June 23, 2005
Fallible Beefeater
Brandon writes in comments:
And, while the guards outside the Buckingham Palace may not react to taunts, I'm wondering if they'll flip out like Tom Cruise if you spray water on them. Please investigate.Nobody but Tom Cruise can flip out like Tom Cruise. "You're a jerk!" Waaaaah!
Anyway, the palace guards: they are not supposed to react or talk or anything. But see these two?
They're posted at what I later learned is the back door of St. James Palace. I was walking past them, lost because I had gone for a walk off Trafalgar Square without my London A to Z street atlas, when the one on the right asked me what time it was. "Oy mate," he said, "d'y'ave the time?"
And in the picture it looks like he's talking to his fellow beefeater. Either this is how they all behave when no tourists are in sight -- because I was walking fast with a briefcase, I could've been mistaken for a local, and this was the back door, after all -- or he's trying to get fired. But just goes to show they are not rocks.
Posted by FLOG at June 23, 2005 10:52 PMIsn't "mate" an Australian colloquialism? Maybe they were impostors. Or maybe they're part of some lame British sketch comedy troop. Check you local listings.
Posted by: Brandon at June 24, 2005 2:06 PMThe English have more of a claim on "mate" than the Australians. Everybody here calls you "mate" and says "cheers" instead of "thank you." The Australians merely stole these colloquialisms from the English, and were banished to Australia as punishment for the theft.
Posted by: FLOG at June 24, 2005 7:59 PMAnd "cheers" has become increasingly prevalent in the states. But it's become a sort of "fugedaboutit" that has a million different definitions based on context.
Whatever. Just so long as "mate" doesn't make it over here.
Also: where are all the crazy food posts?
Posted by: Brandon at June 27, 2005 7:15 PMI suppose I'll make crazy food posts once I eat some crazy food. So far the oddest thing I've had was a Linda McCartney-brand microwave lasagna, which was actually rather good for all its veganism.
Posted by: FLOG at June 29, 2005 12:51 AM"Cheers" is sort of all-purpose here, too. Not just a toast, it also can mean "thank you," "goodbye," etc.
Posted by: FLOG at June 29, 2005 12:52 AMBrandon: don't you remember OXR? He is English and says "mate" a lot. Of course he's going to Austrialia soon, so maybe he has criminal sympathies...hrm.
Posted by: Timothy at June 29, 2005 8:17 PMTim: Stand corrected? Indeed, I do.
Flog: That's exactly the sort of weird food I'm talking about. By any chance did it have a big piece of pork in it?
That's about as random as random Simpsons quotes go.
Posted by: Brandon at June 30, 2005 5:04 PM"Go"..."get"...whatever.
Posted by: Brandon at June 30, 2005 5:13 PM