The Gold, Silver and Bronze pro-Olympics Thread

[Nick Armstrong]

the only drawback was the relentless droning drivel of commentator

That, for me (having utterly failed to be allocated any tickets), is the motto of this Olympic experience.

You could place almost any name after the word 'commentator'. It's terrible how absence of class is riddling the BBC, whether it be sport or classical music on R3. Some gems still in there, delivering interest and sensible enthusiasm and background expertise and preparation - but precious, precious few

[vinteuil]

killOMeter! The pronunciation is KILometre, .

Ferret - ah, but which do you use - "gar- AARJH" - "gar-AADGE" - " GARR- idge" ??

In my own circle I might tend to the first.
But if the 'bus is going to "Willesden Garage" - I might find it safer to use the last...

[Lateralthinking1]

Ferret - ah, but which do you use - "gar- AARJH" - "gar-AADGE" - " GARR- idge" ??

In my own circle I might tend to the first.
But if the 'bus is going to "Willesden Garage" - I might find it safer to use the last...

How do you pronounce 'spinach'?

[amateur51]

That, for me (having utterly failed to be allocated any tickets), is the motto of this Olympic experience.

You could place almost any name after the word 'commentator'. It's terrible how absence of class is riddling the BBC, whether it be sport or classical music on R3. Some gems still in there, delivering interest and sensible enthusiasm and background expertise and preparation - but precious, precious few

Bring back the old originals, eh Cali? - they knew how to do it!

John Snagge, University Boat Race !950s "Oxford are ahead. No, Cambridge are ahead. I don't know who's ahead - but it's either Oxford or Cambridge."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WpiTa7azQs

"The fleet's lit up"

[Nick Armstrong]

Bring back the old originals, eh Cali? - they knew how to do it!

John Snagge, University Boat Race !950s "Oxford are ahead. No, Cambridge are ahead. I don't know who's ahead - but it's either Oxford or Cambridge."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WpiTa7azQs

"The fleet's lit up"

But at least the old boys and girls b*gg*red it up with STYLE!!

[amateur51]

But at least the old boys and girls b*gg*red it up with STYLE!!

<porkproducts>

[vinteuil]

How do you pronounce 'spinach'?

... we took "garage" relatively recently from the ffrench - hence its tentative and halting changes into a complete anglicisation.

"Spinach" we anglicised * pretty early on from espinards. I'm happy calling it "spinnidge". And I love it : and not just because it was Stendhal's favourite veggie...

EDIT - I need to correct myself re: spinach.
The OED advises -

"Old French espinage, espinache = Catalan espinach, Spanish espinaca, Italian spinace, Romanian spenac, medieval Latin spinachia (spinachium), spinacia (spinacium). Of doubtful origin. Compare Middle Dutch spinage, spinagie, spinaetse (Dutch spinazie, Flemish spinagie), Low German spinase, spinaxe, obsolete German spinacie, spinasch, German dialect spinaz, Middle High German and Germanic spinat (whence Danish spinat, Swedish spenat).
The difficult problem of the ultimate origin of the word is complicated by variation of the ending in the Romanic languages. In addition to espinache, espinage, Old French had also espinoche (still in dialect use), espinoce = Mediaeval Latin spinochia, and espinarde, espinar (French épinard) = Provencal espinarc, mediaeval Latin spinarium, spinargium. Portuguese exhibits the further variant espinafre. By older writers the stem of these forms was supposed to be Latin spina, in allusion to the prickly seeds of a common species. De Vic considers the various forms to be adoptions of Arabic isfinaj, Persian isfanaj, ispanak, aspanakh, but it is doubtful whether these are really native words. It is difficult to explain either the Romanic or the Oriental forms from the synonymous Hispanicum olus recorded from the 16th century and represented by older French herbe d'Espaigne."

* OED's early English examples: 1530, PALSGR. 274. Spynnage an herbe, espinars. 1568 TURNER Herbal III. 71. Spinage or spinech is an herbelately found and not long in use.

[amateur51]

... we took "garage" relatively recently from the ffrench - hence its tentative and halting changes into a complete anglicisation.

"Spinach" we anglicised pretty early on from espinards. I'm happy calling it "spinnidge". And I love it : and not just because it was Stendhal's favourite veggie...

But had Stendahl had a chance to eat frozen peas?!

[Lateralthinking1]

Mark-Anthony Turn..........?

[Nick Armstrong]

and not just because it was Stendhal's favourite veggie...

I can almost hear the ragamuffins of Shepherd's Bush assembling rotten fruit and vegetable-based missiles for your next outing, vinjaune!

(I might have to start organising them, like Sherlock H and his Baker Street Irregulars )

[mangerton]

But at least the old boys and girls b*gg*red it up with STYLE!!

Exactly! STYLE! And some of them didn't b*gg*r it up at all.

[amateur51]

Exactly! STYLE! And some of them didn't b*gg*r it up at all.

Some of them did it with mischief aforethought: "The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey"

[salymap]

Andy Murray won in three sets to get an Olympic Gold and beat the Federer jinx. A REALLY GOOD MATCH.

[Nick Armstrong]

Some of them did it with mischief aforethought: "The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey"

And some perhaps inadvertent... e.g. "There's Neil Harvey standing at leg-slip with his legs wide apart, waiting for a tickle"

Which to return to the Olympic theme, of course reminds one of David Coleman's immortal "Now Juantorena opens his legs and really shows his class."

Oh! and yes! Bravo Andy Murray. A great Scottish victory!

[Northender]

The lady wife and I have now watched, in all, some three and a half hours of Olympics coverage - all of it tennis - and are really thrilled by Andy's gold medal. Let's hope that he and Laura Robson can now go on and silence the dreaded Azarenka The Yelper.