IMPERIAL measurements in Europe (Bunhill passim), from Laurence Blackall of Putney. “Yes, the Germans buy by the pfund and so do the French by the livre and the Dutch by the pond. And the Germans use the zoll (inch) for much of their pipework (and halbzoll). The town was then a notable centre of naval shipbuilding, as witnessed by the list of guests at a dinner held by Mr EJ Reed, founder of the yard. But it was still extraordinary to come across the Pembroke-Dock and Tenby Gazette of 9 June, 1877, and discover that the first ship launched at the Pennar Works in Pembroke Dock was the Japanese Armoured Corvette Hi-yei. Anyway scobberlotchers is a good word, even if the tabloids couldn’t fit it in their headlines.IT IS well known that the Japanese learned much of their industrial skill from us. The anonymous Dubliner suggested the baffling but euphonious Wassily Potatoes.
Andrew Orlowski came up with Babylonish Masons (source Jane Austen but he is not sure where). And Chris Sladen of west London produced a series of insults from Aubrey’s Brief Lives. These include Tarrarags, Blindcinques, Rascal-jacks and the winner … Scobberlotchers.According to Aubrey, Scobberlotchers were those who “did no hurt, were sober, but idling about the Grove with their hands in their pockets and telling the number of the trees there or so”.If we assume Grove was an expensive hotel, and that “trees” is slang for share options, we have a reasonable definition.
Mary Trimble of Totnes simply said we should revert to Bloated Plutocrat – “the overgrown words match the overgrown bank balances,” she explained.But my favourites are more bizarre. BM Brown of Reading was equally inventive with Avaristocrats, Geldschwein and Lolly Louses, while Geoff Cox of Rugby offered Monopololly Men.Rosie Aitchison of Penton, Cumbria, produced Troughers, “as in noses therein”, suggesting that a beluga would be the appropriate collective noun. GOSH! I’m amazed how many of you agreed with me (and my pet) that the days of the “fat cats” were numbered, and that a replacement expression was needed
Many brimmed with venom. “What’s wrong with Greedy Amoral Bastards”? demanded Adrian Brodkin of London, “or maybe Greedy Rapacious Amoral Bastards – Grabs?” Others in similar acronymic vein include Succubi On Director’s Salaries and Businesspeople Accruing Salaries, Tax-breaks And Richly Deserved Share-options.
John Cole of St Albans came up with a creative list including Divi Spivis, Wad Squads, Jam Raiders, and Pirates of Industry. Being a modern British railway baron is no more likely to make one popular than being a 19th century railroad baron was.. There have been two storms in the press so far, one over a foreigner running the locomotives that pull the Royal Train, the second over Burkhardt’s revelation that he was egged on to bid for RES and the freight services by former transport secretary Brian Mawhinney.
