"Abstention" (from drink) would do equally well, but I admire your punctiliousness. I gave a silent cheer for your earlier reference to "The proof of the pudding is in the eating", which has now been almost universally replaced by the nonsensical, "The proof is in the pudding".
I cheered too. It's one of the many things that seem to stir up my grumpiness, the older I get.
Can I add, “Long story short” as an abbreviation of “To cut a long story short” as a pet peeve of mine? I don’t know why it annoys me, but it does.
See also: people in the media who can’t say, “nuclear”, but do say “nucular”. Drives me mad.
I guess getting annoyed by the abbreviation of 'to cut a long story short' is kind of ironic given that its use is intended to skip the detail 😉 - perhaps a sign of the times that some idioms have become almost shortened to mere references of their former selves.
Though some quick research on the shortened first use of 'the proof of the pudding' proverb actually originates in 1867 from an article in the British Farmer magazine and then became widely used in its shorter form in 1950s America - so returning to the actually meaning of the full version dating back at least 700 years may be a losing battle.
Then again it's been a long time since I actually ate a pudding - to cut a long story short it was probably something belonging to my school days or at best Christmas...
Stayed in Bristol overnight Saturday and I just remember the hoards of Boro fans at the train station heading to Cardiff the next day. At one point, we were genuinely worried we would miss the game as each train filled up with hundreds still stranded until the next arrival.
After the game and euphoria, a strong memory was seeing Bolton fans on the opposite station platform looking crestfallen.....how we empathised and knew exactly how they felt from our own previous disappointments and there for the grace of God........However the boys had done it...party time!
After getting back from Cardiff, the journey back from Bristol to the NE was surreal...had we really won? Were we really going on a European adventure? We were all listening to 5 live on the hour just to confirm it had really happened! The sports report...1st trophy in their history etc allayed our typical Boro fears. Happy days indeed. UTB
There is a well-established network of junior clubs across the country who play in well-organised leagues. This then feeds into state representative games which take place in a carnival structure so that coaches can see the prospects that they have already scouted playing against each other. Clubs also have their own academies where they nurture players and they have the right to match any outside bid for them. In a similar way there are father-son priorities which usually result in clubs getting access to the sons of former stars - if they want them. The belief that skills pass on through families seems to supported by quite a few cases. As an example, the reigning champions Collingwood have two players - Nick and Josh Daicos aged 21 and 25 - who are genuine stars and are the sons of Peter Daicos who played 250 games for Collingwood.
I'm not suggesting that the draft system could be transferred to football but the system of allocating early picks to clubs that have underperformed is one way that a draft system can be used to try and even things up over a number of years. I don't know enough about Aussie Rules to really say how well it works. There still seem to be certain clubs who develop great players in-house and then get the benefits and others who shell out the money. AFL also functions with a salary cap but I can't see that coming in either. There are too many vested interests taking a piece of the money floating around.
UTB
I'm tempted to grab people who use disinterested (which means impartial) instead of uninterested. However, I do accept that, as the philosophers tell us, a word comes to mean what the people using it want it to mean.
Thanks for explaining how the draft system works with aussie rules but you're probably right in thinking vested interests in football will fail to see any kind of meaningful fair redistribution happening - it seems the best young players are predominantly controlled by the big clubs in football but wonder how many ultimately break through at the clubs they join? Although, at least new regulations have restricted the number of players a club can loan out - currently 7 and will fall to 6 next season.
Just look at Morgan Rogers - since his move to Villa a month ago he only got 9 minutes pitch time when Villa were 5-0 up against Sheff Utd on 3rd Feb but since then has only come on for one whole minute of football - seems a waste as why did they buy him in January if they weren't going to play him? Wonder if he'll now play before the international break in two weeks and if not it will be essential two months without playing and he'll probably be no longer match fit. Should have loaned him back to us if they only wanted to sign him before another club picked him up in the summer.
@werdermouth I really don’t understand Villa’s purchase of Morgan. I guess he’s maybe there as cover for potential injuries but, for me, it shows the vast difference between the EPL and the Championship - for us he was a major purchase who could develop into a star player, for them he’s an impulsive purchase, who’s gone straight to the back of the queue. He was our staple ingredient, he’s their bread maker in the back of the cupboard.
@werdermouth - Do people eat Christmas Pudding in Germany and, if so, is that with custard, ice cream or cream (or any/all of them, because I know my wife and son would have all three if offered)? How about mince pies? And do people on Germany still watch "Dinner for One" on New Year's Eve ? How on Earth did that ever start? I don't suppose many in the UK have even heard of the film.
I believe that Dinner for One is played as a tradition around Christmas every year in many European countries and even in South Africa.
I saw its "star", Freddie Frinton ,many times over the years at the Empire, though he was never a top of the bill act.
He was one of the most famous stage drunks of his day and his technique for acting drunk was widely copied by more serious actors.
In my view the best and funniest stage drunk by far was Stockton's own Jimmy James. Like Freddie, Jimmy was teetotal, but the secret of his success was that, unlike Freddie and every one else in that role, he did not "act drunk". His genius lay in the fact that he tried, like most inebriated people, to act sober.
For some reason Dinner for One has always seemed painfully unfunny to British audiences, and still does.
Len's right on both accounts - Dinner for One is shown every year at Christmas and is a tradition for many people - I had a friend of Mrs Werder constantly going on about it and describing it in every detail while smiling and I eventually watched it straight-faced and rather bored - I think if you have to explain why something is humorous then it's probably not funny.
btw Not seen Christmas pudding in Germany but they have 'Stollen' instead which is a lighter fruit cake with icing sugar - custard is more precisely known as 'vanilla sauce' but since I've been completely lactose intolerant for the last 16 years since a stomach op it's not on my menu any more.
We had New Year in Bavaria for a friend’s wedding once and caught Dinner for One on tv. I’ll admit to the odd chuckle, but it did go on for longer than seemed strictly necessary.
It was a great trip though, only marred by a sledging incident on a local hill. Some cousins of the bride, who came from Preston and had never experienced a proper snowfall, were thrilled to be sledging down the hill, until a couple of young children suddenly walked in front of them causing an unavoidable collision. There were no injuries, but that didn’t stop the kids’ father (a local solicitor) from getting very officious and demanding the names and addresses of everyone involved. It may be that he still has the names and fictional addresses of David Moyes, Tom Finney, Bill Shankly, Jimmy Clitheroe & George Formby in his phone.
@lenmasterman @martin-bellamy @OFB - thanks for the replies and information. All the supermarkets in the UK sell stollen these days, and Panettone, in the Christmas period (which these days seems to start at 1st November, before we've even given Guy Fawkes his annual roasting). They're a bit dry for me but I do like a good old fruit cake including the marzipan and icing-covered Christmas/New Year varieties and, of course, with the traditional slice of Wensleydale cheese.
But, as for tomorrow's football, there are two massively conflicting factors to affect the result. On the one hand Boro's performance last time out was so abject that the players will hardly need telling it was unacceptably poor: the sort of performance that screamed "relegation" at the top of its voice. The polar opposite of what the staff at MFC will have been hoping for with the "renewal of Season tickets" email and its resulting furore still reverberating in supporters' ears. So you'd think SOME sort of reaction to that display would be inevitable as BORO could hardly play like that again (could they?). On the other hand, Stoke City currently stands in the 3rd relegation position. So we all know what that has a habit of meaning to a BORO supporter. Pick the entrails out of that! GULP!
@werdermouth. Stollen, one of my favourites and introduced to me by Mrs P who spent a lot of her teenage years at school in Germany.
We have a German supermarket up the road and Mrs P buys stollen from them every Christmas as well as other pasty delights throughout the year. 😊😎
@k-p-in-spain - Whilst dry, the good thing about stollen, from my point of view, is the marzipan. I love the almondy taste. That's why I'm happy to eat the sort of iced fruit cakes we enjoy at Christmas, New Year and birthdays. But Battenburg cake with its almond covering and in particular, the Simnel cake Mrs Dormo bakes not covered with marzipan but with chunks of marzipan and sometimes layers of marzipan within the cake itself are right up there, too.
There are some general rules of cookery that, when I rule the world, will be made compulsory: you can't have too much marzipan in/on a cake, and you can't have too much garlic, ground black pepper, lemon or ginger in a recipe (but not all necessarily together in the SAME recipe).
Finally, whilst my leek, carrots, diced turnip, diced carrots, potatoes and shin beef is sending out signals to my nose from the slow-cooker, I wish "Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant Hapus" to you all.
Great opener Martin. Did my teaching qualification at Keele University so pretty familiar with that area. Have never been to the Britannia but did go to the Victoria ground to see Sunderland with mates from Uni. That was the season that we played them at Vale Park. There is some hope for today as we are currently third in the away form table level on points with Leeds. The referee is John Busby who was in the middle for our loss at Bristol City.
Thanks for an amazing range of topic discussions on this forum this week. It's really helped me to take my mind off how shocking the Boro were last Saturday.
It's taken me a day or two to come to terms with this, but you've really shaken my faith in my prejudices regarding puddings.
Have I wandered onto a Fanny Cradock website by mistake 😂😂😂.
Come on BORO.
I'm not sure that I was intending to open up a empiricism vs rationalism debate on puddings...
Team News...
Clarke in for McNair and Latte Lath starts as does Greenwood instead of Azaz and Silvera as Boro look to score goals and let fewer in!
@werdermouth And Dieng in goal, mate! Finally.
I am going to enjoy the match on TV (via Internet and Riverside Live). No stress about the table, just hope we play well like at Leicester.
1-3 win for us. Up the Boro!
@jarkko I've finally found season three of that Finnish masterpiece Deadwind.
We've restricted ourselves to one episode an evening. Is there a season 4?
UTB,
John
@original-fat-bob So is Thomas, Engel is so much better and I would also change Ayling for Dijksteel.
Come on BORO.