Another language-related blog has come to my attention (thanks, Paul!): Sir Courtly Nice, “Meditations upon the twisty highways and byways of the English language.” The blog title is peculiarly applicable to the latest post (from last August—it doesn’t seem to be updated very often), Dibbles, Strunts and Dick Emery, of which our courtly blogger says:
I recently chanced across this rather peculiar sketch (I believe from the 1970s), which formed part of the Dick Emery Show. The joke here is that a prudish vicar tries to avoid using words that might have double meanings by inventing meaningless words. His daughter’s boyfriend, however, happens to be an expert on 17th and 18th century slang and he realises that the vicar’s ‘meaningless’ words are, in fact, much ruder than the words they replace.
The link to the six-minute clip is followed by a discussion of the words in question, only two of which I had been familiar with.
Thank you for drawing my attention to this entertaining blogger, Hat. I notice he’s also the (poisoned?) pen behind Chelsea Bunn, Hairdressing Detective.
Thank you for your kind comments. It’s true that Sir Courtly has been absent from his blog in recent months. Life has tended to get in the way. I shall have words with him!
His cousin, Sir Nicely Court, is a cricket commentator.
His cousin, Sir Nicely Court, is a cricket commentator.
Probably the one who said: “The bowler’s Holding, the batsman’s Willey.”
“Dibbles, Strunts and Dick Emery” is still, in 2019, the latest post; I guess we can consider the blog in deep hibernation, but at least it doesn’t dwell in the Land of 404.
The Dick Emery sketch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gk_2TO8uwM