Wednesday 20 September 2023

On words and names and generational stuff. And inappropriate dressing up.

 It’s always interesting to come across new words. Recently I have found these, although one is an acronym:


Debank - what happened to the odious Nigel Farage - to deny someone banking and financial services, especially for political reasons. No matter what tour opinion of Mr Farage, his views are not a reason to deprive him of banking facilities.


PEP  - politically exposed persons. According to Wikipedia “In financial regulation, a politically exposed person (PEP) is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function. A PEP generally presents a higher risk for potential involvement in bribery and corruption by virtue of their position and the influence they may hold. 


BookTok - again according to Wikipedia, it is “a subcommunity on the app  Tiktok that focuses on books and literature. Creators make videos reviewing, discussing, and joking about the books they read. These books range in genre, but many creators tend to focus on young adult fiction, young adult fantasy, and romance. The community is cited with impacting the publishing industry and book sales. The creators in this community are also known as BookTokers.


Wikipedia may say the books tend to focus on young adult stuff, but then I read this!


“In August 2020, Kate Wilson, a 16-year-old from Shrewsbury, posted on the social media video platform TikTok a series of quotes from books she had read, “that say I love you, without actually saying I love you”. Set to a melancholy soundtrack, the short video plays out as Wilson, an A-level student, holds up copies of the books with the quotes superimposed over them. “You have been the last dream of my soul,” from A Tale of Two Cities. “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same,” from  Wuthering Heights. “Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own,” from Jane Eyre. It has been viewed more than 1.2m times.”


So it may be new to me but it’s been around for a few years. And it’s good to know that the old classics still move young readers. Thinking about it though, the books Kate Wilson quoted were undoubtedly the young adult reading of my youth. I wonder if any of the fantasy Granddaughter Number Two reads will be studied in A-Level literature courses in the future. 


Incidentally, when I asked Granddaughter Number Two if she was aware of Booktok, which seemed to me to be right up her street as she never goes anywhere without a book in her bag, she replied of course she had and that my asking her was “the most grandparent thing”. 


I’ve just read yet another of those articles about the most popular baby names. It must be a seasonal thing; every year someone writes about the names that are in vogue. What I think of as old-fashioned names are back in fashion. Our 4 year old grandson has little friends with names like Archie and Stan. Among girls’ names Phoebe, considered old fashioned when I was a child, has come and gone. Likewise Martha and Clara - the names of my grandmothers. I am waiting for my mother’s name, Phyllis to make a comeback. One name they mentioned in the article I read was Wren, not a name I have come across as a forename at all. “The name Wren, for instance, spelled like the bird, celebrates nature at a time of ecological peril – and while it’s often been a girl’s name, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen used it for their son.” Who knew? But what I want to know is what little X AE A-XII Musk is called affectionately and, indeed, how you even begin to pronounce it.


Finally, here’s n item from the Metro:


A group of men who dressed as Nazi soldiers at a 1940s festival in Sheringham, Norfolk had to be escorted from the event by police, after they were attacked by angry locals.

At least 10 of them appeared in SS uniforms with Swastikas, regimental markings on their collars and the ‘death’s head’ Totenkopf divisional insignia, which is a skull and crossbones. 

Trouble broke out at the popular annual event in Sheringham High Street on Saturday as unimpressed crowds clashed with the group.

Eyewitnesses say the group were outside The Lobster pub when they were confronted by furious onlookers – with many reportedly shouting at them and telling them they weren’t welcome. 


Who would even begin to think that such costumes were remotely acceptable?


Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone! 

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