RMweb Gold big jim Posted October 20, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 20, 2015 Well, it's finally happened. One of the items I've sold on eBay has gone to someone called - and I kid you not - Mike Hunt. I've just printed out the despatch note to be sent with the item, and wonder if he gets loads of people sniggering over his name? i know a mike hunt, likes to be called michael for some reason also knew a lad at school called 'ewan kerr' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 My daughter knew a family at school who's surname was Lyons. There children's first names were Tiger, Felix & Dandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted October 20, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 20, 2015 Back in the Eighties in Ashford (Mddx) there was a building firm called Ripoffe & Scarper. Mentioned before, but still a good one - a lazy sounding estate agents in the Severn Valley Doolittle & Dalley They even have a picture of the SVR Stanier Mogul on their website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 (edited) My daughter knew a family at school who's surname was Lyons. There children's first names were Tiger, Felix & Dandy And I thought it was only celebrities* who did such cruel things to their children. * Frank Zappa Gwyneth Paltrow Jay Z + Beyoncé the Kanye + Kim trainwreck etc, etc More celebrity baby name nonsense here. Edited October 21, 2015 by Ozexpatriate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 My daughter knew a family at school who's surname was Lyons. There children's first names were Tiger, Felix & Dandy I'm surprised that they didn't take the opportunity to name one Sea instead of Felix.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two_sugars Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 There was a family called Gunn in th e colliery village where I grew up. They had two sons . . . Tommy and Ray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 True, actually. Wasn’t it Ben Franklin that tried to simplify English in the USA? “Thru” as an example.....though you don’t see it so much nowadays. Best, Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 True, actually. Wasn’t it Ben Franklin that tried to simplify English in the USA? “Thru” as an example.....though you don’t see it so much nowadays. Best, Pete. On the subject of thru, or through, in the land of Traditional English we do things from, say Monday to (or until) Friday, but in the land of Simplified English they say Monday through Friday. But they never say when it will actually end. If you're on a train that goes through a tunnel, you expect to come out the other side, and not end your journey in the tunnel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 (edited) Eh? Americans say “9 to 5” which is similar. The truth is most offices over here work “8 to 5”. Which tends to be a shock to ExPats. Best, Pete. Edited October 21, 2015 by trisonic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Round these parts (S Yorks), there's a variation on the "until/through", such as a banner on the side of a pub, "Happy Hour 5 while 8". Leaving aside that 5 until 8 is a happy three hours, it had me, a non-native, slightly baffled for a "while". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Mentioned on another thread that this morning that I heard on the BBC the phrase: “at this moment in time” - which I haven’t heard in years - of course, “now” has always been available..... Best, Pete. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium TheQ Posted October 21, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 21, 2015 (edited) True, actually. Wasn’t it Ben Franklin that tried to simplify English in the USA? “Thru” as an example.....though you don’t see it so much nowadays. Best, Pete. Actually it was Noah Webster, 1758 – 1843 he produced the dictionary that became the American standard school text. He was one of those traitorous people who wanted independence from the UK and deliberately chose to modify and simplify the written language to what HE thought was better. Benjamin Franklin who lived around the same time, was involved with publishing and was of a similar traitorous nature may well have met him.. Edited October 22, 2015 by TheQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebottle Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 The lady teaching us English language when I was in the 5th form at Woodhouse used to use "while" rather than "until". She was a local, had been a pupil at the school, and pronounced its name as "Wode'us", as, I think, the ancient Anglo-Saxons did the village name. Another favourite expression with which I was unfamiliar was "early doors". At the time, I thought she was saying "early doers", which seemed self explanatory, and it was some years before I grasped the meaning of "early doors". Her lessons were conducted in a pleasantly free and easy atmosphere, but if we got too rambunctious, She would say: "All right, you lot, I don't care whether you get your GCEs or not; you can bring in your Comic Cuts and read that if that's what you'd rather do." I pointed out, politely, that "Comic Cuts" hadn't been printed since 1953, and asked if I could bring the Beano instead. She stared at me for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. Happy days ... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckymucklebackit Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 (edited) i know a mike hunt, likes to be called michael for some reason also knew a lad at school called 'ewan kerr' I had a fellow worker at a previous employer who went by the surname Kerr, he was a bit of a twit and had the nickname "Juan". But it appears that someone actually has that name!!1 https://www.linkedin.com/pub/juan-kerr/53/126/a35 There is also a link on that page to another cracking name https://www.linkedin.com/pub/poo-poo-pong/58/201/aab?trk=pub-pbmap Jim Edited October 21, 2015 by luckymucklebackit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckymucklebackit Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 My daughter knew a family at school who's surname was Lyons. There children's first names were Tiger, Felix & Dandy Heard about a note being left for someone to call 0131 314 0326 and ask for Mr C. Lyons........... The number being for Edinburgh Zoo. Jim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebottle Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 I had a fellow worker at a previous employer who went by the surname Kerr, he was a bit of a twit and had the nickname "Juan". But it appears that someone actually has that name!!1 https://www.linkedin.com/pub/juan-kerr/53/126/a35 There is also a link on that page to another cracking name https://www.linkedin.com/pub/poo-poo-pong/58/201/aab?trk=pub-pbmap Jim If those names on Linkedin are genuine, most appear to result from unfortunate English meanings of foreign proper nouns rather than shortsightedness of parents. Does anybody know of British names which provoke hilarity in other countries? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 https://www.linkedin.com/pub/poo-poo-pong/58/201/aab?trk=pub-pbmap Jim Oh Gawd! All down the rhs of that page are more hilarious names, Jelly Poo, Fanny Trouble and, . . . .wait for it, Wide Flange!!! This must be a set up, surely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff alvey Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Tanya Hyde always made me chuckle. .... and there was that(?) radio show that had someone reading out a list of people attending a ball, and went something on the lines of: Mr & Mrs Hyde and their daughter Tanya. (anyone remember ?) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 (edited) We had a Richard Bird at my school who, invariably and inevitably was called Dicky Best, Pete. Edited October 21, 2015 by trisonic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted October 21, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 21, 2015 Tanya Hyde always made me chuckle. .... and there was that(?) radio show that had someone reading out a list of people attending a ball, and went something on the lines of: Mr & Mrs Hyde and their daughter Tanya. (anyone remember ?) Rowan Atkinson in "The Secret Policemans ball" possibly I remember O'dendren......Rhoda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 ..... that(?) radio show that had someone reading out a list of people attending a ball, and went something on the lines of: Mr & Mrs Hyde and their daughter Tanya. (anyone remember ?) The "Late Arrivals" round from I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Welly Posted October 21, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 21, 2015 I once saw a high school class photo from the late 1990s/early 2000s including a girl named "Ginger Minge"! Oh I had to smile when I received the first letter re-directed from my late mother's house, it was from Sun Life Insurance offering a life insurance policy with application form pre-filled in with her name and address! Yes - I had filled in the form for the https://www.thebereavementregister.org.uk/ two months ago! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold teaky Posted October 21, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 21, 2015 Not quite silly names but I once applied for a Texaco petrol card and wanted one for my wife on the same account. For some unfathomable reason this wasn't possible. It was, however, possible to have more than two cards on the same account. I could not resist. I applied for and received a card for myself, my wife and each of the seven dwarves. I know. Crazy! They're not even related to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 (edited) On the subject of thru, or through, in the land of Traditional English we do things from, say Monday to (or until) Friday, but in the land of Simplified English they say Monday through Friday. There is a precise purpose for this. Taking Monday until Friday or Monday to Friday literally can imply only Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Monday through Friday means through the end of the day on Friday and is, I think, clearer in that respect. If I said "I will be on vacation from Monday until Wednesday" do I return to work on Thursday or Wednesday? Eh? Americans say “9 to 5” which is similar. Mostly in song I suspect. Edited October 21, 2015 by Ozexpatriate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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