Plebs 0 Toffs 1?

[ahinton]

Well I most definitely fall within the socioeconomic stratum that one might call 'the working class'

Ah - in the same category as HM the Queen, then - at least to the extent of the observation by Duke of some Scottish place many years ago that his wife works, very hard, so she's working class.

[MrGongGong]

I'm not objecting to "left" you great oatcake. I'm objecting to "the left" which has moved, always will move, depending on where the centre is and as such is a largely redundant term unless historically defined. "The left" as you use it now - is it a sneer at the left of Wilson and Brown; or of Blair and Brown?

Am 51 please don't tell them that some things are relative , it will totally destroy the whole universe.......... I do wonder though how Scotty and our Derbyshire friend manage to navigate if their map is upside down ? :yikes:

[Thropplenoggin]

One thing that can be said in scottycelt's favour is that he has never concealed his Neanderthal nature: he wears it like a badge of honour in his avatar. :whistle:

[JFLL]

... 'Plebs' was always a most unlikely term of 'abuse' these days, and that in itself should have raised suspicion of its alleged use.

I agree -- I haven't heard the word 'pleb' for years. (Though police usage has always seemed to lag a bit behind the times. Remember 'I was proceeding in a northerly direction when I was accosted by .....?) Surely the contemporary antonym of 'toff' is 'prole' or 'chav'?

[An_Inspector_Calls]

All it shows is that the police officer held to have leaked some of the content of the notebooks of those officers directly involved in the confrontation has been putatively identified.

Since you're thirsting for precision here, neither report mentions the notebooks. And to correct your omission, both reports also mention that the arrested police officer was not even in Donwning Street at the time of the incident.

[vinteuil]

In any case, if the word 'pleb' is now considered unacceptable so surely should the equally silly 'toff'.

... my ma always maintained that you were only really a toff if you had dukes on both sides of the family.

So we weren't really toffs at all... :whistle:

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

.. and further the Met Commissioner has boasted that the truth of the matter is extraordinary but has not seen fit to burden us with it [yet]


... it is not all the shilly shally about who said what to who[m????omg :yikes:] but the sheer poetic delight of the phrase 'effin plebs' and its pointed aptness for contemporary politics ...

[teamsaint]

Re the OP, to summarise, some politicians tell porkies, the OB aren't always squeaky clean. Is there anything I have missed?

[An_Inspector_Calls]

Re the OP, to summarise, some politicians tell porkies, the OB aren't always squeaky clean. Is there anything I have missed?

Only the growing possibility that some politicians don't lie, that some OB do tell porkies and because of that innocent people suffer. Similar old story, but not the one you want to hear in this case.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

looks like it will turn out to be a Toffs own goal

[handsomefortune]

i have noticed so many things that i associate with 80s tory reign have been revived recently....but wouldn't be in the least surprised that 'pleb' might still be in use by some. especially, as toffs tend to 'look the other way' when someone else gets the chance to make a hash of governing the country. this way tories can maintain their backward looking fantasies unhindered.

fancy them falling out with the met in the first place though! (whodabelievedit)? it's typically careless, as in wreckless imo.

[anotherbob]

looks like it will turn out to be a Toffs own goal

What with one thing and another http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...s-8422961.html Mr. Milibean will have some excellent ammo for the next PMQs. Should the thread title be revised in the light of these two ogs?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I always encourage my flute pupils to pose as toffs. If they put their noses in the air, it can help to improve their tone and produce cleaner notes in the 2nd and 3rd octaves. :winkeye:

[scottycelt]

I'm not objecting to "left" you great oatcake. I'm objecting to "the left" which has moved, always will move, depending on where the centre is and as such is a largely redundant term unless historically defined. "The left" as you use it now - is it a sneer at the left of Wilson and Brown; or of Blair and Brown?

It's not a sneer, amsey, you little leek, you ... the Labour Party is described in WIKI as 'centre-left' ... I think that is a description to which most reasonably perceptive observers would probably ascribe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Party_(UK)

Logically ... I know that established and recognised concept will almost certainly be dismissed as nonsense by your goodself and others here ... if there is a 'centre-left' there must also be a 'left' as indeed a 'right'. There are always extremes in such matters. Sometimes politicians in largely centrist parties play to the extremists on the wings in order to curry votes and support.

Dennis Skinner, a proud and dauntless Man of the Left if ever there were one, is always going on about 'toffs' and sometimes Ed feels the need to rally the troops and indulge in the same nonsense. Cameron does the same with his being 'tough with Europe' .. a godsend to the ears of the largely xenophobic 'right'.

Haven't you ever noticed ... ?

[scottycelt]

One thing that can be said in scottycelt's favour is that he has never concealed his Neanderthal nature: he wears it like a badge of honour in his avatar. :whistle:

Welcome back yet again, 'John' ... your own avatar is itself a bit of a give-away! :laugh: ... amsey complained about my original intelligent, handsome-looking one which is undoubtedly the real 'me' so I had to change it! :grr: