Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[Serial_Apologist]

You tell em, PGT. It reminded me of my years on the west coast, when I could look across the watter, and of this , which with a bit of luck will confuse all these Sassenachs.

I've just remembered this, which created quite a stir at the time:

In August 1975, three men attempted to rob the Royal Bank of Scotland at Rothesay, but, trying to push the revolving doors the wrong way, got stuck. The bank staff kindly extricated them, and, after mumbling their thanks, the robbers sheepishly left.
They returned shortly afterward to announce they were robbing the bank, and demanded five thousand pounds. The staff, still tickled by the revolving door incident, thought the robbers were pulling another practical joke, so they started laughing.
Disheartened by their laughter, the gang leader reduced his demand to five hundred pounds – and this brought a fresh roar of laughter. Nervous and confused, he reduced the demand to fifty pounds, and by this time the cashier was laughing hysterically.
Apparently to demonstrate the seriousness of their demand, one of them jumped over the counter, but fell and hurt his ankle. The other two panicked and ran . . . and got stuck in the revolving doors again.
It took a moment for the bank tellers to realize that the robbery was real.

Sounds like an episode from a Norman Wisdom film!

[visualnickmos]

Nah. Bute's in Caerdydd, as every schoolboy knows.

oohh you Tiger!

[aeolium]

"There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing."

Is this a phrase (like "with the greatest respect") that now conveys its antithesis?

[vinteuil]

"There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing."

Is this a phrase (like "with the greatest respect") that now conveys its antithesis?

Nicely put.

I feel "There is no suggestion... " means - "Look, you and I know he dunnit, he's a rogue an' a villain - but - m'learned friends tell me I'm not allowed to say so - so let's just say, nudge nudge, - "There's no suggestion of any wrongdoing... " - know what I mean?"

[ahinton]

"There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing."

Is this a phrase (like "with the greatest respect") that now conveys its antithesis?

Not always, methinks and, in any case, even when there is a "suggestion of wrongdoing", there's no absolute guarantee that such suggestion is correct and justified; a classic example from this week is that of a certain rather well known person with a Scottish surname that it's probably best that I refrain from mentioning here against whom there have been many suggestions of wrongdoing of which none appears to have been proved correct.

[vinteuil]

... yeah, but he's still a rogue an' a villain.

[ahinton]

... yeah, but he's still a rogue an' a villain.

Who is? (answers had better be on the proverbial postcard, methinks!)...

[mangerton]

Not always, methinks and, in any case, even when there is a "suggestion of wrongdoing", there's no absolute guarantee that such suggestion is correct and justified; a classic example from this week is that of a certain rather well known person with a Scottish surname that it's probably best that I refrain from mentioning here against whom there have been many suggestions of wrongdoing of which none appears to have been proved correct.

So far.

[umslopogaas]

Apologies if this has already been said, I really cant face reading 307 pages to find out.

"Texts will be charged at your usual message rate."

If all the seconds used to tell me that message were added together, we'd have enough time for Wagner's Ring.

If anyone can afford the technology to send a text, how can the few pennies it costs to send a text possibly matter? And why would the text be charged at anything other than the standard rate? And even if for whatever reason it was charged at a premium rate, how could the extra few pennies matter?

[P. G. Tipps]

You tell em, PGT. It reminded me of my years on the west coast, when I could look across the watter, and of this , which with a bit of luck will confuse all these Sassenachs.

I've just remembered this, which created quite a stir at the time:

In August 1975, three men attempted to rob the Royal Bank of Scotland at Rothesay, but, trying to push the revolving doors the wrong way, got stuck. The bank staff kindly extricated them, and, after mumbling their thanks, the robbers sheepishly left.
They returned shortly afterward to announce they were robbing the bank, and demanded five thousand pounds. The staff, still tickled by the revolving door incident, thought the robbers were pulling another practical joke, so they started laughing.
Disheartened by their laughter, the gang leader reduced his demand to five hundred pounds – and this brought a fresh roar of laughter. Nervous and confused, he reduced the demand to fifty pounds, and by this time the cashier was laughing hysterically.
Apparently to demonstrate the seriousness of their demand, one of them jumped over the counter, but fell and hurt his ankle. The other two panicked and ran . . . and got stuck in the revolving doors again.
It took a moment for the bank tellers to realize that the robbery was real.

I know that bank well, mangerton. My late father had a holiday home at Port Bannatyne in the '70s and I used to pop down to Rothesay at weekends with friends. I'll swiftly add that nether myself nor my friends had any connection whatsoever to that wonderful little story.

There is a revealing little colour movie held by the National Library of Scotland which shows the 'Madeira of Scotland' in its glorious heydays ... sadly those days are now long gone and depressing neglect and dilapidation is the current norm in Rothesay, though I recently read that there have been some attempts at a face-lift. The island itself, of course, retains its gentle charm and beauty.

http://movingimage.nls.uk/film/5433

[ahinton]

So far.

Indeed - and, indeed, if any or all of them are eventually proved to be correct after all, that will obviously put a quite different complexion on it; that said, as it would be so easy for the journos concerned to ascertain the correctness or otherwise of any such suggestion/s that, if they're sufficently intent on proving a point, it might behove them to make that effort a.s.a.p. and arrive at a definitive conclusion, since the issue where said well known person with a Scottish surname (for whom, incidentally, I am no apologist otherwise) is concerned is hardly beset by obscurantist esoteric complexity and could be checked on in a matter of minutes by those who know how to do that.

[ahinton]

Apologies if this has already been said, I really cant face reading 307 pages to find out.

"Texts will be charged at your usual message rate."

If all the seconds used to tell me that message were added together, we'd have enough time for Wagner's Ring.

If anyone can afford the technology to send a text, how can the few pennies it costs to send a text possibly matter? And why would the text be charged at anything other than the standard rate? And even if for whatever reason it was charged at a premium rate, how could the extra few pennies matter?

I think that this is intended to point out that said "usual rate" would not be identical for all users and, in many cases, that rate would be zero.

[ahinton]

There is a revealing little colour movie held by the National Library of Scotland which shows the 'Madeira of Scotland' in its glorious heydays ... sadly those days are now long gone and depressing neglect and dilapidation is the current norm in Rothesay, though I recently read that there have been some attempts at a face-lift. The island itself, of course, retains its gentle charm and beauty.

Ah, a face-lift; presumably for the eventual benefit of SNP politicans and their cronies as an offshore financial centre following Scottish independence...

[mangerton]

Ah, a face-lift; presumably for the eventual benefit of SNP politicans and their cronies as an offshore financial centre following Scottish independence...

Probably more for the benefit of the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay.

(Ed - Who them?)
(mangerton - Look it up)

Still, there is one facility in Rothesay which does not require a face lift.

[mangerton]

There is a revealing little colour movie held by the National Library of Scotland which shows the 'Madeira of Scotland' in its glorious heydays ... sadly those days are now long gone and depressing neglect and dilapidation is the current norm in Rothesay, though I recently read that there have been some attempts at a face-lift. The island itself, of course, retains its gentle charm and beauty.


http://movingimage.nls.uk/film/5433

PGT, thanks for posting. There are some wonderful films in the nls archive, and many are available online. They also have an amazing selection of old maps online - well worth a look too.