SWMBO, abbreviations?

[silentC]

"Ask Oxford" backs up my claim.

Hey, did you mention Ask Oxford?

The story goes that the more well-to-do passengers travelling to and from India used to have POSH written against their bookings, standing for 'Port Out, Starboard Home' (indicating the more desirable cabins, on the shady side of the ship). Unfortunately, this story did not make its appearance until the 1930s, when the term had been in use for some twenty years, and the word does not appear to have been recorded in the form 'P.O.S.H.', which would be expected if it had originated as an abbreviation. Despite exhaustive enquiries by the late Mr George Chowdharay-Best, researcher for the OED, including interviews with former travellers and inspection of shipping company documents, no supporting evidence has been found.

QED!

[AlexS]

QED!

Quite easily done.

[namtrak]

One for the kids

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fish
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[artme]

Yair - OK Silent! Was only given first bit. Will be careful to check it out myself in future.

[JackoH]

doesn't like all these 'F' words. Not a Gordon Ramsay fan!

[jerryc]

R I P
Return if Possible

Jerry

War does not decide who is right. War only decides wo is left.

[jerryc]

Just an idle thought. How many of you, without recourse to net guidance, could tell me where SWMBO originated? A clue is that the author also wrote of the warrior Umslopogaas of the Axe called 'Groan Maker.'


Jerry

War does not decide who is right. War only decides who is left.

[silentC]

That's easy: Rumpole of the Bailey, and before that from She, a book presumably read at some point by John Mortimer.

I've read all of the Rumpole series and seen most of the TV series as well

[Groggy]

Just an idle thought. How many of you, without recourse to net guidance, could tell me where SWMBO originated? A clue is that the author also wrote of the warrior Umslopogaas of the Axe called 'Groan Maker.'


Jerry

War does not decide who is right. War only decides who is left.

Asked and answered a year or two ago.

Henry Rider Haggard wrote "She" in 1885.

The subject is a beautiful (white) woman who has lived for over two thousand years, who possesses some secrets and powers that keep her in charge of the primitive (black) people over whom she rules. The leader of the tribe was the mysterious and ageless Ayesha. Her subjects were forbidden to call her by her real name. They could only call her "She". "She" had the power of life and death over her subjects, therefore "She" was most often refered to as "'She', who must be obeyed".

For the academics, "She who must be obeyed" was referred to in the "Epic of Gilgamesh". This is supposedly the oldest story known to exist and approximately 5000 years old. It appears that men feared their women-folk even back then!

Later, Rumpole (the British TV show character), popularised the term, often referring to his wife as SWMBO.

From this thread.

[jerryc]

Silent,

But have you actually read any of the books of old Henry?
Watched the TV series of Rumpole but didn't warm to the books. I have read all the African stories of Henry.

Groggy,

Must explain to me how to do the box quote bit sometime with the originally from inset. Real flash that.
Of course I should have realised that someone would have researched the origin of SWMBO.
Just as an aside, the old H R H predates even Edgar Rice Burroughs and his ilk. Even Tolkien's Lord of the Rings owes the old guy a debt. But here I go drifting off thread again.


Jerry


War does not decide who is right. War only decides who is left.

[Groggy]

Must explain to me how to do the box quote bit sometime with the originally from inset. Real flash that.

Use the button then type after where the [ /quote ] finishes. You can also remove the rest of the text that you are not replying to (keeps it relevant and shorter).

Or, you can type this directly into a message:

[ quote ] (with no spaces) followed by the text... then a [ /quote ] (again, no spaces).

which looks like:

(with no spaces) followed by the text... then a

[Dingo Dog]

From the mining lingo there comes.

FIGJAM (???? I'm Good, Just Ask Me) or

JAMFIG (Just Another Mother ????ing Idiot Geologist)

[Gingermick]

But.. does anyone know where the term 'sh*t on the liver' comes from?