Departing visitors. Plums. A linguistic anomaly. Some suggestions for primary school science!

It’s all quiet again at our house. From having up to thirteen people, and at one point a dog, sitting round the table (strictly speaking ‘tables’ as we put up the picnic table and added it to the end of the dining table) we’re back to just two of us, for a day or so anyway.

Yesterday morning the southern branch of the family got up and organised themselves to start the journey back to the south. The two smallest grandchildren, who live about 15 minutes away by car, had expressed the wish to have breakfast with their big cousin, arrived just in time to help them set off on their way - lots of hugs and some tears! 

After the small people had drowned their sorrows by eating more breakfast, we set off to drive my Spanish sister to my English sister’s house in Southport. There we caught up on more family gossip and reminiscences. We also picked plums in my English sister’s garden and eventually went out for a very late lunch. 

This morning I am preparing large quantities of plums to go in the freezer ready for plum pies some time in the near future. 

After he had finished eating Cocopops yesterday morning the smallest grandson declared he needed some afters! Since when do you have afters at breakfast time? Anyway, he asked for an ice lolly. “You mean a lolly ice,” my Spanish sister corrected him. I had to confess that I had completely forgotten that as children we did not eat ice lollies but lolly ices. Was this a family oddity? i wondered. So I did a bit of research on the internet. 

Ii seems to be a general Merseyside thing. I found out that back in 2015, during a spell of hot weather, the Liverpool Echo did a bit of a survey - ice lolly or lolly ice, an important linguistic question:

“As the temperature soars on Merseyside, many will be digging around in the freezer or popping to the shops for a frozen treat.

Ask some people and they will swear on the lives of their loved ones that it is categorically a lolly ice. Yet their nearest and dearest may wholeheartedly disagree with them. Some say it's a regional thing and if you're from Liverpool you would only ever call it a 'lolly ice'. But are you an exception to the rule?

So, people of Merseyside, we ask you today - what do you call this?”

Unfortunately I couldn’t find the statistics that must eventually have been gathered. 

Liverpool journalist Peter Grant, author of Talk Like the Scousers, which examines the Scouse dialect and history was firmly in the “lolly ice” camp.

“It’s lolly ice. Ice lolly is an American term. Whether you’re a kid brought up in Scottie Road or anywhere else in Liverpool you never went up to an ice cream van or shop and asked for an ice lolly.

“And it’s not just a Scousism and would certainly extend across the north west. The posher you get it may be an ice lolly but no for me it’s definitely a lolly ice.

“But if you order a barm cake in London they would not have a clue but I would feel uneasy asking to see someone’s baps.”

Now, he might say ice lolly is an Americanism but some think it’s quite the opposite:

“The Oxford Dictionary remains to be convinced with no mention of lolly ice – only ice lolly defined as British and “a piece of flavoured ice or ice cream on a stick”.

And retired Brenda Barnes head of languages at Aigburth secondary St Margaret’s for 20 years, said: “I believe lolly ice is an American term put out by manufacturers. It is ice lolly, as ice can be a verb, it can be a noun and an adjective but lolly can only be a noun.”

Liverpool’s Pier Head ice cream man Philip Walton put in his two-penn’orth and said: “It’s lolly ice. Definitely. It’s only southerners who say ice lollies, Scousers say lolly ice. When it come to ice cream Americans asks for soft serve while if you’re from Liverpool you’ll ask for a whippy.”

My husband disagrees that it’s only effete southerners who say ice lolly; Mancunians, he declares, only ever said that and never lolly ice. So there you go! 

And then this morning I found this bit of nonsense in the newspapers:

“Licking an ice lolly should be an essential part of the national curriculum for primary schoolchildren in England, according to scientists at the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Whether it’s an old-fashioned Fab, a Twister or a Calippo, not only does it taste nice, it teaches children vital scientific concepts such as heating, cooling and how temperature works, scientists say.”

Their report went on to add other things:

“Primary school pupils should also have the opportunity to knead bread dough, dig in the soil, plant vegetables and play with shadows as part of their early science education, according to the new recommendations.

These “essential experiences” are among a number of proposals for changes to the science curriculum for children aged 3-11 put forward by leading professional science organisations.”

Of course, in some parts of the UK it might be necessary do the playing with shadows under artificial light as sunshine is not always guaranteed!

Despite our having been able to go for long walks and eat picnic lunches outdoor over the weekend, he still complained that he had forgotten how “bloody cold” it can be in the NW of England even in August. I think he has turned into an effete southerner!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!