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Not all plain sailing in God’s country

Ian Balmain of Healesville (Vic) insists that “Pink was not refused entry to ‘the Skiffy’, she was refused entry to ‘the Sailos’. I’ve visited ‘the Sailos’ since the 1950s. Its official name is the Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club, but it was, has been, and always will be “the Sailos’. The only people who call it ‘the Skiffy’ by definition, would be someone who comes from the other side of the Spit Bridge.”

More on the Latin hassle (C8) from someone who knows, Catholic Mission director, Father Brian Lucas of Bundanoon: “Latin was supposed to be the common language for the Catholic Bishops in Rome during the 1960s Vatican Council. Diverse accents meant the Germans could not understand the French, the French were unable to understand the Spaniards, and no-one could understand Latin spoken with a Scottish accent.”

It’s not dead yet. Evan Bailey of Glebe reckons “aged Latin teachers could be usefully engaged in checking whether the school’s Latin motto is grammatically correct, and whether staff and students live up to the Latin exhortations?”

“Funny you should mention David Synnott (C8), founding GM of Bankcard,” says Dave Horsfall of North Gosford. “That explains why his son Derek had a large Bankcard sticker on his car window. He was also the only person I know to have won a car in a competition.”

Ted Richards of Batemans Bay recalls that “As a retailer, the nuisance with Bankcard was checking the card number on the weekly list they sent out to tell you who was in trouble. You then rang up for instructions, and it could become very embarrassing.”

“There’s an antique shop in Mosman that still has one of those Bankcard stickers on the window,” notes Jack Dikian of Mosman. “I think the owner is either too afraid to peel it off because it’s holding the window together or it’s heritage listed.”

Mention of Newcastle upon Tyne (C8) on Monday, got Caz Willis of Bowral thinking: “Why this nomenclature for their river when we don’t have Newcastle on Hunter? Any Novocastrians know?”

“We visited the Bradley’s Head Naval Memorial which commemorates the HMAS Sydney-SMS Emden action from World War I known as the Battle of Cocos,” writes Judy Jones of Thornleigh. “A sombre moment of reflection was lifted by the name on the plaque of one of the able seamen – A. Hoy. What a wonderful name for a sailor.”

Column8@smh.com.au

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Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/not-all-plain-sailing-in-god-s-country-20241002-p5kf6d.html