Brit-Speak Q&A

footfootfoot • Dec 28, 2009 3:16 pm
What means "Dickie Bird"? as in

On a tree by a river a little tom-tit
Sang "Willow, titwillow, titwillow!"
And I said to him, "Dicky-bird, why do you sit
Singing Willow, titwillow, titwillow'?"
Sundae • Dec 28, 2009 3:20 pm
- Dicky bird is a small bird. Little bird would probably be the most accurate translation.
- Dicky can also mean ill, ie a dicky tummy, or a dicky ticker (heart)
- Dicky Bird was a famous cricket umpire (Dick and Dicky being a nicknames for Richard in the last century)
DanaC • Dec 28, 2009 3:24 pm
Also used in the context of silence/isolation: not a dicky bird.
footfootfoot • Dec 28, 2009 3:24 pm
Thanks, luvs. ;)
Undertoad • Dec 28, 2009 3:42 pm
The on-air pseudonym of the main character in the film Comfort and Joy.
Clodfobble • May 17, 2010 1:38 pm
Explain this one to me, if you please:

Your children's television program Charlie & Lola has been imported over here for many years. On the Disney website, there are a number of themed games you can play, one of which is Flip-Flop: an analog to our game of "memory," except instead of precisely matching the images under the cards, you are to match things in logical pairs, like the pirate with the pirate ship, etc.

First off, I have trouble with the so-called correct match of a mermaid and fish sticks... "because mermaids always eat niblets of the sea!" That's weird enough in itself, but cannibal mermaids notwithstanding, I simply can't fathom this one:

The Lion matches The Toothbrush. "Because lions are always stealing your toothbrush!"

WTF?
Shawnee123 • May 17, 2010 2:16 pm
The lions are lyin' about your toothbrush? Huh?

That post cracked me up! :)

Yeah, why the hell would mermaids eat seafood? I've always used that as my excuse for hating crustaceans. And you never see fat mermaids. They probably eat kelp all the damn time!
Pie • May 17, 2010 3:25 pm
Most fish eat smaller fish. Q.E.D.
Shawnee123 • May 17, 2010 3:43 pm
But, does a centaur eat smaller horses? Do cow-people eat smaller cows? Do mole people eat smaller moles? :D
Clodfobble • May 17, 2010 3:58 pm
Pie wrote:
Most fish eat smaller fish. Q.E.D.


Yabbut, how do they bread and fry them underwater?
monster • May 17, 2010 3:59 pm
Are you sure it's British? Standards must've slipped after I left ....oh no wait, my kids watched Teletubbies... :lol:
lumberjim • May 17, 2010 4:00 pm
Clodfobble;656842 wrote:
Yabbut, how do they bread and fry them underwater?



OBVIOUSLY you don't watch enough SpongeBob
HungLikeJesus • May 17, 2010 11:51 pm
And the little mermaid wore an alge-bra.
kerosene • May 18, 2010 12:29 am
lumberjim;656844 wrote:
OBVIOUSLY you don't watch enough SpongeBob


Yeah, those fish sticks probably came from the chum bucket.
HungLikeJesus • May 18, 2010 12:51 am
By-the-way, it seems that every time I go away for a week someone changes their user name.
squirell nutkin • May 18, 2010 12:55 am
It's like the cellar's own witness protection program.
HungLikeJesus • May 18, 2010 12:57 am
Ah, yes, the witless protection program, squirell foot.
squirell nutkin • May 18, 2010 8:32 am
Ah you were missed hlj, but you've proven I can run but I can't hide.
Beest • May 18, 2010 12:41 pm
Clodfobble;656812 wrote:
The Lion matches The Toothbrush. "Because lions are always stealing your toothbrush!"


mangy Scousers:rolleyes:
monster • May 18, 2010 1:28 pm
Surely they'd be the Liver Birds, not the Lions.
monster • May 18, 2010 1:29 pm
You're right, cf, it's make no sense what-so-fucking-ever and I apologise on behalf of most of my fellow countrymen.
DanaC • May 18, 2010 1:31 pm
The lions and toothbrush thing will be a reference, (I imagine) to some of the regular events in the stories. The programme is based on a series of children's books. I daresay in one of those stories lions keep stealing the toothbush :P
monster • May 18, 2010 1:36 pm
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Charlie-and-Lolas-Numbers/Lauren-Child/e/9780763635343
limey • May 18, 2010 2:20 pm
DanaC;657015 wrote:
...toothbush :P


:nuts:
Clodfobble • May 18, 2010 3:07 pm
monster's link wrote:
Everyone knows that Lola has one brother, Charlie. But open this whimsical counting book to learn that she also has two toothbrushes (one for her and one for her lion friend)...


Okay, I guess it's a show reference. Still. Very weird.