I know the tune of Click go the shears, but didn't recognise the words, not even the Rolf Harris version that came up on YouTube (we had an album of his songs as children). I think I must have sung or heard Ring the Bell Watchman (link to Maddy Prior on YouTube) at some point as that chorus I remember
There’s a version here with links at the foot of the page to other related songs. The ‘Strike the bell’ link takes you through to a page about the author.
We also had a song for decimalisation, which I learned in primary school. It went to the tune of the 12 days of Christmas and ran: On the fourteenth day of February 1971
There’s going to be
Decimal currency
With a hundred pennies in a pound.
What is there about 14 February? Can't be St Valentine, he's not concerned with money.
I don’t know that Click go the Shears is much known outside Oz.
I (in the UK) remembered it when I saw it mentioned, but only because many years ago an Australian friend of my mother sent us a cassette of this for Christmas.
Not sure what is meant by a "flannel" perhaps face cloth or wash cloth.
Yup, Brits call face cloths 'flannels'. They must once have been made out of flannel (which I think of as a fairly smooth sort of cloth) but these days they're basically made out of towelling.
Not sure what is meant by a "flannel" perhaps face cloth or wash cloth.
Yup, Brits call face cloths 'flannels'. They must once have been made out of flannel (which I think of as a fairly smooth sort of cloth) but these days they're basically made out of towelling.
Being the passive-aggressive bastard that I am, I pull this example out to use against British types who are snottily insisting some Americanism is stupid because its meaning has evolved past its etymology.
Tangent: on holiday in Argentina, in the days when we were allowed holidays, we realised we needed to buy more flannels/face cloths/wash cloths as the hotel we were in at the time didn’t provide them. So we went to the local supermarket and bought a couple of nice terry towelling cloths - they were a bit big but the best we could do.
When we got them back to hotel, we realised they were probably tea towels. We had visions of the hotel staff saying, ‘oh, that’s interesting, in England the flannels are just like tea towels’....
Flannel < Welsh Gwlanen < Gwlân, wool. Or at least that's the most guessed at etymology. Alternatively may have come via Norman French. Ultimately from proto-Celtic *wlanā either way.
Not sure what is meant by a "flannel" perhaps face cloth or wash cloth.
Yup, Brits call face cloths 'flannels'. They must once have been made out of flannel (which I think of as a fairly smooth sort of cloth) but these days they're basically made out of towelling.
Being the passive-aggressive bastard that I am, I pull this example out to use against British types who are snottily insisting some Americanism is stupid because its meaning has evolved past its etymology.
So let me also give you for free from Anglo-English:
- choo-choo train (ok, maybe not used all that widely in polite adult company).
If you're going to use a flannel/ face cloth/ facewasher make sure you only use it for your face: if you need to employ one for your body have a separate cloth.
Am I the only one who never uses a flannel or one of those nylon scrunchies in the shower? I prefer to use my bare hands to wash myself with. Similar to my aversion to doing the dishes using a dishcloth, horrible germy things ....if I have to wash up by hand I need a brush. A clean one.
I never use a flannel to wash either, never have, even when having to wash myself in the work toilet basins after cycling in (top half then bottom half, stripping off to wash half, dressing and then the other half).
I do use a sponge with a scouring pad to wash up and a brush but bleach them regularly.
@Sojourner, my favourite line regarding washcloths and sponge baths, probably repeated by many people in many contexts, was from my aunt when she was a student nurse, quoting the instruction she claimed to have been given on how to give sponge baths to a bed-ridden patient. The official instruction was "starting at the face, wash down as far as possible; starting at the feet, wash up as far as possible ... but eventually you'll have to wash Possible."
In my family, cleaning one's own or a sick person's private parts is still sometimes referred to as "washing Possible."
I could always tell the children in swimming lessons who had had their faces always washed with flannels. They wouldn't put their faces in the water. I would send them home with homework - putting their face over the basin and rinsing it with their hands. Turning over in the bath and splashing their faces.
My grandmother, reputedly, according to my mother, used the "down as far as possible" etc rule - she would have been using a wash stand with a bowl and jug. And a matching soap dish and gazunder.
I use a "face" washer all over in the shower, but it probably doesn't actually get used on my face much at all (and if it did that would be the starting point anyway).
I mean, my face is happily getting the most rinsing direct from the showerhead. Plus it can also get washed when I'm standing at the sink at other times if necessary.
Plus, you know, not that interested in putting soap in my eyes.
@Sojourner, my favourite line regarding washcloths and sponge baths, probably repeated by many people in many contexts, was from my aunt when she was a student nurse, quoting the instruction she claimed to have been given on how to give sponge baths to a bed-ridden patient. The official instruction was "starting at the face, wash down as far as possible; starting at the feet, wash up as far as possible ... but eventually you'll have to wash Possible."
In my family, cleaning one's own or a sick person's private parts is still sometimes referred to as "washing Possible."
Although I would call the implement in question a facecloth (or sometimes a flannel), the one part of my anatomy it doesn't wash is my face; that gets rinsed many times under the shower-head and occasionally treated to a lather of a proprietary liquid called "face-wash" that's supposed to do wonders for your complexion.
We've just received a letter (a friendly one!) from a female lawyer in New York who followed her signature with 'Esq', which I had always thought of as a strictly male designation. After getting over my initial astonishment I asked Auntie Google what she knew about it, and sure enough, it is accepted American usage in the legal profession. Seemed weird to me, but there you are. I wonder how it began?
When I was training (London) in the 70s, we were told we were entitled to use Esq., though I don’t think any of us (women) did. However, in the shops in Chancery Lane, we were called ‘Sir’ quite regularly. We thought it was amusing.
We've just received a letter (a friendly one!) from a female lawyer in New York who followed her signature with 'Esq', which I had always thought of as a strictly male designation. After getting over my initial astonishment I asked Auntie Google what she knew about it, and sure enough, it is accepted American usage in the legal profession.
There’s “accepted” and there’s “common,” and as with so many things, it varies depending on where in the US you are. In some states it’s commonly used, while in others it’s not. Use of “esquire” by both male and female attorneys is accepted in my state, but it’s also rare for either to use it. In 30+ years, I could count on one hand the lawyers I’ve encountered who use it.
In the UK, there is no inference that someone with the suffix "Esq." is a lawyer. Which can make for some interesting exchanges of letters with Americans.
According to a Canadian lawyer friend I contacted after making the original post, 'esq' is never used in Canada by lawyers. It seems to be only US legal usage. I am still curious to know how this originated, as I had always understood that it designated otherwise untitled gentlemen.
Lawyers are among the groups that are very good at holding onto tradition just because it's tradition, not because they understand the original context.
Its use had all but completely stopped here when I commenced practice 55 years ago - just a very few crusty old practitioners and their even crustier secretaries.
Comments
Thanks, had never heard of the song or author
What is there about 14 February? Can't be St Valentine, he's not concerned with money.
I (in the UK) remembered it when I saw it mentioned, but only because many years ago an Australian friend of my mother sent us a cassette of this for Christmas.
I loved that song as a child. Musical taste was never one of my strong points.
Yup, Brits call face cloths 'flannels'. They must once have been made out of flannel (which I think of as a fairly smooth sort of cloth) but these days they're basically made out of towelling.
Being the passive-aggressive bastard that I am, I pull this example out to use against British types who are snottily insisting some Americanism is stupid because its meaning has evolved past its etymology.
And the American northwest.
When we got them back to hotel, we realised they were probably tea towels. We had visions of the hotel staff saying, ‘oh, that’s interesting, in England the flannels are just like tea towels’....
MMM
To me it's a face washer. Or possibly even a facewasher.
So let me also give you for free from Anglo-English:
- choo-choo train (ok, maybe not used all that widely in polite adult company).
- giving someone a ring on the telephone.
You're young Orfeo - to us, growing up in the 40s and 50s, it was a flannel or face washer.
To me (UK) that sounds like a machine that washes your face for you (maybe by analogy with 'dishwasher').
I'm sure it does! A bit of research suggests it's unique to Australia.
Of course, once upon a time a dishwasher was a person not a machine... so I'm going to argue the mechanics of how the face is washed aren't specified.
Mind you in my days as a junior nurse when doing a “ sponge bath” one started with face then hands then genitalia then feet....
A dear old lady one said to me “just me face and me bum, love, in no particular order”😂I still smile at the memory...
I do use a sponge with a scouring pad to wash up and a brush but bleach them regularly.
In my family, cleaning one's own or a sick person's private parts is still sometimes referred to as "washing Possible."
My grandmother, reputedly, according to my mother, used the "down as far as possible" etc rule - she would have been using a wash stand with a bowl and jug. And a matching soap dish and gazunder.
It's important to wash them in a certain order.
I mean, my face is happily getting the most rinsing direct from the showerhead. Plus it can also get washed when I'm standing at the sink at other times if necessary.
Plus, you know, not that interested in putting soap in my eyes.
Better than unmentionable😂
Like it!
MMM
Of course Buck House famously sends letters to males addressed "Mr XYZ" if they are not British and "XYZ, Esq" if they are British and non titled.