Cabbage-smelling Brits, US/UK slang, slightly OT

[frankielee242]

No: HPFGUIDX 42919

Eloise wrote:- 
>  I rigorousy deny that when I get old (or even older!) that my house 
> will inevitably smell of cabbage because of my nationality!
>     >>>snip<<<
> Or is your point that cabbage is particularly English? Do you think 
> an old  Welsh person's house smell of leeks or an old Scottish 
> person's of neeps?
> > What do elderly Americans' houses smell of?


Pervasive cabbage and cat smells struck me as JKR's funny caricatures
of those particular people. Who on earth would take cats on a camping
trip? Mrs. Figg must be a lousy cook-- even her chocolate cake tasted
blah to Harry (either PS/SS or Cos, I don't have the books at work). 

Um, leeks and cabbage I can understand, but what the heck are neeps?

As far as the smell of the U.S elderly, it depends on which State and
which ethnic neighborhood of which city you're in... My grandmother's
house smells like turpentine and oil paints (even when she's cooking
Christmas dinner), so I can't hold that up as a generalization. 



Bboy says:-
> > >I think Mrs. Figg is going to be the obvious, an old witch who 
> lived near Harry to keep an eye on him.
 
Ali wrote: 
> Bboy you could well be right - but that is the beauty about the 
> Potter verse at the moment there are still lots of possible 
> interpretations. Only JKR can prove us right or wrong.


And she keeps proving us wrong again and again and again. I love
reading everyone's posts! It's so much fun to debate it all! *rocks
back and forth murmuring "OoP is due out next year, OoP is due out
next year"*  =P


I have a slightly OT question for the English HPfGU members. There
isn't much evidence for or against this in any of the HP books, so
here goes-- Do you guys give each other serious nick-names while
you're kids in school? Not insulting or funny nick-names, but actual,
every-day use names? 

For instance, odd shortenings of given names like "Char" for Charles,
"Fling" for Flemming or "Raz" for Erasmus; plays on physical
characteristics like "Cryp" (short for "cripple"-- the injured party
came up with it himself, so don't yell at me) or "Arnold" for one of
the gargantuan women shot-putters; and personality traits such as
"Smutt" for a gentleman of easy virtue? Even teachers over here use
these names. They even referred to "Spooge" as... well, "Spooge." 

A skip in the U.K. is a dumpster in the U.S., so... would you guys
actually give anyone, affectionately or otherwise, the nick-name "Skip"?


Frankie, who was known as "L" from 1990 to 1992.