the wrong end of the stick but it seems racist to me. Would you mind explaining it a bit further, or alternatively, you could tell me to fuck off.


I've C&Pd it below and highlighted the bits that bother me.  To be honest, I hope I've been whooshed or it's a wind up or even that I'm just too sensitive to this stuff because I have to admit, no one else seems bothered.

Why does any on the things you say matter? Your only point seems to be "They're foreign".







What is going on? Why are so many people who have non-British wives/partners being made leadera of their parties?

Nigel Farage, Nick Clegg, Jeremy Corbyn and Ruth Davidson of UKIP, Lib Dems, Labour and Scottish Conservatives all hear foreign accents at home, as does future Labour leader Stephen Kinnock. And Natalie Bennett, the leader of the Greens, is a foreigner herself, as is future Tory leader Boris Johnson.

How can these people understand the concerns of normal British people, when they have such an untypical home life? And how do we know where their sympathies really lie? Our newspapers haven't highlighted the foreign influences being brought to bear on our leaders at their weakest moments, suggesting that there is a conspiracy running through Westminster and the Press to prevent us asking too many questions about it.

It was a joke. Sorry for misleading you. When Corbyn mentioned that his wife is Mexican, it reminded me that there have been a lot of very senior politicians with foreign wives recently. I started posting the list and it grew into a mock rant. I have had the issue before of non-serious posts being taken at face value, so perhaps I need to think about how to present them.

[RED-DOG]

Caution! This link has been certified as suitable for softies only. All others look away now.


http://www.buzzfeed.com/javiermoreno/a-man-shared-a-photo-of-his-dedicated-exhausted-girlfriend-t

Lovely, but the shine was taken off it for me by the girl in question popping up in the comments, asking for contributions to fund their wedding.

Cynics 》Softies.

Yeah, that did kind of sour it a little for me too now that you've brought it to my notice.

I spend my life firmly wedged between cynicism and softness and it's a very bumpy ride.




While I've got your attention, I feel I need to take you to task regarding that post you made on the politics thread. I wouldn't usually go this far, but I like you, I enjoy your posts and I don't want to get the wrong end of the stick but it seems racist to me. Would you mind explaining it a bit further, or alternatively, you could tell me to fuck off.


I've C&Pd it below and highlighted the bits that bother me.  To be honest, I hope I've been whooshed or it's a wind up or even that I'm just too sensitive to this stuff because I have to admit, no one else seems bothered.

Why does any on the things you say matter? Your only point seems to be "They're foreign".







What is going on? Why are so many people who have non-British wives/partners being made leadera of their parties?

Nigel Farage, Nick Clegg, Jeremy Corbyn and Ruth Davidson of UKIP, Lib Dems, Labour and Scottish Conservatives all hear foreign accents at home, as does future Labour leader Stephen Kinnock. And Natalie Bennett, the leader of the Greens, is a foreigner herself, as is future Tory leader Boris Johnson.

How can these people understand the concerns of normal British people, when they have such an untypical home life? And how do we know where their sympathies really lie? Our newspapers haven't highlighted the foreign influences being brought to bear on our leaders at their weakest moments, suggesting that there is a conspiracy running through Westminster and the Press to prevent us asking too many questions about it.

It was a joke. Sorry for misleading you. When Corbyn mentioned that his wife is Mexican, it reminded me that there have been a lot of very senior politicians with foreign wives recently. I started posting the list and it grew into a mock rant. I have had the issue before of non-serious posts being taken at face value, so perhaps I need to think about how to present them.

I'm really relieved, and glad I pressed you.