Opinion Commentary and media

[Mr_Nyah]

Good old Dunny Dinny. One of the most bias journos in AFL circles (which is quite an achievement in and of itself), I've never seen him write an article not about (or should I say praising) Sydney. Obviously been told by AFL HQ to pump the Swans' tires at every single opportunity.

 

[see see]

To be fair, James Buckley is the Sydney Morning Herald's AFL reporter & this is the article that appeared in the SMH. I'd imagine the cash-strapped Age didn't bother to send a neutral up. Still poor, though

Nice one

 

[boneofshin]

I've never heard it.

Are we bringing it back?

Yes you dead set blonk.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

What an absolute ****ing pornorkel.

 

[Black2Blue]

Wapping a dead blonk


David McKie
Thursday 8 May 2003
The Guardian

On the edge of Sheffield city centre there's a thoroughfare called Blonk Street. How many who walk up and down it ask what the name means? Happily, there's a clue in the Middle English poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
"He spoke to his squire," says the unknown author, "who swiftly him answered/ And bade him bring his byrnie and his blonk saddle." A blonk is, or rather was, a horse.

Sheffield's horse fairs used to be held in Blonk Street. It is one of a good many words in Gawain which at some time or other have silently left our language. "The snow snitered full snart," the poet says at another point, "and snaped the wild/ The werbeland wind wapped from on high." And "by each **** crow he knew well the steven". There are plenty of dead (or as dictionaries say, obsolete) words here, some of which it's a shame to have lost. Steven, for instance, means the appointed hour, while wapped is almost onomatopoeic, evoking the sound of objects flapping about in a gale. Its subsidiary meanings, the Oxford English Dictionary tells us, include the striking of a pugilistic blow (19th century) and "to copulate", or as we might nowadays say, "to bonk", as in: "He took his lockam in his famble/ And a-wapping he went."

"Lockam", I'm happy to say, does not occur in this dictionary. "Famble" means hand. But blonk is a word we can manage without. For all its romantic allusions (it is derived from the French word blanc, and originally meant a white horse, exclusively) the word plops wetly on to the page today, suggesting something blank and clonking and plonking.

"A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" cries the stricken king at the end of Richard III. Substitute "blonk" for "horse" and the line collapses.

Language is an evolutionary process. Words we need spring into being; words we no longer need crawl into a corner and die. Others change their meaning, as existing words are appropriated because there is a gap in the language. The word "disinterested" used to mean having nothing to gain or lose in a given situation. Nowadays it is used to mean "bored". This is unjustified. "Disinterested" is too useful a concept to have its meaning eroded, and if people don't want to say bored they can always prefer "uninterested".

But the word "prestigious", though it sets the teeth of pedants on edge, is a different matter. Without it, we would have no adjective conveying prestige. In a world as prestige-minded as ours, we need it.

Evolution is sometimes slow on the draw. An example of that which is almost inescapable nowadays is the word "leafy". The dictionary will tell you that "leafy" means covered with or having leaves, or resembling a leaf or leaves, but in practice the presence of leaves often has little to do with it.

Take a handful of examples perpetrated already in the papers this leafy May: "Leafy Sutton Coldfield", "leafy Dulwich" and in several reports of the controversial North Korean embassy, "leafy Ealing". The embassy, as I understand it, is really in Acton, but no one says "leafy Acton", because Acton is seen as downmarket. What this word really means in these contexts is privileged, well-heeled, comfortable, cosseted, going on spoiled (spoiled as in the sense of "spoiled children", that is -most places described as "leafy" are also described as "unspoiled"). Botany has nothing to do with it. Dulwich is still "leafy Dulwich" even in bleak midwinter.

Tooting is never "leafy", though Tooting is full of trees. The language has failed to provide a suitable word meaning privileged, well-heeled, comfortable, cosseted, going on spoiled; so leafy has been purloined.

What we need is some kind of equivalent of the Académie Française to inspect our language from time to time and identify gaps like these. The culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, should act in this matter today. The steven, as you might say, has arrived. It would not always be necessary to invent new words to repair the deficiencies. Lurking in Chaucer, I guess, or in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight itself, is some word that long ago drifted out of our common currency which would serve very nicely, letting "leafy" revert to meaning just leafy. It is time for the minister to order her squire to bring her byrnie (a coat of mail) and saddle her blonk.

If, let us say, this coming December, as the snow sniters full snart and snapes the wild, and the werbeland wind waps from on high, she has failed to take any decisive action, she is going to need her byrnie to protect her, and her blonk to sweep her away from the justified wrath of the literati.

McElsewhere@aol.com

 

[dus]

I filled up the car at the local servo this morning and was served by a bloke I know well, and who knows I'm North through and through. He's a Swans man and no, he hadn't seen the game but had read reports, from the papers most likely. He was of the impression we'd played our full side and they'd played mostly kids, with any of their notables who did play all benched in the last quarter. "Did any of your kids get a run?" he asked. Jesus!

Time to find a new servo.

 

[Twinkletoes]

Time to find a new servo.

He's not a rabid Swans fan, and he never rubs it in when they beat us. He's a Kiwi so his interest is spread throughout a variety of codes including League, Union and Soccer. Said servo is also frequented by Hearts to hearts, so there's adequate backup for me if the shit goes down with the bloke.

 

[Hearts to hearts]

He's not a rabid Swans fan, and he never rubs it in when they beat us. He's a Kiwi so his interest is spread throughout a variety of codes including League, Union and Soccer.

Your basic Swans "fan", really.

 

[Heaps of fun]

Your basic Swans "fan", really.

They might bleed red but that is generally considered coincidental.

 

[shintemaster]

They might bleed red but that is generally considered coincidental.

We need to be sure. I suggest a ritual sacrifice.

 

[Heaps of fun]

We need to be sure. I suggest a ritual sacrifice.

Wouldn't shed a tear for the posters on the Swans board that can't see the irony in still complaining that the umpires robbed them of a flag while they had their COLA purchase in Buddy playing.

 

[shintemaster]

Wouldn't shed a tear for the posters on the Swans board that can't see the irony in still complaining that the umpires robbed them of a flag while they had their COLA purchase in Buddy playing.

Revenge best served cold and all that.

I can't wait for the mental gymnastics that are going to come about when Buddy inevitably drops away in form or has to retire well before his 10 contracted years are up. Sadly for the Swans the AFL won't be able to ride to the rescue after specifically warning them his wage would be included in the TPP no matter what (because they cracked the sads that Buddy didn't go to GWS).

 

[Heaps of fun]

Revenge best served cold and all that.

I can't wait for the mental gymnastics that are going to come about when Buddy inevitably drops away in form or has to retire well before his 10 contracted years are up. Sadly for the Swans the AFL won't be able to ride to the rescue after specifically warning them his wage would be included in the TPP no matter what (because they cracked the sads that Buddy didn't go to GWS).

I'm a big Buddy fan so I hope he does play well for a fair few more years and it seems at this rate that he's ageing well. Still over five years to run on that contract though, ludicrous.

 

[shintemaster]

I'm a big Buddy fan so I hope he does play well for a fair few more years and it seems at this rate that he's ageing well. Still over five years to run on that contract though, ludicrous.

He's a cracking good player and entertaining on field. Has some personality. That said I hope the Swans suffer massively from the recruitment.

 

[Heaps of fun]

He's a cracking good player and entertaining on field. Has some personality. That said I hope the Swans suffer massively from the recruitment.

I'm very happy with the current trend of him succeeding and the Swans losing grand finals.

 

[JD-Roo]

Revenge best served cold and all that.

I can't wait for the mental gymnastics that are going to come about when Buddy inevitably drops away in form or has to retire well before his 10 contracted years are up. Sadly for the Swans the AFL won't be able to ride to the rescue after specifically warning them his wage would be included in the TPP no matter what (because they cracked the sads that Buddy didn't go to GWS).

I'd expect that rule to be quietly re-written in an upcoming off-season and announced about 11pm Christmas Eve or something..........

 

[Samsquanch]

I'd expect that rule to be quietly re-written in an upcoming off-season and announced about 11pm Christmas Eve or something..........

The carpet at afl hq is big enough to hide this under. It's not like they have any remorse.

 

[RobZombie]

Did anyone catch the deleted tweet Heath was replying to here?

 

[Firestarter]

Did anyone catch the deleted tweet Heath was replying to here?

Can't see that much.

 

[RobZombie]

Can't see that much.

Will have to be a screenshot then.

Wanna fill us in, Phillyroo?

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Can't see that much.

I've screnshotted it for you.

 

[Firestarter]

Will have to be a screenshot then.
View attachment 339067
Wanna fill us in, Phillyroo?

Given the tone we are really stamping down on inaccurate mainstream information being spread.

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Given the tone we are really stamping down on inaccurate mainstream information being spread.

The AFL website took the article down and edited the title.

 

[Firestarter]

The AFL website took the article down and edited the title.

Just seen the edited version. Much better.

 

[RobZombie]

I've screnshotted it for you.

View attachment 339068

Found it. Was tweetbot messing up the threading rather than a deleted tweet. Heath's got his cranky pants on this preseason. Like it.