“And spag bol and Soulmates”
– Song of Encouragement for the Orme Ascent
So… what do we know about spag bol?
The A to Z of HMHB
The A to Z of HMHB
“And spag bol and Soulmates”
– Song of Encouragement for the Orme Ascent
So… what do we know about spag bol?
Peter mcornotholgist
I recall those halcyon days when it was referred to as spaghetti Bolognese .Are others miffed by the pathetic shortening of of the beauty of language ? Brexit ?
10 December 2016
JUST MARK
I think we can mostly blame our friends in the Liverpool region for continually coming up with shortened versions of words (and usually having them contain or end in a ‘z’). And also for infecting everyone via cheeky Scouser types in sitcoms. ‘Suzzies’ was always my favourite.
10 December 2016
EXXO
Ah I remember the days when ‘halcyon days’ where just a calm period before Christmas. Calm for everyone except the post office and the Xmas elves I suppose. Are others miffed by the modern misuse of this marvellous metaphor? I blame Shakespeare.
Talking of linguistic change though, I remember I’d never heard ‘spag bol’ till college, and that was posh southerners who tended to say it. What it seemed to say as an abbreviation was that this dish is bog standard and as such does not merit 6 or 7 syllables. This is true really – in Italy that type of sauce is just ‘ragu’ and is so ubiquitous it isn’t known as ‘bolognese’ at all.
So no, this one of the songs where Julie Burchill is most spot-on and Nigel is piss-taking pretentious lifestyles, so the use of the phrase ‘spag bol’ reflects middle class usage rather than any Merseyside origins which it 100% definitely does not have.
Saw a couple of magically resplendent kingfishers just yesterday in fact.
11 December 2016
Graeme wright
Ref: adulteration of English language.
When and why did ‘mac’n’cheese’ become part of popular linguistic culture? And why don’t these philistines think up an abbreviated version of ‘cheese’? Back to the subject, Spaghetti Bolognese – no citizen of Bologna would touch it with a….Bolognese version of a barge pole
11 December 2016
dickhead in quicksand
@Exxo were they nesting? I suspect not. (In my day, kingfishers used to nest in discarded ciggy packets in the overtaking lane on the A1.)
11 December 2016
dr desperate
Agreed, @Exxo, I didn’t hear the abbreviation until the late 70s in Manchester, where those wacky students called it ‘spag bog’.
Interesting to see that an identical reversal of vowel reduction has taken place in ‘prog rock’ (q v).
12 December 2016
GOK WAN ACOLYTE
I’m with @Exxo on the abbreviation of Spag Bol originating in the South East (of England, not Wales (q.v.) although I also have nothing more than anecdotal evidence to support this assertion. Often used by the sort of people who abbreviate delicious to “delish”.
“Mac’n’cheese” is another linguistic import from our American cousins.
12 December 2016