Every day is a school day

[Hughie]

I was a Preventive Officer.
Family researchers have often asked what is a Preventive officer. They were customs uniformed officers as distinct from clerical customs officers collecting excise revenue from an office situation.

[morag]

Okay...and in English, basically polis..just teasin' Hughie, I know there is the need. That wiz awfy wurdy tho,, ken.

[brian f]

I learned these facts the last couple of days.

Scotland has approximately 790 islands, 130 of which are inhabited.

The first Reservists in the British Army to actually engage with the enemy in World War One did so on Halloween in 1914.

They were the men of the London Scottish Regiment, who travelled the final distance to the front line in red London buses, similar to the ones that many of them had used to go to work in civilian occupations right up to the declaration of war a few months earlier.

The London Scottish was largely made up, as the name suggests, of Scots working in professions and businesses across the city.

[morag]

Every day IS a schoolday. I haven't learned much, myself, so far, apart from the good posts here, but I'm yet to face the world. It gets more tempting each day to 'bide awa' than to 'Keep right on to' ..I usually like Mondays..new start and all, but this is our garbage day..so early on big truck noises. Mibbe I'm just a tad more cranky than usual. Helicopters overnight, the usual traffic noise..funny..when I first came here, before marriage, my hub to be's parents lived in a semi mountain area and he worried I wouldn't be able to sleep because of the quiet..slept like a log..as they say..

[Penny Tray]

Today, under a heading 'SWIMMING' in an 1893 newspaper I came across the GLASGOW AQUATIC FOOTBALL results.

WATER POLO before it became water polo was apparently AQUATIC FOOTBALL. Every day is a school day.

I wonder if Saltcoats with its history of swimming ponds had a team?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilson_(aquatics)

[morag]

I couldn't swim 'til an adult, PT, then not so much a swimmer as a splasher around, did teach my kids tho'..paddle, paddle kick kick kick, Amazingly, they are all decent swimmers. My memories of Saltcoats bathing pool..not so good.

[brian f]

Duddies,( well worn clothes) is an interesting word i learned today . I should think members, who have good knowledge of Rabbie Burns, might know this word.



Researching the word "duddies" i found this following information from the Scotsman newspaper.

THE world ‘dude’ is so ingrained in the global consciousness that it transcends cultural boundaries with the same ease that it slopes off the tongue.

Thanks to its widespread use in blockbuster film and TV shows its positive meaning - as a man or woman of character - is known, appreciated and understood around the world.

In fact, it could be argued, referring to someone as a dude is up there with the handshake when it comes to universally understood interactions.

What comes as a surprise, however, is that its roots can be traced to the Scottish word ‘duddies’.

‘Duddies’ refer to ragged or tattered clothes and originated from Ayrshire.

[morag]

Brian, duds is used here by many as just meaning clothing, it can be used for work clothes or dressy clothes or anything in between, depending on the adjective...as in, if asked to do some garden chores my son might say, o.k..just let me go put on my grubby duds..amazing how long it takes him to find them!

[Penny Tray]

Morag,

Burns used "duds" in several poems - as in The Battle of Sherramuir-

"To hear the thuds, and see the cluds
O clans frae woods, in tartan duds,
Wa glaum'd at kingdoms three, man."

[brian f]

Meg the mods .... am a confirmed copycat . learned what the meaning was tonight (dots)


Ellipsis (plural ellipses; from the Ancient Greek: ἔλλειψις, élleipsis, "omission" or "falling short") is a series of dots that usually indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning.[1] Depending on their context and placement in a sentence, ellipses can also indicate an unfinished thought, a leading statement, a slight pause, or a nervous or awkward silence. Aposiopesis is the use of an ellipsis to trail off into silence—for example: "But I thought he was . . ." When placed at the beginning or end of a sentence, the ellipsis can also inspire a feeling of melancholy or longing.

[Meg]

Well done Brian! I know I use ellipsis a lot, it really does get over what I'm trying to convey. Now if only we could get others using them ...

[morag]

I think I over use them..