General Chat

Oh Jane........2 little boys to be affected now too!! I wondered when she rang before if it was because of 'troubles', but then I am an old cynic!! :-D It doesn't bode well does it. I hope she doesn't expect to keep running to you and not do anything to change things as that would not be fair. :-S

The M*S voucher was sent to cardholders and you take it to the till with any old garment, any make, that you have and they take £5 off what you buy. :-) I picked a bad time to go today as there were massive queues at the tills as they were doing a fashion show and offering mince pies around today. It was boiling in there with all the people too. The floods were lapping at the edge of the road into the retail park, but after a few spits we had no more rain here till a few minutes ago. Now it is hammering down and lashing against the window with the wind!! OH is out so he will be a drowned rat when he gets home.

What a pain Maureen!! Back to square one. Let's hope the next one is better. :-|

Mel, I saw on the news it was bad in the SW. Your poor chickens.......I had visions of them all whizzing about like Mary Poppins.......I bet they hate it!!

Ann ,I would like to think I have toughened up now(which I have) but there is still the bit of old softy in me.It is the 2 little boys who are the most important people in this disgraceful debacle .

My Pinwheels were very tasty...but not enough mint..It got the thumbs up though which was good.So I am happy with that :-D :-D

I think it is nearly time for the jungle again so will click off now :-D

For David.

The origin of the term 'codswallop' is unclear. The most widely quoted story is that of Hiram Codd, an English soft drinks maker during the 1870s, who developed a technique for bottling lemonade. This process involved the insertion of a glass marble as a stopper into the neck of the bottle. When the bottle was shaken the resulting pressure from the fizzy pop forced the marble against the neck to form a seal.

The device was called, not unreasonably, the Codd Bottle.

'Wallop' is a slang term for beer, and beer drinkers would certainly be disdainful of bottled soft drinks. This slang term dates from the early to mid 20th century. Eric Partridge, in A Dictionary of Slang, claims it as serviceman's slang and dates it from the 1930s. An early example of it in print comes in J[ohn] B[oynton] Priestley's Three men in new suits, 1945:


"It's drink... Booze or wollop... Nine times out of ten... you wake up in the morning... with the usual hangover."

It's not difficult to see how a soft drink in a Codd Bottle could have come to be called codswallop, but there's no actual evidence for that derivation. In fact, such neat plausibility without evidence is often the mark of the linguistic mythology known as folk etymology. Look no further than these popular fallacies for confirmation.

The earliest known citation of the phrase in print is in the script of a 1959 episode of the UK television series 'Hancock's Half Hour'. The writers Galton and Simpson don't claim to have coined the phrase, which they say was in public circulation when the show was broadcast.

'A load of codswallop' sounds old and the Hiram Codd story has a certain appeal. The problem with the tale, apart from the lack of any supporting evidence, is the entirely implausible notion that the phrase was in popular circulation since 1870 but somehow didn't manage to get into print until 1959. That lack of printed record is despite the fact that an appeal for early citations made on national television in the UK in 2006 failed to uncover any earlier than 1959. Also, if Mr. Codd's drink were the derivation, we would expect to find early examples of the name in the form Codd's Wallop, but there aren't any such examples. That, along with the fact that the term 'wallop' itself wasn't associated with its 'drink/beer' meaning until well after Codd's death, makes the 'Codd's Wallop' derivation highly improbable.

The most likely explanation is that it is a made-up nonsense word that just sounds right for its meaning.

'Cod' is a little-used slang word meaning 'to hoax or take a rise out of', known since at least 1873. It was used in much the same way we now use the verb 'to kid', as here in a quotation from 1884:


"Tha'st only coddin me as tha allus does; tha'l none tay me to see th' fair."

That could be the origin of the cod in 'codswallop', but this is just plausible speculation, which brings us back full circle.

Well done Mel and thank you.


How did Hiram Codd get the glass marble into the bottle?

Morning All and Evening Kim,

Well today we have some sunshine and it is much calmer in fact there is not a breath of wind now. It dropped last evening.

David I should think that when the bottles were blown the marble was dropped in and then the neck of the bottle was reheated and pinched together. I know some of the codd bottles were sort of pointed at the end and you coud'nt stand them up. Lots were broken by children to get at the marbles so they could play Marbles!!

Hogwart came out last night into the new run and once I caught him out and he went back in the bedroom bit but left his b*m out and I coud see one little back foot. This morning I had the same mess as usual, all the paper ripped up and two empty dishes. He had'nt used his bunny bottle as I made a note of the water level.

My table outside the gate blew over yesterday. It had a dozen and a half eggs on it and a glass jar for the money. The only thing that broke were one egg in two of the boxes. How lucky is that????

A cobalt coloured Codd bottle today fetches thousands of British pounds at auction. The Codd-neck design is still used for the Japanese soft drink Ramune and in the Indian drink called Banta.

1881 England Census
about Hiram Codd
Name: Hiram Codd
Age: 43
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1838
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Jane Codd
Gender: Male
Where born: Suffolk, England

Civil parish: Lambeth
County/Island: London
Country: England

Street Address: 164 Brixton Rd
Condition as to marriage: Married
Education:

Employment status: View image
Occupation: Patent Bottle Maker

Registration district: Lambeth
Sub-registration district: Kennington Second
ED, institution, or vessel: 14
Neighbors: View others on page
Piece: 609
Folio: 36
Page Number: 40
Household Members: Name Age
Hiram Codd 43
Jane Codd 48
Ada L. Codd 17
Edith L. Codd 15
Maud M. Codd 13
Alfred C. Codd 12

He was from Suffolk and Jame from Hampshire. On their marriage he was a clerk.His father was Edwin Codd a Builder her father Charles Colebrook was a farmer.

London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921
about Hiram Codd
Name: Hiram Codd
Age: Full Age
Spouse Name: Jane Colebrook
Record Type: Marriage
Event Date: 5 Feb 1856
Parish: Chelsea Holy Trinity
Borough: Kensington and Chelsea
Father Name: Edwin Codd
Spouse Father Name: Charles Colebrook
Register Type: Parish Register

Codd died from congestion of the brain and diseases of the liver and kidneys..

He didn't renew the patent on his inventio.
After his death many glass bottles were stamped with CODD"S EXPIRED PATENT

Afternoon everyone,

A bright sunny day here after a windy evening yesterday ,i didn't hear any thing in the night .

That was lucky Mel after the table got blown over to only have a coupe of eggs get smashed.
Did the roof hold on the Bantam house ?

Hope Frank is enjoying/ behaving his self , missed not having any of his e mail jokes today .

More ironing to do now as i stripped the bed yesterday so there's sheets and pillow cases to get done.

BBL

Thank you Mel, I do like to read about all these random things, never too old to learn something new, unless it's the dreaded technology. That was lucky only a couple of eggs the worst thing would be the jar breaking if you'd had money in it.

Cu**ys have replaced the printer and I have managed to install the printhead now I can't load the software as my cd drive doesn't work, there must be another way to load it, will have to go back to their helpline. It's really doing my head in.

What a mess Rachel is making of her life Jane, if the two of them can't live together it's far better for the children if they separate. How selfish she is, the only reason she rang you is because of this latest row.

I have had the jar broken with money in it Maureen. :-|

Have got on well today as the sun is out!! :-D :-D Filled all the bird feeders up and cooked them some scrambled egg from some I broke and now I have the two more from the table to cook for them.Did some washing and got that on the line. It is'nt drying much but it can go in the dryer later. At least it won't be as wet as when it went out. Got some ironing to do and I may change our bed. Will see how I get on with other things first.

Tied round and washed up and made soup for lunch and eaten it! and now I have to clean out Hogwart. Thought I would leave it till after lunch so as not to contaminate anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

O I meant to say oh had one of those ppi phone calls on his mobile yesterday. He said the same as that man "This call is costing you £10 a minuet" and they put the phone sown straight away.

Mel, you are a veritable fount of information. I think we'll have to call you 'Mel-ipeadia'. I didn't know there was so much behind the term codswallop - mind you, I think it's lovely expression - it does what it says on the tin! I guess that's also where we get the expression "Are you codding me?' as well.

The nuisance calls persist even here too. One 'asi*n lady seems to ring around 2 pm most days asking me if I am (my name) - I usually just plop the receiver down. I think one day I'll say to her - "Am I? You should know, you seem to be the one ringing this number". One day I just kept repeating 'hello, hello' over and over again and she rang off. The only trouble is, I'm very gaurded when I answer the phone, I'm sure bona fide callers think I'm nuts. I think the worst ones are the automated recorded messages, especially when the say URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT.

I think you have someone watching over you that all eggs didn't smash when your table turned over. So, no omelette for you then LOL.

Maureen, what a lot of trouble you've had with your printer and drive. I hope you get it sorted soon, it can be frustarting when things don't go right.
A little tip for those who don't know it and want to make their ink cartridges stretch a bit further. Check in you printer preferences if you can print 'fast draft quality', maybe under paper settings, they vary. It will give you as good a print and your cartridges will last much longer. That's unless you specifly want a fine print.
Another thing I do is if I'm not quite satisfied with what I've printed, I keep the unwanted sheet at one side, then if I have to do a 'test' print another time, I use that sheet. Saves on paper.

Been out today, errands and shopping. Nice to have a bit of sunshine even if it's still a tad damp. However, there's no pleasing us is there. Driving the short distance back from Nuneaton, the sun was in my eyes, visor down. Then the glare is bouncing back up at me from the wet road. Carmel goes in a shop - I say I'll wait outside" - and I have to go in the shop because the sun is blinding me! As the Chas and Dave song goes "Darlin', there aint no pleasing you" .. . . . . .

C Y A L - PS, I hope you like my Horace Hedgehog photo - .. in case you can't make it out, he's saying "Hi everyone"

Yes, it's a lovely photo William. I usually keep all the unwanted sheets for the grandchildren so they can scribble and draw on the blank side.

Printer is up and running, phew, ended up back in India where a very helpful man took over my computer and installed all the software he did assure me the phone charge was same as a local call as it took a good ten minutes, dread to think what my phone bill would be if it was to India.

I bet the wildlife are happy to live in your area Mel, they certainly get spoiled when they come to dinner at yours.

EVENING ALL---
WELL WE ARE HAVING AN AWFUL DAY COLD WINDY AND 'RAIN' SO DULL & DAMP-- ARTHRITIS IN MY HANDS ARE PLAYING UP ---- :-(

YOU DO HAVE YOUR HAND FULL MEL WITH ALL YOUR WEE ANIMALS TO TAKE CARE OF <3

WE HAD SANTA ON HIS SLEIGH LIGHTS FLASHING- AROUND THE STREET AGAIN, EACH YEAR COLLECTING FOR NEW CAUSE ,FOOD BANK .HOMELESS THIS YEAR CANCER ALL HIS LITTLE ELFS.

HOPE ''OUR'' BOY IS BEING GOOD HIS DAYS AWAY- AND NOT GETTING TO WET ;-)

WELL I'M GLAD I'VE DONE ALL MY XMAS SHOPPING BUT TWO GIFT CARDS
No 3 SON (AT HOME) HAS NEVER CARED WHAT HE RECEIVED AS LONG AS HE HAD HIS STOCKING FILLED -CHOC ,ORANGE APPLE,CANDY CANE,
SWEETS SO ITS THERE EVERY YEAR HANGING ON HIS DOOR HANDLE :-)

THIS BRIGHT SCREEN IS HURTING MY EYES WILL TODDLE OF JUST NOW
HAVE SOME LUNCH.12.35 PM-------------TTFN <3

Evening All
My pooter was misbehaving a bit today so I decided just to get on with the dreaded H/Work.Mind you ~I got quite a lot done so feel quite pleased with myself.I bet Chris will not notice anything I have done :-S.
Mel your new little fellow sounds a right messy so and so (must be a boy lol)

Hannah and John are coming tomorrow just for the one night.I'm looking forward to seeing them.I haven't seen John for a long time.
Then hopefully on Tuesday Janice and Larry might bring little William to see me. :-D :-DI haven't seen him yet.I say hopefully they will come ,because poor Janice is flat on her back with a disc problem.She made it to a Chiropractor today and had another appointment on Monday.

Yes Maureen what a bl*dy mess Is Rachel's life.I could seriously bash their heads together.They are being extremely selfish and if not careful will end up with 2 screwed up little boys :-S :-S.

My niece (with Finn and Amelia ) in Tewkesbury is beginning to panic as the flood water is getting closer and closer.I think she has an army of people ready to help them move things upstairs if needed.An their excess on the insurance is £20.000 after their massive claim following the big Tewkesbury flood when they lost everything.(I thought the excess was £75,000 lol) Even so they would still not be able to pay £20,000 :-S.So it is everything crossed now for them staying dry.

What a beautiful day it has been.Sun all day .I even had the Patio door open for a while as it got very warm in here with the sun beating through the windows.

I now better get dinner started.Breaded Haddock,New Potatoes and Cauliflower Cheese,and peas.Chris is on call and won't be in until 7.

Love the little Hedgehog William :-D :-D

I too have sone quite a bit of Christmas shopping. I only buy for oh and aunty Joy (mums sister) and Di who used to clean for us. I have sone up two pressies already!!

William like the pic and yes I could read what he is saying. Still liked your pic with the Christmas hat though.

Have we heard from Jane today???? Hope she is not flooded out......... :-0

O Jane you posted before I had finished typing..