Etymology question for my British friends

[Stephen B]

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"Pommie Bastard can still be derogatory, especially at the
Ashes cricket tests?  [smile] But with time can be said with affection. Again context is significant."

Ha! All the Aussies (and Kiwis) I've worked with over the years, I don't believe I've ever heard it used affectionately

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[member=42364]tony_sheehan[/member]
Tony,  on a building site you are probably right, but in the pub after work it could be used either way!  [eek]  [big grin]

I hasten to add that I am not trying to defend this phrase. I answered [member=22]greg mann[/member] 's question. It is not a term I use, as it can certainly lead to strife. And it is being used less and less, at least here, due to generational changes.

Calling someone an 'old bastard' however is still in common use.

 

[Kev]

[member=42364]tony_sheehan[/member]  [member=19746]Untidy Shop[/member]

Shades of grey guys ...

I'm a ten pound pom myself ... but an infant at the time (who knows, maybe I was a zero pound pom). I had a teacher at school that loved caning the little pommie bastard and parents that thought schools were the law. Back then I had enough built up emotion to make a jihad look like a nursery game [mad]

.........

In Australia we'll call people the most disgusting names, but do it with affection - other times, no affection. It's the local language and culture and it can be very disconcerting to an outsider. It's all in the inflection. This stuff doesn't translate well as text on a forum.

I could call Untidy a stupid hairy goat with a smile in my voice and he'd know it was friendship. A stranger would probably think we were about to brawl.

 

[Stephen B]

I could call Untidy a stupid hairy goat with a smile in my voice and he'd know it was friendship. A stranger would probably think we were about to brawl.

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Crickey [member=13058]Kev[/member], you old Galah!  [big grin]

[size=10pt]the interpretations for other readers-http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=crickeyhttp://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Flaming Galah

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And more on Bastard and Crickethttps://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Australian_English_terms_for_people
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bastard /ˈbɑːstə(r)d/ – general purpose designation for a person or persons, may be either a term of endearment or an expression of hostility or resentment. It has sometimes been called "the great Australian endearment", but can also be an insult; interpreted according to context. Calling someone "a silly bastard" is affectionate: calling them "a stupid bastard" is a serious insult. According to a cricketing anecdote, during the "Bodyline" series of 1932–33, the England captain complained to the Australian captain, Bill Woodfull, that an Australian player had called one of his players a bastard. Woodfull supposedly turned to his team and said: "Which one of you bastards called this bastard's bowler a bastard?" When the English Captain, Douglas Jardine, brushed a fly from his face a voice from the crowd called out, "Jardine, yer pommie bastard, leave our flies alone!"

And some other references if you can be bothered ' Mate' s [big grin]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-14/pobjie---mate/4426516http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/8-things-learned-dating-australian/

 

[Tinker]

Ironically, this is a true story.  Obviously not as well told as by [member=550]Tinker[/member]

I was working on a job using all my Festool stuff about 6 years ago and was actually making custom molding profiles on the fly by request of the owner when her interior decorator came out.

I shut down by router.  I was covered with sawdust -SHAME ON ME.  And then she asked: "What do you do?"  I shook my head and replied: "I am a male prostitute.  I do anything for money."  The look on her face was priceless just before she scurried back inside and I started the router again.

Guess I really am a chippy^2.

Peter

[member=1674]Peter Halle[/member]  Thanks for the compliment.  this story might be a little off topic, but it doaes have a related meaning hat could be taken a few different ways.

I had recently met a cute young college girl out on the ski trail.  I took am immediate liking and spent many a Sunday afternoon visiting her.  It was nt a long trip via motorcycle, so I would sometimes visit on aSaturday evening.  I never knew in advance if i could make  it on a saturday and wold call at the last minute.  If she was not around, i would leve a message, leave for the trip and take my chances on her being available or not.  It was a girls college, so there were plenty of girls around.  I did not even look at the other girls (wells, maybe i looked, but was not interested)

On one Saturday, I got to the college at about the time some sor of party had started.  There were a few other guys around, but certainly not enough to go around for all those beautiful women.  As was my habit, I was not dressed in great party duds.  since it was mid winter, I was dressed in leathers with very warm clothing underneath.  Many of the girls had seen, and met, me before; so when my girl got a long distance phone call (she was from California) it was no problem for her to grab a friend and direct her to keep me company until she could return from the phone call. 

The girl she left me with was a pretty good looker, but thee hustle-bustle type who seemed to be more busy-buddy thant the true blue like my girl friend.  We talked for a few minutes when the girl said, "Lucy (not her real name here) has told me sooo much about you.  I am just dying to know what you do for a living.  Ah, NO, don't tell.  Let me guess."  She sarted with "Doctor" and continued with all the "honorable" professions  she could think of.  Architect/Engineer/veterinarian and so on.  Finally, she excliamed, "I give up.  I just cannot think of an occupation that might fit you. Please tell me."

"I break rocks for a living."

She looked at me for a few seconds as her jaw proceded towards her knee caps.  She did not know what to say.  I have no idea what was  in her mind, as my reply could have been taken many ways, some not repeatable in many circles.  I am quite sure that she never thought that I was a stone mason.  She disappeared across the room. I never saw her again.  My girl laughed long and hard over that one, telling me the girl got what she desreved. 8)
Tinker

 

[Tinker]

I had an old farmer friend who i loved dearly.  I often stopped by his place at milking time and help him with the milking.  It was in the days of mostly hand milking and we had plenty of time for stories without haveing to shout over the noise of milking machine vac pump.  Dave would tell me some of the greatest stories all the way from childhood thru college days thru farming experiences thru escapades a town prosecuter (the days when every town had its own court system.  He was the sort of man, who upon occasion when he had to send a yound lad to jail would put the boy on parrole and take him into his own familly.  A lot of stories along the way that never seemed to wear out.

He used to tell me of one old farmer friend who had come down from Maine logging camps and set up a farm near by.  Somehow, I had a very vivid picture in my mind as to just the sort of man he was talking about.  One day, i stopped by a little late to start with milking, but knew there would still be a few on the list.  As I walked into the barn, there was this very tall but slim and rawboned man standing on the floor just behind where my friend was doing his thing of releiving a producer of her load of milk.  The stranger was standing there and talking in a rather loud voice, "That SOB was the nicest G D Bastard I have ever known."  My friend did not have to introduce the stranger.  I knew immediately who he was.  I liked him immediately.
Tinker

 

[tony_sheehan]

This has been one of the more interesting threads I've seen in a while: thanks guys, and thanks to Edward A for starting it

 

[demographic]

Chippy is more commonly used by the shandy sipping southerners than up north.