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clarke2001 View Drop Down
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Points: 4160 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 11 2010 at 09:57
Originally posted by Peter Peter wrote:

Originally posted by clarke2001 clarke2001 wrote:

Victorian English confuses me. I stumbled upon a sentence in 'Sherlock Holmes', where the detective is addressing the barn-boy: 'Give hear head.' Err, what?


Smile I love Victorian English, and victorian novels.  I haven't read any Holmes since I was a lad, but assuming that what Holmes actually said was "give her head," it would seem he was referring to a horse. To "give" a horse its "head" meant to let it proceed freely -- to cease reining it back or trying to guide it, so that it could choose its own way through foggy or difficult terrain. This could be handy when the rider was lost, or when the horse knew the area better than the rider. You'd trust in the animal not to walk off a cliff, for example, or just to find the way back.
 
Does that make sense in the context?


Thanks Peter! I misspelled the most crucial part of my post - sorry! The phrase was 'give her head', of course. Your reference is plausible and elegant, but I'm afraid the phrase was used (perhaps I remember it incorrectly) after a travel, for a tired horse ('give her hay' would make more sense to me)...
Percussion, sir!
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BaldFriede View Drop Down
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Points: 10261 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 11 2010 at 11:41
Originally posted by thellama73 thellama73 wrote:

Originally posted by Henry Plainview Henry Plainview wrote:

Originally posted by clarke2001 clarke2001 wrote:

Victorian English confuses me. I stumbled upon a sentence in 'Sherlock Holmes', where the detective is addressing the barn-boy: 'Give hear head.' Err, what?
When I reread Sherlock Holmes when I was older, the use of ejaculate as an exclamation was a constant source of amusement to me. It's interesting how language can change like that.


I am reading the Complete Sherlock Holmes now and I am amused at their use of the phrase "to knock someone up" meaning to wake them up by knocking on their door. I usually see that used in a different context. Sleepy

That is acually a nice etymological example. One can see how the meaning might have changed. You secretly creep towards your beloved's chamber door at night to "knock her up" for some fun. Of course you never planned to knock her up the way it is meant today, but it will often have been the result, and so the meaning shifted


Edited by BaldFriede - November 11 2010 at 11:42


BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.
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Gerinski View Drop Down
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Points: 5093 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 14 2015 at 17:55
As a non-native English speaker I have a question. Say that I purchased an Austin Healey Mk II (which is not the case, I wish it was!). 'Mk' can be pronounced as 'Em-kei' or as 'Mark'. Words starting with a vocal will be preceded by 'an' while words starting with a consonant will be preceded by 'a'.

So if I write about my fictitious purchase, assuming that the fact that it's an Austin Healey is already implicit and does not need to be mentioned, what should I write:

I purchased an Mk II

I purchased a Mk II

?
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Dean View Drop Down
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Points: 37575 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 14 2015 at 18:46
In this instance the abbreviation of Mark to Mk is pronounced Mark so you you would say "a Mk II". It would be very unusual for a Mk to be pronounced em-kay.

On the other hand LP is an initialism so the letters are sounded and therefore is pronounced el-pea - so you would say "an LP"

Also, there is no such vehicle as an Austin Healey Mark II. Austin-Healey (note the hyphen) is the car manufacturer and Mark II would refer to a model variant, so you need to specify the model: 3000 or Sprite. An Austin-Healey 3000 would be far more expensive (5 times?) to buy than a Sprite.
What?
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Gerinski View Drop Down
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Points: 5093 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 17 2015 at 17:42
Thanks Dean!

Well I was thinking of the 3000 Mk II, gorgeous car! (although I would not mind a Sprite Frogeye either!).
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