rembrandtswife:thoodleoo:thoodleoo:thoodleoo:quite possibly the best academic shade-throwing i have
rembrandtswife:thoodleoo:thoodleoo:thoodleoo:quite possibly the best academic shade-throwing i have ever read‘a jolly ding-dong’ sounds like something out of mary poppins but this article is from 2008 and i am even more confused and delighted nowso maybe it’s not shade-throwing, it’s just the most ridiculous phrase to describe an argument ever?? academics, everyoneThere’s a wonderful British mystery series called Rosemary & Thyme, about two middle-aged women who form a gardening/landscaping business but keep uncovering dead bodies. Rosemary consistently uses “having a ding-dong” to mean “having an affair” or “getting it on”.Classicists! Obscure slang! Mystery shows! You are my people… and I feel obliged to clarify that “to have a (jolly old) ding-dong” is indeed to have an argument, rather than sex. The Oxford English Dictionary clarifies: “To assail with constant repetition of words.” Other etymological claims refer to the noise of hammer on anvil, or the bell rung at the outset of a boxing match. Even among classicists, I have never heard of academic arguments leading to sex. Well… except rumors. -- source link
#academics#humor#footnotes