This week Mr Slang writes in praise of Simenon's great detective: "a very French policeman, compounded of French characteristics and set among the most clichéd of French backgrounds"... I am reading Maigret. Tout Maigret, since it is (a) Maigret in his entirety, and (b) in French. I am not showing off, ... Read More...
About Author Profile: Jonathon Green
Jonathon Green continues his series on English linguistic xenophobia with a crack at the Germans - and finds that slang hasn't been quite as unkind to them as you might think... Has anyone seen a Germin band, Germin Band, Germin Band? I want my Fritz, What plays tiddley bits On the big trombone! Robert Tressell ... Read More...
This week, a hero of slang who showed that size does matter - in this case, the size of your list of terms for the you-know-what... Of the many canards that assail the object of my life’s toil and linguistic affections is that of verbal inadequacy, the mockery by the loquaciously ... Read More...
A ribald, rollicking historical treat for you this week, as Mr Slang brings to vivid life the world of the 'penny gaff' theatres of London... It is impossible to contemplate the ignorance and immorality of so numerous a class as that of the costermongers, without wishing to discover the cause of ... Read More...
Jonathon Green continues his series looking at how English slang has treated those funny foreigners. This week, 'frogs' - but it's not the French... Let us consider the frog. Not as an amphibian but in terms of nationality. This is not, however, the traditional frog, whose consumption by the eponymously nicknamed ... Read More...
'The Pitcher' - Arthur Binstead This week Mr Slang recalls a weekly sporting rag with a strong sideline in the music-halls and tittle-tattle... ‘For Galahad in his day had been a notable lad about town. A beau sabreur of Romano’s, A Pink ‘Un. A Pelican. A crony of Hughie Drummond and Fatty ... Read More...
Today's hero of slang is the peerless P.G., whose contribution to the language, especially the language of alcohol consumption, cannot be overestimated... Setting aside, now I check, the small matter of two no. 10s in the series, this is the thirteenth Hero of Slang. I find it almost inconceivable that Wodehouse ... Read More...
Jonathon Green begins a new series looking at how English slang has treated those funny foreigners. First up, a crack at the Italians... Unlike the Spanish, the Dutch and the French, the Italians have never rejoiced in that ever-popular role; Britain’s National Enemy. There are doubtless reasons – no pre-20th century wars, perhaps – ... Read More...
Mr Slang searches for love, and finds only sex and drugs... I tried to write a musical once. No, you shouldn’t laugh, really. I had lunched well, couldn’t face the database and it served to counterfeit work. It was called – goodness, how did you guess – Slang! I forget the plot ... Read More...
This week Jonathon goes walking in a winter wonderland, as he considers how slang deals with the cold... Le soleil brille and le ciel est bleu but like so many things this is both snare and delusion and a glance at the thermometer says -9° Celsius which is not good news ... Read More...
