"Old English"

harriusherbartio

Here is one expression (a real blast from the past):-

https://google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=infra+dig

I thought it meant "new or modern" . I asked my wife and she said "trendy" . When I told her the real meaning she said "but it came to mean that so it must have changed" ( or maybe we both got it wrong , after all , it was "old speak" ).
Would it be OK to say "Playing a Spectrum game is a bit "infra dig"?

So I checked it out in an old dictionary .- It does mean "beneath one's dignity" . Clearly us " young uns" totally misinterpreted what the "old uns" were saying!

https://merriam-webster.com/dictionary/infra%20dig

Antiriad2097

It might be, but I'd expect the massed majority to say "?". Never heard the phrase.

Usually if you dig something, you're into it, so the inference would be that infra dig would mean very into it.

Seems that isn't the case, as it's from the latin for 'beneath dignity', yet latin isn't something that's been taught routinely for decades. Maybe in public school, possibly catholic schools, but not normal schools in my lifetime.

harriusherbartio

"Dig it man" came a lot later!

"INFRA DIGNITATEM" Yup undignified it is but another source says "The phrase is shortened to "infra dig." by those in the know".

So clearly I was talking to people "in the know" without being "in the know" myself! My wife reckons we should be pleased we were not "in the know" . You never know what you can get into if you are "in the know" Do people ever worry about what they will "pick up" if they are "in the know"?

dm_boozefreek

That's left me with slight Polycombobulations ;)

Scottie_uk

Is drinking a glass of Olde English infra dig?

Apparently, Gaymer's like it so its got to be right?

To be honest, I have never heard of the term infra dig. My first thought was that's what you did when you lost your remote control down the gaps between the cushions on the sofa.

Luny

I prefer a pint of old badgers arse, now that is infra dig. ;)

dmsmith

dm_boozefreek wrote: »

That's left me with slight Polycombobulations ;)

You have my deepest contrafibularities. :-D

Scottie_uk

If a metal detectorist gets a little beeeep on his detector thingmybob, I bet he's infra dig.

dmsmith

I see what you did there: infra dig - in for a dig !

harriusherbartio

Yes it was for some Atari Games hidden deep somewhere in the US desert Apparenttly some toffs from the 1930s turned up but they were "out of time"..

Luny

dmsmith wrote: »

dm_boozefreek wrote: »

That's left me with slight Polycombobulations ;)

You have my deepest contrafibularities. :-D

SAUSAGES? ... SAUSAGES?

Damn your eyes!

harriusherbartio

Lets face it if your have a Spectrum you always have to do a bit of digging even if it is just to get that elusive spare part but if you "infra dig." it you will probably need a song . Steeleye Span did a Diggers song but there are other versions:-

https://annebishop.ca/the-diggers-song/

Ælita

Scottie_uk wrote: »

If a metal detectorist gets a little beeeep on his detector thingmybob, I bet he's infra dig.

Infravision would be handy. I wouldn't keep digging up shreds of foil.. Can you dig it.

On a similar vein. I found out Goodbye is short for 'God be with ye'..Well!

harriusherbartio

Errata

And yes it was Chumawamda that did "The Digger's Song" not Steeleye Span (I think)

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TOOTLING . I got a good reaction when I asked my wife about "tootling" "It's not something a sane person would use - its like something out of the 1930s" ( so just the job for this thread then!)

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/tootling

But what does my 1930s dictionnary say? Well there are 2 entries for TOOT . 1) "M.Swed. and Nor. - to make noise with an instrument or a horn 2) To peep about , a lookout hill or hillock ( so could it refer to a *illock on a hillock? ( not sure)

Anyway the other day I was " tootling by a river" ( with apologies to Credence of course) . Yes I was tootling along on a stretch of fairly straight road when I was almost overtaken by a lorry driver (he attempted to overtake me). I decided to let him go and slow down to let him complete his overtake . However he has "second thoughts" about it and we both stop next to each other occupying both tracks of the road . Luckily the car coming in the opposite direction has time to brake . Then we all drive off (like nothing had happened!) .

Our other car is not so good at "tootling" it is more a cruiser and we seem to pick up more traffic fines in it for minor speed violations .

What are the advantages of "tootling"?

1) You can "tootle" by a river (it is probably less dangerous than rolling on the river!)
2) Good for avoiding traffic fines
3) You can enjoy the nice riverside scenery
4) And you can also "tootle" if you are not by a river!

Antiriad2097

I tend to pootle rather than tootle.

Luny

Antiriad2097 wrote: »

I tend to pootle rather than tootle.

Now I have an image of what you look like...


"Pootle"

mel the bell

Mmm olde English

harriusherbartio

Quean

Luckily I thought of the word QUEAN in game of Scrabble just at the right time! Here is the definition:-

Hhttps://english.stackexchange.com/questions/460601/how-is-quean-related-to-queen

My 1930s dictionary has this: (kwen) (A-S cwene ,woman (cp Dut. kween., barren cow ,O.H.G. quena ,Gr. gune ,woman ,Eng.QUEEN)) ,n. A slut ,a hussy ,a jade ,a strumpet; (Sc.) a young or unmarried woman , a lass.

But what about the River boat song originally by Credence :

https://google.com/search?channel=nrow5&client=firefox-b-d&q=proud+mary+lyrics

Hitching a ride on a riverboat queen (well I never- I did not know you could do that. And did they mean QUEAN?)

Scottie_uk

Quean, that's Geordie for female monarch.

Luny

Rantipole
A rude romping boy or girl.

harriusherbartio

Thats a good one:-

https://worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-ran1.htm

In my old dictionnary it is listed under a subsection of rant : "a wild harum-scarum or romping person"

I have not seen a romping person lately either .apparently it means to play or frolic roughly or boisterously .

dm_boozefreek

I always found it amusing that eggs used to be spelled egges. Which makes me think eggies. More entertaining than an oldie shoppie.

Ælita

harriusherbartio wrote: »

Quean

Luckily I thought of the word QUEAN in game of Scrabble just at the right time! Here is the definition:-

Hhttps://english.stackexchange.com/questions/460601/how-is-quean-related-to-queen

My 1930s dictionary has this: (kwen) (A-S cwene ,woman (cp Dut. kween., barren cow ,O.H.G. quena ,Gr. gune ,woman ,Eng.QUEEN)) ,n. A slut ,a hussy ,a jade ,a strumpet; (Sc.) a young or unmarried woman , a lass.

In Doric dialect (Aberdeenshire) Quin is still pretty standard to describe a young unmarried woman. Among older people anyway. Interesting! Also...Kvinna/Kvinne in Nordic tongues...pretty close! Not really susrprising though since Olde English is...

I was reading some DNA papers and it turns out that not much peoples in England are Anglo-Saxon. All mostly British..from before all that invasions Same as people in Scotland..since before they got invaded by Gaels..I digress.

Anyhoo. Leave them birdies eggies alone.

Luny

Wasn't Quim also the same? I'm sure Loki uses it to insult Blackwidow in 'Assemble.'. Maybe he said Quin and my innuendo filter changed it in my head. :)

Antiriad2097

Ælita wrote: »

In Doric dialect (Aberdeenshire) Quin is still pretty standard to describe a young unmarried woman. Among older people anyway.

Not quite, it's quine rather than quin, i.e. it rhymes with wine. I'd also say it goes further than an unmarried young woman, extending to also reference any girl. Fairly interchangeable with 'lassie' in that respect.

harriusherbartio

It seems maybe the Scottish version of QUEAN is softer and less judgemental that the English version.

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Yes it seems that there are not many Anglo Saxons ( by DNA anyway - culturally it mabe be different) in England but I have 26.2% Scandinavian DNA ( according to one ancestry site) and I think there was a Viking Scottish clan.

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EFFETE

Old "eff" words are good if people do not know what they mean and when I used to use them people thought I was being very rude as it sounded like an "F" word so they got deeply suspicous and demanded to see a dictionaary . One of my "favourities was "effete" . A habitual "big head" boaster often repeated:- "I am thinking on my feet "( which sounded like "Oim finking oim effete" ) My reply to that necessitated the use of a dictionary!

harriusherbartio

"Well I'm Blowed" (or similar):-

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/well+I%27ll+be+blowed

I cannot think why I would need to look that one up.

harriusherbartio

"What the Dickens"

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/What+the+dickens

It seems that in the old days people were being continually surprised by stuff .

It appears that "What No Dickens" did not make it as an expression of surprise when Speccy userd found out that there weren't any CHARLES DICKENS related Speccy progs

Ælita

I thought an Effete was a islamic spirit tbh...like a Genie..it's been in a few RPGs.

Get them fuppin' crunchies out the car..NO Dickens speccy progs? Surely must be something indirectly related.

Paradigm Shifter

You are thinking of an efreet or efreeti, which is like a genie but with fire instead of air

harriusherbartio

And "effete" is an adjective! . I did not know that it also meant "worn out by bearing young" (as in foetus)!