On being old

[FLY2 10,108]

Yobs produce yobs who produce yobs who produce yobs, and so it goes on.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

I can see Melton's point of view but I think it is a matter of pride. I tell my grandchildren that if they apply for a job along with about 500 other people, they have a better chance if they can present themselves better than the others and that includes the way they speak. It really does make a difference.

Bilboro-lad. That is all about sticking two fingers up to the establishment. The same as wearing their jeans half way down their legs and playing Rap (I won't call it music) as loud as they can. We think it looks and sounds terrible, but they think they are wonderful. What my dad used to say about the Rolling Stones is unprintable here, but it carries on down the line. It is true. Yobs produce Yobs. But not always. Rebellion comes in all sorts of ways. Sometimes a child born to a family of chavs (here we go again) decides that way of life is not for him or her.

[mick2me 3,033]

The 'Black Speak' you mention is a bastardised form of english spoken by some 1st 2nd etc generation descendants of Caribbean immigrants.

and white youths who want to sound cool.

The original Caribbean dialect I always found to be very easy on the ear and have been fascinated by it.

[darkazana 1,736]

Love this thread. Think we should all be on Grumpy Old Men/Women!

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

According to my wife I've always been grumpy.

[FLY2 10,108]

#78. Not easy on my ear!!!!!!!

[jackson 301]

A bit of grumpiness adds character to a person - not too much though!

PS: Imagine if a person was nice all of the time, how boring he/she would be and how they could be taken advantage of................

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

I'm grumpy and still get taken advantage of. (grump. grump. whinge. moan.)

[Compo 10,328]

Mick2me #78:

I stayed with a Trinidadian family in Port of Spain and one day the lady recommended that I go to see "De long time tings" (Museum) I shall always remember that phrase with fondness.

[StephenFord 866]

...then of course, there is the universal adoption of Australian "up-speak" that came in with "Neighbours". Listen carefully - when you finish a statement with a rising inflexion in your voice it implies that you are asking a question. If it is not, in fact, a question, the listener supplies one : he/she assumes that you felt so inferior that you first had to ask permission to speak at all !

[alisoncc 379]

...then of course, there is the universal adoption of Australian "up-speak" that came in with "Neighbours".

I now claim to be an Ozzie, but don't think I do any "up-speak". of which you comment. Read anything I have posted and tell me if I do.

[StephenFord 866]

No, Alison - I'm sure you talk proper like what we do! The give away in print would be if every sentence you wrote finished with a question mark!

[pwatmo 3]

I now claim to be an Ozzie, but don't think I do any "up-speak". of which you comment. Read anything I have posted and tell me if I do.

Alison, the word is Aussie not Ozzie!

[MELTONSTILTON 452]

I tell my grandchildren that if they apply for a job along with about 500 other people, they have a better chance if they can present themselves better than the others and that includes the way they speak. It really does make a difference.

Your right................. At certain at times, it is best to speak proper and give a good impression.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

Yes. Even my posh mum used to come out with them. One day when I was slouching at the dinner table she told me to "sit round and sit square". No wonder I was useless at geometry.

It's funny how we can all put on a posh voice when we want to. I work with a lot of Europeans who speak good English but struggle with dialect. I find myself sounding words correctly just to save myself the trouble of repeating what I have said.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

Alison, the word is Aussie not Ozzie!

They call themselves ""Straaaailians"...

[Trevor S 2,003]

Another quirk of the Australian language is the practice common to many North Queenslanders whereby they end every sentence with 'yeah'...either with a rising inflection or flat tone.

Have a sister in law in Mackay and a niece in Townsville, yeah.

Long way to travel for family gatherings, yeah?

Too bloody right, think I'll have another beer, yeah.

[alisoncc 379]

And if we really get carried away it's "yeah verily".

Lived in FNQ for four years quite recently, and can't say I ever noticed any such quirk. Mind you I was in Cairns, which is very different to the rest of red-neck Qld. FNQ - Far North Queensland.

[Trevor S 2,003]

Not heard of 'yeah verily'.

Cairns is too tourist.

Next time the rellies come down from NQ, I will give you a call and see if you would like to meet and discuss the term 'red neck' with them!

[loppylugs 8,427]

In Canada we tend to end sentences with "Eh" "As in Cold day eh?" "How 'bout those Oilers (hockey team) eh?" When I asked the reason I was told that it gets so cold that if you have your buddy with you and you make a statement that becomes a question and he doesn't answer, he has frozen solid and you'd better thaw him out quick, eh?

[alisoncc 379]

Trevor S, favourite NQ story was about some people who drove out to Longreach. Spotting a solitary tree which offered some shade they parked under it whilst going off for lunch and a drink. When they returned they discovered why there was parking under the tree and the locals had not taken advantage of the shade. Standing on their car's roof and happily munching on the leaves were a couple of goats.

Even after extensive panel beating the car was never the same again. Goats have quite small hooves, and the pounds per square inch pressure they can exert on thin metal surfaces has to be seen to be believed.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

I remember well when I arrived at my first day of work at Renison Bell tin mine in Tassie in August of 79. I was introduced to all the leckos I'd be working with and one of them, who is still a good friend, keep in touch via FB, said to me, Gunna have to teach yers "strine" so we's can understand yer....

He ended up in Queensland.

[MELTONSTILTON 452]

One of the worst things about getting old is seeing friends you have not seen since 20, 30, or 40 years,

Last August I was in the USA visiting some old work mates, The voyage was a retirement gift from two of the them, but they had arranged for me to meet some others at a small party they had organised at one of their homes.

When I walked into the room, I recognized most of them but one man sitting in a wheelchair I did not, it was when he said hello I recognized his voice , it was Stu, a helicopter pilot who used to ferry us around in the 1980s, seeing him like that in a wheelchair and breathing with the aid of oxygen was a shock, because in my memory he was very fit and very active and an ex air cavalry pilot, who had flown in Vietnam, but seeing him like that inside made me feel sad, even though he was like normal the one who was the life and sole of the party.

[Bendigo 14]

I love meeting old friends for the first time in ages, but the one moment I don't enjoy is that moment you look at them and realize how much older they are, and then it hits home that you're that much older too.

Most of the time I can still fool myself into feeling a lot younger than I really am, but moments like that slip past my defences.

[Rob.L 1,086]

The one and only time I attended a school reunion, 25 years after we all left, I was amazed at how old, sensible, and sober, all my classmates had become.