We do love a bit of wordplay here in Column 8, and Granny knows that a lot of you like to argue over your Latin, so Richard Murnane of Hornsby has sent in something for us all. “‘Sutor, ne ultra crepidam’, otherwise ‘shoemaker, [speak not] beyond the shoe’ is the origin of the term ultracrepidarianism, the expressing of views on matters outside one’s knowledge or expertise. Granny, I ask you: Was there ever a word that better described the internet, mass media, or social media, than that one?” That’s a question for the Column 8 brains trust to weigh in on. Granny herself is just happily going to add this to her list of favourite tongue-twisting, multisyllabic words and, just for a change, it’s not German!
The late uncle of Alan Wells of Farmborough Heights, who was “in the navy during WWII, and then worked as a deckhand (C8) on tugboats in Newcastle, couldn’t swim a stroke. Luckily, he was never pushed into the water to save a passenger. He did once, however, fall into the harbour between the wharf and the tug.”
Peter Wotton of Pyrmont says the only thing that “pushing a deckhand into the water (C8) results in is two rescues being required, rather than just one. Who then rescues the two in the water? The master of the ferry, who is required to maintain control of the ferry?” All this talk of ferries and deckhands is reminding Granny of that uniquely Australian ’90s children’s TV series, Ferry Boat Fred, and of Pete, the pelican ‘deckie’.
“Fork me! They’re asking from Blackwell to Bowral to Cranebrook,” exclaims Suzanne Saunders of Koonorigan. “The splayds (C8) go with the fondue forks right at the back of the ’70s.”
No conundrum for Meri Will of Northmead over where to put the splayds in the cutlery drawer (C8). “They are in constant circulation. From curry to casserole to risotto to fruit salad, there is no respite for this versatile utensil.”
During a visit to Kashgar in far western China, a city with very few Western tourists, Grahame Burton of Hurlstone Park recalls that when dining in local restaurants “the locals were amused with our skill in using chopsticks. However, we noticed that we were the only diners to do so, as all the locals used forks and spoons. We were informed by our compulsory guide that chopsticks were only used by peasants. Forks and spoons were far more civilised.”
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