Re: CHAT: "John Doe" equivalents sought
| From: | James Campbell <james@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Sunday, May 21, 2000, 7:35 |
|---|
John Cowan:
> Subject: CHAT: "John Doe" equivalents sought
Here in southern England it would normally be Joe Bloggs.
In Jameld the expression is Haral Zerel, literally Harry Bloke. [The word
here translated "bloke", i.e. »zerel«, is a bit derogatory, and is cognate
with "churl". But the Jamelt~ses are quite self-effacing and would be happy
to apply the word to themselves.] Since the second vowel in each word is
unstressed, this name rhymes rather pleasingly.
...and on the subject of tasteless car customization, there was a guy round
here a year or two ago who plastered his red Vauxhall Cavalier with
fluorescent green stickers bearing such sage legends as "Bangladeshi
Womaniser". Bear in mind that I live in deeply rural (and almost completely
white-monocultural) North Dorset. Puzzling.
James
=========================================================================
james@zolid.com James Campbell Zeugma--Our Life Is Design www.zolid.com
=========================================================================