Mould-on-the-Wold

[Geoff Bannister]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboyminn at ...> wrote:

Geoff: 
> > Jelly was traditionally made in a moulded glass container. The
> > phrase is  sometimes used to describe things such as cars which
> > have exaggerated curves. ...

bboyminn: 
> And, though you probably know, Jelly in the USA, is a fruit based clear spread for bread or toast, that is made primarily of concentrated fruit juice and pectin. 

Geoff:
I presume this is something like marmlade, which is an orange preserve 
almost universally used for toast at breakfast-time.

bboymin:
> Also, in what way would you use the word 'jelly' to describe a car. Could you give us a sample sentence? 

Geoff:
Sorry, I didn't make myself totally clear. Sierras and similar shaped cars 
were sometimes referred to as "jelly mould" cars - usually a disparaging 
description because of their shape.

bboymin:
> As to the original name 'Mould-on-the-Wold', that doesn't even make a lot of sense in English. Beyond '-on-the-'usually meaning 'on the river'. Or perhaps Mould on the forest, or Mould by the forest. 

Geoff:
Stow-on-the-Wold actually means Stow-on-the-hill, that being the 
local meaning of "wold".

bboymin: 
> I think 'Ottery St. Catchpole' is nonsensical unless you understand (and hopefully I'm correct) that it means the village of St. Catchpole on the Otter River. 

Geoff:
Yes, it's modelled on Ottery St. Mary, near Exeter, which is a village 
based round the church of St.Mary and is on the Otter river.

bboymin: 
> Again, unless a name of a person or a town makes absolutely no sense in another language, or as in the case of 'Moody' has an alternate impolite meaning in the local native language, I see no reason to change these names. It immensely complicate the story and makes it that much harder to keep track of the subtle little clues that JRK dropped here and there.

Geoff:
I think we need to bear in mind that JKR didn't envisage the impact 
of her books at this point and was writing for an anticipated British 
readership. All the little "in" jokes and wordplays such as Diagon Alley, 
Apparition, Durmstrang and such like would be understood by her target 
readers without the need for extensive and joke-killing explanations.