(no subject)

[undyingking]

I was reminded last night of a summer evening a few years ago when I was sat out in a meadow with friend M (who grew up in Suffolk), and a huge ungainly great beetle came buzzing into us out of the darkness.

"Waah! A billywitch!" exclaimed M.
"A whattywitch did you say?" I asked incredulously, once it had safely blundered on its way.
"A billywitch! What would you call it then?"
"A cockchafer," I said.
The unspoken which is a perfectly sensible name, unlike 'billywitch' hung heavily in the air between us, not so much fluttering as floundering.

So a similar thing happened last night, although these days I'm surrounded by people from Suffolk so it's not such a surprise. And I wondered if it's just a Suffolk name, and how it arose. Maybe from unhappy memories of the Batttle of Sole Bay, when the English Navy were defeated by the Dutch under the leadership of William of Orange? Come to that, how did the name cockchafer arise? I dread to think.

So, if you saw one of these flying towards you...


[Poll #746506]

Comments

[gbsteve.livejournal.com]

Even Welsh?

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

I should have said "major European language"...
We don't have Irish, Gaelic, Mansk, Cornish or any other obscure sub-languages, either. We do have Austrians, though, who definitely don't speak German. ;oþ

[gbsteve.livejournal.com]

I'd like to see you explain to a Welshman or a Basque that theirs is an obsucre sub-language. I'd be happy to supply bandages.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

You know what I mean. Of course, they are all languages in their own right (which aren't much catered for in the localisation industry).

[gbsteve.livejournal.com]

I do know what you mean, I'm a böse Kind.