The Enid Blyton Society

Instead of the phrase "who knew" I tend to say "Who'd'a thunk it?" But I only use the phrase ironically, for something that really should have been obvious.

pete9012S wrote:

Rob Houghton wrote:Where I lead, people follow!!!

That sounds just like a Nigelism!

Nigelism is my new favorite word. Nigelism NIGELISM N.I.G.E.L.I.S.M.
Say it aloud. Look at it. Hear its sound. Admire it. What a beautiful piece of art, Pete.


Zainab, as other have said, I too enjoyed the content of your story very much. I believe I've read another story of yours on wattpad a few years ago, and I must say that your writing style doesn't seem to have changed at all. With all the correct grammar and whatnot, which I'm sure Daisy must've sorted out for you, I've no doubt that it'll be a successful essay. Which universities are you applying to? I mean, are you going abroad or staying in Pakistan?

Darrell71 wrote:

pete9012S wrote:

Rob Houghton wrote:Where I lead, people follow!!!

That sounds just like a Nigelism!

Nigelism is my new favorite word. Nigelism NIGELISM N.I.G.E.L.I.S.M.
Say it aloud. Look at it. Hear its sound. Admire it. What a beautiful piece of art, Pete.

Where Pete dips his brush, others stand and admire. Pleased to be the subject, Pete!

Rob Houghton wrote:

floragord wrote:Is it just me or is the phrase "who knew" now applied to every possible situation and circumstance

That's interesting! Its something I admit I used to say a lot - about 10 years ago, but its a phrase I rarely use nowadays. Where I lead, people follow!!!

Start as you mean to go on

Just come back to winter (from a very hot Australia) to find the BBC today has provided us with a list of Nine winter-y words to warm the cockles...

Quite a few there I hadn't heard before, including several great words that are near-extinct and, I think, deserve to be revived. I love "gelid" (pronounced with a soft "g" like "gel" — I just checked), "apricity", "hunch-weather" and "frore"!

How far back in time could you go and still understand English?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fxy6ZaMOq8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That's very interesting Pete. Throw in local dialects and it's even more bewildering I should think.

That is quite an old expression now. I remember Cilla Black using it years ago. I have a feeling it might have originated from Liverpool.

Yes - characters on Brookside used to say that a lot!

Yes - its an expression I sometimes use.

I have a friend who lives in Liverpool and I think it was in an e-mail from her a few years ago that I first came across that phrase. Having been brought up on 'Home Counties Enid Blyton', my vocabulary has obviously suffered.

Merged with an older topic.

I honestly didn't want to make a whole thread for this but I couldn't think what else to do. Perhaps it could be merged with a different thread.
Anyways, my point is that I've seen several English teens use was instead of were, like in "You was here for me" instead of "You were here for me." At first I thought it was just a colloquial way of saying things, and although odd to read, just a part of their accent. But when it kept on happening, even in formal writing, I confronted some of them about it, and the response was simply: "No, it's you was, I was taught so in school. And I'm English, so I should know." Now, honestly, all of you English forumites have perfect grammar, so I've started wondering if "you was" really is grammatically acceptable. But if, as I believe, it's incorrect grammar, then WHAT is going on in some English schools?! It's honestly sad to see when English people speak/write in wrong English, I mean, they're English, for God's sake.

I've heard quite a few people (younger and older) do that too around where I live in north-west Kent. I'm not sure if it's a genuine historical feature of a local dialect or just sloppy education...

"I was" is fine, "I was in the park", but it is always "you were". You're completely right, and I don't believe for a second that any teacher taught them to say/write "you was in the park" or "you was there for me".