Series of articles – Part 2 of 5
D is for…
1. Dean
The administrative head of a college, university faculty or cathedral.
2. Debit card
Like a credit card, but the money is taken directly from your bank account (as long as you have any in it).
3. DIY
Do-it-yourself. The male of the species particularly can be spotted at large DIY stores at weekends looking to purchase equipment to improve his domicile.
4. Dog’s life.
“It’s a dog’s life.” A common complaint about the monotony or harshness of existence. (Though dogs seen to have it pretty easy to me.)
5. Double decker
A bus with an upstairs.
6. Druids
A pre-Christian / pagan order of priests and their followers.
7. DINKY
An acronym describing a working couple devoid of the pleasures of having offspring: Double Income No Kids.
8. Duke
The highest ranking peer. There are only 30 including the 6 royal dukes. A duke’s wife is a duchess and the lands they hold are known as the Duchy.
9. Dumbing down
Making things less intellectually challenging; a charge commonly levelled at examination pass marks.
10. Dubya
Nickname of George W. Bush, used to distinguish him from his father. Also the title of the Oliver Stone bio-pic.
E is for…
1. Earl
Third highest title after duke and marquess.
2. Egg-head
A clever or knowledgeable person.
3. Edinburgh Festival
The largest arts festival in Europe held in August and September and noted for its fringe events.
4. Eisteddfod
A Welsh festival of music, dancing and literature.
5. English breakfast
Traditionally a cooked meal not for the faint-hearted; it may comprise cereal such as porridge, toast and marmalade, eggs and bacon, kippers (smoked fish), tea or coffee.
“If you want to eat well in England, eat three breakfasts.” W. Somerset Maugham.
6. Eton College
One of the oldest public – that is private – fee-paying schools, famous for producing politicians.
7. ETA
Expected time of arrival.
8. Ex
Previous partner. Ex-wife. “I still get on well with my ex.”
9. ET
Extra-terrestrial. An alien from another planet.
10. Essex
County east of London. Despite boasting Colchester, the oldest recorded Roman town and previous capital of England, and having the longest pleasure pier in the world, the county is popularly associated with the following natives:
Essex girl. A type of unintelligent and materialistic young woman who emerged in the late 1980s as the equivalent of Essex man and who became the butt of a variety of politically incorrect jokes.
Essex man. A type of socially ungraced Conservative voter, typically a self-made businessman…who in the late 1908s worshipped the consumer-oriented gospel of Thatcherism.
(Definitions from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 1999.)
F is for…
1. FA
The Football Association controls (or tries to) professional and amateur football in Britain. The FA cup is a knock-out competition, the final of which is watched by even those who wouldn’t normally be interested in the sport.
2. Fifth of November
An annual celebration of the failed plot to blow up the house of parliament in 1604. Also known as Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Day, it is not a national holiday, but people gather outside in the evening to eat jacket potatoes and have a barbeque around a fire on which an effigy of Guy Fawkes (one of the plotters) is burnt and watch fireworks.
3. Fleet Street
The old centre of newspaper publishers in London. A term meaning the press.
4. Fresher
First-year university student. Freshers’ week is the period of activities when new arrivals are encouraged to join clubs and societies and engage in social activities often involving the copious consumption of liquid refreshments.
5. Footsie
Colloquial term for the Financial Times- Stock Exchange 100 Index, which records the share movements of selected top companies. It can be compared to the Dow-Jones in the US.
6. Frontbencher
An MP allowed to sit on the front bench of the House of Commons by right of being a minister or shadow minister.
7. Four-letter word
Anglo-Saxon words denoting sexual or excretory actions or bodily parts until recently considered too rude to broadcast or print.
8. Fish & chips
The traditional English take away food, deep fried and wrapped in a sheet of newspaper.
9. Falklands
A small group of islands in the South Atlantic off the coast of Argentina, claimed by The UK as a British overseas territory. Britain sent its navy to recapture them after an Argentinean invasion in 1982, resulting in 258 British and 649 Argentinian deaths. The Falklands with their fewer than 3,000 inhabitants remain British.
10. FCUK
The initials of the fashion company French Connection United Kingdom.
Continue reading the Third Part of this five part series here…
If you prefer to go BACK to the First Part of this five part series you may do so here…
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