Giving a Monkey

Don’t you sometimes wonder how slang phrases and words came into being? Watching Coronation Street I have discovered a whole new world of weird and wonderful words and phrases. Forget about bangers & mash and ask “what the heck is a buntee”? I think it is some type of breakfast sandwich. And they don’t say “would you like a cup of coffee”, instead they said “want a brew” but is a brew coffee or tea? For the longest time I thought it was a beer (having been in the brewing of beer industry – LOL).

Then every once in a while my mother will come up with some never-before-heard phrase in the Danish language. She will argue with us and say “of course I’ve said it before” and John, Erik, Charlotte and I will all say “no way have you ever said that one before”. We are still bilingual in our home and we use lots of the old proverbs or Danish sayings like (translated) “those who will not listen will have to feel” and so forth. One day we got the shock of our lives when she told us that “neger sukker” (which is what we called brown sugar in Danish) actually meant “nigger sugar”. It seems odd to have been so ignorant but we were incredibly shocked and embarrassed and I just wonder if I ever used that term while I was visiting my family in Denmark (I really hope not). I know we are not supposed to use the “N” word but in this instance I think it is appropriate to recount the story without having to go totally P.C. (i.e. politically correct) since it was a high impact moment for us.

Another phrase they use on Coronation Street is “I don’t give a monkey” which is the same is “I don’t give a care (or crap, or whatever curse word may come to mind). I rather like the monkey instead although I can’t say I have used it yet. They also say “owt” which I think is “not” and they also say “our Anna” or whatever name but with “our” included – I suppose because there could be more than one Anna in town. It can take time to figure out what the heck they mean.

Slang can be fun but it can also be confusing and even kind of lazy language. I have a tendency to use long or “fancy” words but generally I use them when I feel I am in company with literate people who would / should know the vocabulary I am using. I don’t believe that I am ostentatious like that jerk Conrad Black who uses words that no one has ever run across in their wide reading (aka ME). J

Another thing we have going in our family is our continual use of film jargon . . . “60 foot of bridge I can get almost anywhere” (Kelly’s Heros), “horse is best” (The Quiet Man), “red is more durable” (The Quiet Man), “know your colours, know your fabrics” (Mermaids) – and so on.