Summary
THERE are few things more disorientating than being challenged about the validity of something you've always taken for granted - something, perhaps, taken aboard at an early age and which has become so familiar that its credentials, so to speak, appear to be impeccable, its authenticity beyond question. There was a lad from Rotherham, for instance, with whom I did my basic Army training, who said "coil oil" when referring to a coal hole. I'll never forget the bewilderment on his face when nobody he spoke to could figure out what he was talking about. Suddenly, it seemed, the way of talking which had served him unfailingly since childhood had become inadequate.
He probably wasn't helped by the fact that there were among those listening to him, many who didn't even know exactly what a coal hole was, never mind a coil oil, but it must have been baffling to him that what had done the trick in darkest Rotherham fell upon such deaf ears in Catterick. Fortunately for all concerned, his friend and fellow Rotherhamite had been assigned to the same billet and he was able to act as interpreter for the remainder of the training.See the full content of this document
Extract
A Slice of Life: Hidden Meaning to 'Hosel' Query
I was reminded of this moving episode recently when I received a letter from a Mr C.I.Phillips of Edinburgh, in which he asked me what I meant by the word "hosel" which I'd used in...
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