TABLE TALK #132
Today’s Table Talk is an ode to the most curious of British phrases. Those that slip off the tongue without a second thought to us, yet resemble near perfect gobbledegook to those unacquainted.
Of course every language has its quirks, those phrases that leave even some native speakers scratching their heads.
But British English? It takes the biscuit.
🍝 MAIN COURSE 🍝
Let’s take a wander through some of the best.
First up: "all fur coat and no knickers”, our favourite way of describing someone or something that looks impressive, but lacks substance.
An oldie, but a gem: “doth butter no parsnips”, essentially saying that words won’t get results, no matter how nicely they’re said. Used with pitch perfect comedic effect by Joe Lycett in this clip.
As eccentric as its meaning: "mad as a bag of frogs", a wonderfully weird way to describe someone acting a bit loopy.
Especially satisfying to say aloud: a "damp squib" - exactly what it sounds like, a bit of a letdown.
A West Country classic: "That’s the badger", used when you’ve found exactly what you were searching for.
Buttered Parsnips
Photo Credit: Olive Magazine
Then there are a handful of one-word-wonders we love.
Take "codswallop” the perfect word for nonsense, “cream crackered" cockney rhyming slang for knackered and "collywobbles" like having butterflies, but more fun to say.
And of course the myriad of different words that us Brits like to use to describe wanting an alcoholic drink, like "parched", "baked" or "gasping".
All erring on the side of abstract, yet somehow perfectly appropriate for describing feeling like "a prune in a drought".
🍮 SWEET ENDINGS 🍮
If the etymology of words is kind of your jam, there’s one book you need in your life.
It’s called How To Sound Clever and it’s a rip roaring race through six hundred words you don’t already know, but are bound to love - because who doesn’t want to casually drop “sesquipedalian” into a conversation and watch everyone nod sagely, pretending they totally know what it means?
🍷 WHAT'S NEW
FROM
WEDNESDAY'S DOMAINE? 🍷
The last few days it’s been positively raining press.
The Times, The Observer, The Guardian - you name it, we’ve been papped in it.
Most exciting of all though is the clout of those writing about us. To have not one, but two of the most respected voices in wine - the brilliant Jane MacQuitty and Will Lyons - give us some love this weekend was unbelievable.
That they did so independently of one another and on the same weekend was quite something.
Quite the start to this year,
Luke x
PS. If you shop somewhere that rhymes with bravado, watch this space!
