Web Page  No 2396

12th August 2017

First Picture: The friendly Bobby

 Second Picture: A regular sight in Portsmouth ‘Britannia’

Third Picture: National Dried Milk

Fourth Picture: Trolley Bus leaving the Depot

English Grammar

Now folks how many of these phrases and sayings do you recognise from your childhood. They were all said by an adult to a child and they seem to be universal. I think my parents and family must have used at least 95% of them how about yours?

Firstly if you queried something or an instruction we were told ‘Because I said so’ with no other explanation and for an impatient child we were always told to Wait and see. When Mum did not know the answer or wanted to avoid giving an answer we were then told you would have to Ask your Dad and then there was always the ultimate threat Just you wait untill your Father gets home! Then if things had gone missing they were always Up in Annies room behind the clock, this always baffled me because we did not have anyone in our family called Annie!

There was a whole series of phrases to do with food, such as No pudding until you have finished your greens or Eat your carrots they will make you see in the dark there was a grain of truth in that one, but the one that was strange was Eat your crusts they will give you curly hair. Plus the ever popular phrase If you don’t eat it there are thousands of starving people in the World who will also If you don’t eat it now you will get it for supper and finally in this food section the two instructions: - Take your elbows off the table and Don’t play with your food! 

Life style was another favourite topic, how about this one if you had done somethingfoolish, If someone asked you to jump off a cliff would you? or What did your last slave die of? or Were you born in a barn? or Were you born in a field? Of our appearance we were told that we looked as if We were dragged through a hedge backwards then as we became teenagers You are not going out dressed like that?  Then if you argued it was Do as I say not as I do and You will thank me one day for this!

Behaviour and grammar was also riddled with popular phrases, If I’ve told you once I have told you a thousand times or Say pardon not what. These were closely followed by It will all end in tears and I want never gets, plus There is no such word as can’t and Who is she? The cats mother. One more, Stop pulling faces, if the wind changes you will stuck like that, which was usually followed by I do have eyes in the back of my head so I can see what you are doing!

Health warnings were another category You will take someone’s eye out with that,  Don’t sit so close to the TV you will get square eyes plus This won’t hurt and for those with a runny nose or cold Use your handkerchief not your sleeve plus we were always told that the medicine Would do us good especially if it tasted terrible! Then there was the ultimate instruction Stop crying or I will really give you something to cry about.

Then there was always the harking back to our parents’ youth, When I was a little boy/girl we would never have done that! plus Modern children have no respect!

But for the ultimate put down the one phrase that was nearly always used and you knew that if it was you had no chance of getting your own way and that phrase was, I’ll think about it.

Yours

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

Chris Writes again:-

Knowing I was keen on fishing my Dad arranged a couple of boat trips. The first a small group of us lads took to the sea off Eastney, but the sea was rather rough and we'd hardly got a few yards off shore when one of the boys was violently seasick so we had no option but to abandon our trip and return to shore. The second occasion was a competition involving several boats in the calmer water of Langstone Harbour just off Milton. I am delighted to say I won the competition with a decent catch of whiting!

Photo of me and my winning catch attached, this would have been when I was 11 or 12 in 1961 or 1962.

I do love what you are doing Peter, it brings back so many great memories of happier and less complicated times.

If you ever manage to arrange a re-union of some sort for Court Lane Juniors, I will do my best to attend, although due to other commitments I may not be able to. I would dearly love to track down some old friends from those days, and my first year at Manor Court - not been able to make contact with any. The loss of Friends Re-united has not made research any easier either.

News and Views:

On this day 12th August 1960-1965

On 12/08/1960 the number one single was Please Don't Tease - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the week was First communications satellite launched.

On 12/08/1961 the number one single was You Don't Know - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Top Secret (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 12/08/1962 the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 12/08/1963 the number one single was Sweets For My Sweet - Searchers and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 12/08/1964 the number one single was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the week was Novelist Ian Fleming dies.

On 12/08/1965 the number one single was Help - The Beatles and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Riviera Police (AR) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the week was First woman High Court Judge appointed.