Oddities

  • The British pub – undergoing gastration?

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Oddities

    I’m a great lover of no-frills, working-class pubs. They’re what I grew up with and frequented when I first started drinking. Indeed I still give them my custom and can often be found at the Little Russell in Barton Hill, Bristol (posts passim).

    One worrying development in recent years is the rise of the ‘gastropub‘.

    Eagle_Gastropub_Clerkenwell_2005
    The Eagle, Clerkenwell, London, reputed to be the first victim of gastration. Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
    The term gastropub is a portmanteau of gastronomy and pub, and originated in the United Kingdom in the late 20th century. The establishment itself is defined as ‘a bar and restaurant that serves high-end beer and food‘.

    My Bristol Wireless colleague Rich has devised the verb ‘to gastrate‘ to describe the phenomenon of converting boozers to gastropubs. I would define the verb as follows:

    gastrate (v.) – to ruin a perfectly good pub by converting it to sell small, overpriced portions of food.

    See also: gastration (n).

    The process of gastration is also being actively encouraged by the media, as shown in a piece last week on the Bristol Post website.

    Will traditional drinkers soon be struggling to find traditional boozers if this trend continues?

  • Exclusive: Bristol Mayor loses trousers in Easton

    Steve WoodsBristol, Oddities, Politics

    Yesterday, returning from Trinity Community Arts, I came across an unusual sight in Bannerman Road, Easton.

    a pair of red trousers abandoned on the footway

    Who could have left them there?

    Someone who’s not heard of the local TidyBS5 campaign, to be sure.

    The obvious candidate is Bristol’s elected Mayor, George Ferguson, a man not unknown for his penchant for red leg coverings (posts passim).

    What could George have been doing in Easton to have fled minus his trousers? Answers in the comments below.

    Of course, as a politician George sometimes risks more than the loss of his trousers; he’s wagering the shirt off his back on 2 potentially huge white elephant projects in Bristol both being funded by municipal borrowing – the Bristol Arena and Metrobus/BRT, whose costs keep escalating out of control.

  • Male? Welsh? Problems with your love life? Try Tesco!

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Media, Oddities

    If you are male, speak Welsh and have problems with your love life, particularly those related to erectile dysfunction, then maybe the new Aberystwyth store opened by Tesco (motto: every little helps) can come to your rescue.

    The Daily Post reports that the cash machine installed at Tesco’s new outlet in Aberystwyth is offering a “free erection” (codiad am ddim) to Welsh speakers whilst Anglophones have to be content with withdrawing cash free of charge.

    shot of cash machine at Aberystwyth Tesco
    Sexual favours for Welsh speakers?

    According to the Post, a Tesco spokesperson is reported to have said: “We’ve taken down the sign and will replace it with the correct translation. We appreciate this is a sensitive area.”

    Here’s a little help for Tesco: next time use a professional translator! 😉

    Hat tip: M J Lee.

  • Google invents amphibious delivery truck

    Steve WoodsMedia, Oddities, Tech

    Readers who have been reading the IT press for some time will be familiar with Google’s invention of the ‘flying car’ just after the inception of Google Earth in January 2006 that was reported at the time by The Register.

    News now arrives that Google has followed this up with the invention of the amphibious, sea-going delivery truck, as shown on another Google product, Google Maps.

    image showing delivery truck out at sea

    Judging by the scale of the map and the predicted time of delivery, it would appear the amphibious delivery truck can also manage speeds of some 400 km/h. 😀

    Hat tip: Angharad Stone.

  • Stephen Williams MP caused by Al Qaeda – Post exclusive

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Media, Oddities, Politics

    It’s not very often the Bristol Post manages to come up with an exclusive, but today’s online edition proved a winner on that score.

    The text below was concealed in a letter to Post from reader Stephen Farthing:

    THE news of 15-year-old girl Yusra Hussien leaving Bristol to become a supporter of IS, allegedly, is a worrying outcome and I echo what Stephen Williams said, that such an objective is not only foolish but profoundly unwise.

    In some ways, what Al Qaeda started in 2001 has produced many problems of his kind.

    Yes, you did read that correctly: “problems of his kind“, i.e. problems like him, if you prefer to paraphrase.

    image of Stephen Williams MPThe Post has exclusively revealed that Bristol West MP Stephen Williams is a problem that has been caused by Al Qaeda, an organisation never before known for its links to the UK’s Liberal Democratic Party, let alone elected members thereof.

    Perhaps Mr Williams would care to comment on his links to Al Qaeda below; or alternatively perhaps the Post could employ a little more care when publishing reader’s letters where a lost or missing consonant can give a phrase a whole new meaning.

  • School English: see me after class

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Oddities

    I do worry when schools display lack of proficiency in the English language. After all, they are establishments whose tasks include imparting formal training in the vernacular.

    In particular, they seem to have problems with the use of the apostrophe (posts passim), whether that entails its use as a possessive or as an indication of omission.

    The latest example from the nursery slopes of Mount Academia was found almost on my doorstep at St. Nicholas of Tolentine RC Primary School in Pennywell Road, Bristol, which seems to think that childrens is the plural of child.

    showing misused apostrophe on school notice

    Should anyone from the school happen to be reading this, the correct punctuation is children’s. In the words of several of my old teachers: you could do better; see me after class. 🙂

  • Nice one!

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Media, Oddities

    News site www.thebusinesswomanmedia.com has got the emphasis just right here on its report on a wedding that’s causing the media to get excited and distract attention from all the nasty things going on in the world like Ebola in West Africa or the continuing madness in the Middle East (news passim).

    screenshot of headline stating internationally acclaimed barrister Amal Alamuddin marries an actor

    However, it could have added the word(s) ‘ageing’ and/or ‘greying’ in front of ‘actor’. 😉

  • Islamic State: potted history

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Oddities, Politics

    If you’re having difficulty in understanding what’s happening with the militants of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria at the moment without going any further back than Bush War II (the overthrow of Saddam Hussein – and the roots of the conflicts and tensions in the region do go back to at least the end of World War 1 and the Treaty of Versailles! Ed.) then Aubrey Bailey of Fleet in Hampshire has provided a concise and not too confusing potted guide.

    image of newspaper letter with the heading Clear as mud

    Hat tip: Marina S.

Posts navigation