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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004Urbane Cockneyfication
Once in a while, I get the impression the dictionaries miss something. During our expedition to the interior, the harbour of Reykjavik had become populous with new arrivals. First of all, there was my old friend, the _Reine Hortense_, the Emperor's yacht, a magnificent screw corvette of 1100 tons. I had last parted with her three years ago in the Baltic, after she had towed me for 80 miles on our way from Bomarsund to Stockholm. Then there were two English screw steamers, of about 700 tons each, taken up by the French Government as tenders to the yacht; not to mention a Spanish brig, and one or two other foreigners, which, together with the frigate, the barque, and the vessels we had found here on our first arrival, made the usually deserted bay look quite lively. Until this year no steamers had ever cockneyfied its secluded waters. — Lord Dufferin (Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple Blackwood). _Letters from High Latitudes_, 1859. p. 92. What does cockneyfied mean? cockneyfy v.t. & i. make or become cockney in character E19. So the French steamers made the waters cockney in character. We need the definitions of cockney that have nothing to do with London: 1 An egg; a small misshapen egg (= cock's egg s.v. COCK n.1). LME. 2 A pampered child; a milksop. Long obs. exc. dial. LME. b A wanton or squeamish woman. Only in E17. 3 A person who lives in a town, regarded as effeminate, affected, or weakly. L16-E19. Did the steamers make the waters of Reykjavik like a small, misshapen egg? Or like a pampered child (an obsolete usage even in the 19th century)? A wanton or squeamish woman (also obsolete)? Or like an effeminate person who lives in a town? One definition is missing: the steamers made the waters urbane, and this was something positive in the eyes of the aristocratic writer. My definitions are taken from the NSOED. Does the OED catch this usage?  SignatureSimon R. Hughes On topic, and non-anti-American. On 17 Jan 2004, Simon R. Hughes wrote > Once in a while, I get the impression the dictionaries miss > something. > > Until this year no steamers had ever cockneyfied its secluded > waters. -snip- > What does cockneyfied mean? > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > character. We need the definitions of cockney that have > nothing to do with London: -snip further definitions- > One definition is missing: the steamers made the waters > urbane, and this was something positive in the eyes of the > aristocratic writer. Interesting. I would have taken it entirely differently, and definitely negative in tone: that the steamers had coarsened the setting/made it more "common". (Which remains a missing definition.) SignatureCheers, Harvey Ottawa/Toronto/Edmonton for 30 years; Southern England for the past 21 years. (for e-mail, change harvey to whhvs) > On 17 Jan 2004, Simon R. Hughes wrote > [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > (Which remains a missing definition.) I agree that the tone is more likely negative than positive. Surely "cockneyfied" is used *contemptuously*? Take a look at the etymology comment for 'cockney' at: http://wordreference.com/english/definition.asp?en=cockney SignatureChristopher (Change 3032 to 3232 to reply by private e-mail) > On 17 Jan 2004, Simon R. Hughes wrote > [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > definitely negative in tone: that the steamers had coarsened the > setting/made it more "common". I'm going by the writer's attitude to the French in the rest of the book. He is happy for their gay company; he dines with the prince aboard the yacht; he is grateful when he is offered a tow to Jan Mayen; he is glad to have them around. I also find it a little far-fetched that an early Victorian (the voyage was undertaken in 1856) would regard urbanity as something less than desirable. This is the only mention of anything negative, if it is negative. Perhaps it has something to do with the mere fact that the ships are not sailers, but are instead billowing black smoke into the pristine surroundings (a loss of innocence). > (Which remains a missing definition.) SignatureSimon R. Hughes On topic, and non-anti-American. > [ . . . ] > together with the frigate, the barque, and the vessels we > had found here on our first arrival, made the usually > deserted bay look quite lively. Until this year no > steamers had ever cockneyfied its secluded waters. Figurative. Reykjavic Harbour temporarily became as busy and as dirty with smoke as the Thames of the day. Richard Chambers Leeds UK. > Once in a while, I get the impression the dictionaries miss > something. [quoted text clipped - 48 lines] > My definitions are taken from the NSOED. Does the OED catch this > usage? It seems to me that the meaning intended by the author is likely to be the following: From *The Century Dictionary* at www.century-dictionary.com [quote] cockneyfication [...], _n._ [< _cock- neyfy :_ see _-fy_ and _-ation._] The act of subject- ing, or the state of being subjected, to the ways and influences of London or of the Londerners. With regard to most romantic sites in England, there is a sort of average _cockneyfication_ with which you must make your account. _H. James. Jr., Portraits of Places, p. 248. [end quote] A Google search shows *Portraits of Places* to have been written in 1884. SignatureRaymond S. Wise Minneapolis, Minnesota USA E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com > Once in a while, I get the impression the dictionaries miss > something. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > ¡X Lord Dufferin > What does cockneyfied mean? > > My definitions are taken from the NSOED. Does the OED catch this > usage? OED :- << trans. To imbue with cockney qualities, to render ¡¥cockney¡¦; intr. to become ¡¥cockney¡¦. Hence "cockneyfied ppl. a.; also "cockneyfying ppl. a. and vbl. n., cockneyfi"cation. 1821 Byron Let. 26 Apr., I think he [Keats]+was spoilt by Cockneyfying+and versifying Tooke's Pantheon and Lempriere's Dictionary. 1829 M. Howitt Let. in Mem. Alaric Watts (1884) II. 5 Of Keats' other writings I know nothing. I fancy them too fantastical, too cockneyfied, pardon the ugly word. 1871 Carlyle in Mrs. Carlyle's Lett. III. 200 In the disastrous, dust-covered, cockneyfying parts. 1875 M. Collins Th. in Garden (1880) II. v. 176 The grand old wood was rather cockneyfied+haunted by ponies, donkeys, and canaille. 1883 H. James Portr. Places 248 With regard to most romantic sites in England, there is a sort of average cockneyfication with which you must make your account. 1930 Time & Tide 21 Feb. 235/1 How are we to prevent this cockneyfication of the English language? >> -- John Dean Oxford De-frag to reply > Once in a while, I get the impression the dictionaries miss > something. [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > 3 A person who lives in a town, regarded as effeminate, > affected, or weakly. L16-E19. It's in the Dictionary of American English. From 1830-1900 "cockney" was used to mean "a townsman." Quotes show it is mostly used in quite a similar way as to yours: typically the speaker says gloomily how the rugged beauties of the beloved countryside have not yet been befouled by cockney tourists ("of Broadway and Bond Street," says one, which makes clear to us it's not just London). But "cockneyfy" is not shown, and it looks rather nonce. SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux |
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