A very Sherlockian week
Hello
Well, what a week it's been! Sherlock Day, Biscuit Day, Rosanne being fired for being too publicly racist Day... it's all too much.
There's been quite a lot of Sherlockian activity and the most exciting part (apart from the impending release of my book) was the videos put out by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat about some new Sherlock venture. It's not a new series or a special or anything for broadcast but they have been playing games with us and asking us to solve puzzles for clues. If you've not joined in, then head over to www.thegameisnow.com follow them at @221b for the big reveal.
I also, finally, got to see Sherlock Gnomes and I didn't care that I was the only adult in the cinema without kids, it really enjoyed it. It was sweet and silly, very silly, and just what a rainy Wednesday afternoon was made for. Yes, I can go to the cinema on a Wednesday afternoon, THAT is what not having a proper job does for you. I hope my mother takes that as a positive so, maybe, she'll stop emailing me job applications for the Post Office.
Anyway, enough of my rambling. It's words we're here for, lovely, bouncy, Victorian words from the book that everybody doesn't know they're waiting for ", The Adventure of the Wordy Companion: The Handy A-Z of Sherlockian Phraseology". This week I'm going for words which I find most pleasing to say..so join me, won't you?
1) Jezail — was a simple, cheap and sometimes handmade muzzle-loading gun and was the primary weapon used by the Afghan warriors against the British troops in the Anglo-Afghan war in the mid-1800s. Watson mentions it as he complains about the ache in his leg whilst nursing a bruised ego from the criticism levelled at him by Holmes in A Sign of Four. “I made no remark, however, but sat nursing my wounded leg. I had a Jezail bullet through it some time before, and, though it did not prevent me from walking, it ached wearily at every change of the weather.”
And today's piece of Victorian Slang is...
Butter Upon Bacon -This is a lovely phrase that means a needless extravagance or going above and beyond what is necessary. I would encourage you to bring it back into every day conversation. Here's an example for you to use, "Sending your ex a drunken message on text, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, snapchat and WhatsApp...is a bit butter upon the bacon, Emily. Have a coffee and calm the hell down"
Well, what a week it's been! Sherlock Day, Biscuit Day, Rosanne being fired for being too publicly racist Day... it's all too much.
There's been quite a lot of Sherlockian activity and the most exciting part (apart from the impending release of my book) was the videos put out by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat about some new Sherlock venture. It's not a new series or a special or anything for broadcast but they have been playing games with us and asking us to solve puzzles for clues. If you've not joined in, then head over to www.thegameisnow.com follow them at @221b for the big reveal.
I also, finally, got to see Sherlock Gnomes and I didn't care that I was the only adult in the cinema without kids, it really enjoyed it. It was sweet and silly, very silly, and just what a rainy Wednesday afternoon was made for. Yes, I can go to the cinema on a Wednesday afternoon, THAT is what not having a proper job does for you. I hope my mother takes that as a positive so, maybe, she'll stop emailing me job applications for the Post Office.
Anyway, enough of my rambling. It's words we're here for, lovely, bouncy, Victorian words from the book that everybody doesn't know they're waiting for ", The Adventure of the Wordy Companion: The Handy A-Z of Sherlockian Phraseology". This week I'm going for words which I find most pleasing to say..so join me, won't you?
1) Jezail — was a simple, cheap and sometimes handmade muzzle-loading gun and was the primary weapon used by the Afghan warriors against the British troops in the Anglo-Afghan war in the mid-1800s. Watson mentions it as he complains about the ache in his leg whilst nursing a bruised ego from the criticism levelled at him by Holmes in A Sign of Four. “I made no remark, however, but sat nursing my wounded leg. I had a Jezail bullet through it some time before, and, though it did not prevent me from walking, it ached wearily at every change of the weather.”
2) Harum-scarum — a
person who is reckless, impetuous or irresponsible. Henry Wood explains his
past self to Holmes and Watson before he became the twisted wreck of a man in The Adventure of the Crooked Man. “I was
a harum-scarum, reckless lad, and he had had an education, and was already
marked for the sword-belt”
3) Chaffed —
to be teased and mocked. The reason why the, so called, Mr. Hosmer Angel in A Case of Identity did not want Miss
Sutherland to address letters to his office. “He said that if they were sent to
the office he would be chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from
a lady” Chaff is also used in The
Adventure of the Crooked Man, “the smile had often been struck from his
mouth, as if by some invisible hand, when he has been joining the gaieties and
chaff of the mess-table.”
And today's piece of Victorian Slang is...
Butter Upon Bacon -This is a lovely phrase that means a needless extravagance or going above and beyond what is necessary. I would encourage you to bring it back into every day conversation. Here's an example for you to use, "Sending your ex a drunken message on text, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, snapchat and WhatsApp...is a bit butter upon the bacon, Emily. Have a coffee and calm the hell down"
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