 |
 | 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 / British English / December 2005Defy or mar
Las week the occupier of what they called a 'help desk' wrote to me "...(such and such) is a fact which I hope you would not defy or mar." Would anyone care to guess what he thought he was saying and what language he thought it in?  SignatureJohn B > Las week the occupier of what they called a 'help desk' wrote to me > "...(such and such) is a fact which I hope you would not defy or mar." > > Would anyone care to guess what he thought he was saying and what > language he thought it in? Deny or demur? Language- Spell Czech, perhaps. Paul Burke | Las week the occupier of what they called a 'help desk' wrote to me | "...(such and such) is a fact which I hope you would not defy or mar." | | Would anyone care to guess what he thought he was saying and Do what you are told, without question :-( Do not rock the boat :-( | what | language he thought it in? Management speak. :-(((( SignatureDave Fawthrop <hyphen Hyphenologist.co.uk> Register your mobile phone IMEI *free* on http://www.menduk.org/. Keep the username and password. If it gets stolen report it your provider to get it blocked. To hopefully get it back report on http://www.menduk.org/ or 08701 123 123. >> Las week the occupier of what they called a 'help desk' wrote to me >> "...(such and such) is a fact which I hope you would not defy or [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Do what you are told, without question :-( > Do not rock the boat :-( That may have been what he thought he was saying, but that is not what the words mean. SignatureJohn Briggs > Las week the occupier of what they called a 'help desk' wrote to me > "...(such and such) is a fact which I hope you would not defy or mar." > > Would anyone care to guess what he thought he was saying and what > language he thought it in? mar=damage, disfigure >> Las week the occupier of what they called a 'help desk' wrote to me >> "...(such and such) is a fact which I hope you would not defy or >> mar." Would anyone care to guess what he thought he was saying and what >> language he thought it in? > > mar=damage, disfigure I think you have missed the point of the question. The meaning of the words does not match the intended meaning of the sentence. SignatureJohn Briggs >>> Las week the occupier of what they called a 'help desk' wrote to me >>> "...(such and such) is a fact which I hope you would not defy or [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > I think you have missed the point of the question. The meaning of > the words does not match the intended meaning of the sentence. Possibly. As to the meaning...gobbledygook obviously. >>>> Las week the occupier of what they called a 'help desk' wrote to me >>>> "...(such and such) is a fact which I hope you would not defy or [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Possibly. As to the meaning...gobbledygook obviously. Not so obviously. It was intended to mean something like "reject, completely or in part." SignatureJohn Briggs > > Las week the occupier of what they called a 'help desk' wrote to me > > "...(such and such) is a fact which I hope you would not defy or mar." [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > mar=damage, disfigure Used in The Potteries in the sense of "spoil", particularly in the phrase "a marred (or mardy) arse" - a spoilt child or person. > Used in The Potteries in the sense of "spoil", particularly in the > phrase "a marred (or mardy) arse" - a spoilt child or person. Same in the East Midlands in the early 1960s (I'll leave you to guess how I know). Some citations from the OED entry: 1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 34/1 A boy who cries with pain is called by his fellows a mardy baby. 1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers vi. 127 Now, Miriam, said Maurice, you come an' 'ave a go. No, she cried, shrinking back. Ha! baby. The mardy-kid! said her brothers. 1915 I Rainbow i. 12 Young Tom, whom he called a mardy baby. a1930 I Phoenix II (1968) 170 As for Harold, he was all right. He was very respectable and a bit of a mardy, perhaps+but he was all right. 1959 J. Braine Vodi i. 22 Don't be so bloody soft, man, Tom said. I don't want to go. You're mardy. You're dead mardy. 1961 J. I. M. Stewart Man who won Pools 35 'E were a mardy one as a nipper, our Phil. 1975 D. Clark Premedicated Murder v. 83 You can get all mardy about it if you like, said Green, unabashed. Giles |
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.