 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsEnglish UsageBritish EnglishESL Teaching Learnglish.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2009=SFTW= Burns Night Special
We can't let Burns Night pass without some Scottish Tam Swifties: "I cannae chow athout ma fause teeth, but I'm obliged tae ye for the scone," said Tam, b________. "I was having an epilectic seizure in Aberdeen and this man just walked past asking me how I was doing," said Tam, ___-____. "I tauld young King James what happinit tae his mother, Mary Quene o Scots," said Tam ________ly. "Do I detect a wee whiff o urine?" said Tam __________ly. James > We can't let Burns Night pass without some Scottish > Tam Swifties: Oh, OK then. > "I cannae chow athout ma fause teeth, but I'm obliged tae ye for > the scone," said Tam, b________. barmily > "I was having an epilectic seizure in Aberdeen and this man just > walked past asking me how I was doing," said Tam, ___-____. in fits. Or perhaps bon-accordant, to get the Aberdeen reference in. Ah, maybe it's "fit like". > "I tauld young King James what happinit tae his mother, Mary > Quene o Scots," said Tam ________ly. incapably > "Do I detect a wee whiff o urine?" said Tam __________ly. incontinently ... or involuntarily Philip Eden >> We can't let Burns Night pass without some Scottish >> Tam Swifties: >> >Oh, OK then. Good man. >> "I cannae chow athout ma fause teeth, but I'm obliged tae ye for >> the scone," said Tam, b________. > >barmily I don't think anyone will ever get this one. The pun combines the scone and the idea of toothless mastication into one archaic Scots word that happens to mean "obliged". >> "I was having an epilectic seizure in Aberdeen and this man just >> walked past asking me how I was doing," said Tam, ___-____. > >in fits. Or perhaps bon-accordant, to get the Aberdeen reference in. >Ah, maybe it's "fit like". Yes, Tam said it fit-like. >> "I tauld young King James what happinit tae his mother, Mary >> Quene o Scots," said Tam ________ly. > >incapably As in decapitated? You're getting there. >> "Do I detect a wee whiff o urine?" said Tam __________ly. > >incontinently ... or involuntarily Not what I was thinking of. James > We can't let Burns Night pass without some Scottish > Tam Swifties: [???] > "I tauld young King James what happinit tae his mother, Mary > Quene o Scots," said Tam ________ly. Heedlessly? > "Do I detect a wee whiff o urine?" said Tam __________ly. Quhizzically? >> We can't let Burns Night pass without some Scottish >> Tam Swifties: [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >Heedlessly? Aye, or heidlessly. James was only one year old when his ma got the chop. >> "Do I detect a wee whiff o urine?" said Tam __________ly. > >Quhizzically? I like it, but the word I was thinking of has a much cruder pun than that. James >>> We can't let Burns Night pass without some Scottish >>> Tam Swifties: [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > I like it, but the word I was thinking of has a much cruder pun > than that. Intrusively. pe >>>> We can't let Burns Night pass without some Scottish >>>> Tam Swifties: [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] >> > Intrusively. If Dickens had written of a farmer who bought in his nitrogen in bulk, might he have called him Urea Heap?  SignatureMike. > We can't let Burns Night pass without some Scottish > Tam Swifties: ... > "I tauld young King James what happinit tae his mother, Mary > Quene o Scots," said Tam ________ly. ... Should that be "Jamie" and "mither"? Or is that only in the cliche version of Scotlan? I'm better at Indian burns--or are they Chinese?--than Scottish. -- Jerry Friedman >> We can't let Burns Night pass without some Scottish >> Tam Swifties: [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >Should that be "Jamie" and "mither"? Or is that only in the cliche >version of Scotlan? No, "mither" is alive and well today (as is "Jamie"), but I was trying to write this line in period language, and the Dictionary of the Older Scots Tongue has "mother" as the most common form for the time. As for the riddle that no one could possibly guess, it's: "I cannae chow athout ma fause teeth, but I'm obliged tae ye for the scone," said Tam, bunsucken. The adjective originally meant "obliged to have all one's corn ground at a certain mill" and was later extended to mean "under an obligation, beholden". The Scottish National Dictionary has an example from 1913: "My caup's no alow your ladle, So I'm no bunsucken tae you." I think this wonderful adjective should not be allowed to die. Finally, I thought the last Scottish Tom Swifty would be easy, but no one got it: "Do I detect a wee whiff o urine?" said Tam suspiciously. James > On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:37:28 -0800 (PST), > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > of the Older Scots Tongue has "mother" as the most common > form for the time. Good heavens. I was heidless of history. > As for the riddle that no one could possibly guess, it's: > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > ground at a certain mill" and was later extended to mean "under > an obligation, beholden". ... I'm bunsucken to you for the explanation. > Finally, I thought the last Scottish Tom Swifty would be easy, > but no one got it: > > "Do I detect a wee whiff o urine?" said Tam suspiciously. *groan* -- Jerry Friedman > "I cannae chow athout ma fause teeth, but I'm obliged tae ye for > the scone," said Tam, bunsucken. "I can eat thish without my choppersh after all," said Tom, by gum. ¬R |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2012 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.