Hello Charlotte and Y'all, I have read English novels - particularly of
the generation previous to me. (1920s or so). "Bob's your Uncle" or some
variation of that meant by connotaton, quickly, without thinking, or at
least, my connotation of it. English authors were writing for their own
kind - and not for anyone who might else pick up the book. Your
characters will suddenly drop into a Greek or Latin phrase, the people
around the speaker will respond in some way and the story will proceed.
By the same token the same author might lapse into French or German. To
us poor deprived yanks, we haven't the faintest idea of what the foreign
phrase means, and so lose part of the story. Luckily for the deprived,
today's fiction is written for a wider, not necessarily classically
educated, audience. (LOL) The only Americanism I can think of equally
puzzling - "in the twinkling of a bedpost", which by connotation means
the same thing. Sally
Are there any OZ/Kiwi expressions you gentlemen may want to add to our
vocabulary?
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