All Trades and None – People (Part 4)

Fair weather friends are not worth much.

Aesop’s Fables came free with the Kindle app on my lap-top.  I came across this expression as the moral of one of the stories.  A fair weather friend is a common expression.  It goes back a long way evidently.  Real friends are there when they are needed.

A chimney sweep is not seen as often now as when the main source of household heat in Britain was a coal fire.  The Clean Air Act in the 1960’s led to an increase in gas fires and a general rise in living standards has seen central heating replace most open fires.  Chimney sweeps are considered lucky by many people and are sometimes hired to attend a wedding for luck.  I have mentioned superstition in another post.  (I do not agree with it.)

Chimney sweep 1850s (Photo credit Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chimneysweep.png

A charge-hand supervises other staff.  He or she is an employee (hand) in charge of others.

Jack tar is a nickname for a sailor.  Traditionally a sailor wore his hair in a long plait, treated with tar.

Well-spoken is often a description of someone’s accent, but may include being articulate as well.

An old flame is a former boyfriend or girlfriend.

A nincompoop is not very bright.

The strong, silent type often refers to a quiet man.

A high-flier is someone with potential to climb the career ladder.

Bone idle is about as lazy as it is possible to be.

A sourpuss is not of a pleasant disposition.

A Nosy Parker might pry.  Parker is one of the more usual British surnames.

A city gent used to wear a pin-striped suit and a bowler hat and carry a furled umbrella.  When school-leavers became office juniors, their dress was transformed.

A pipsqueak is considered to be a nobody.

A bossy-boots is an organising person.  Alliteration again.  A strict person might put their foot down.

An armchair gardener reads books and watches television programmes about gardening.

A doorstep salesman goes from house to house.

Jesus was raised as a carpenter like his earthly father, Joseph.  A few years ago there was a poster which read “Carpenter from Nazareth seeks joiners”.

St Paul was a tent-maker.  When he was in Corinth he stayed with Priscilla and Aquila who were also tent-makers.  Acts 18: 1-4

Crash, bang, wallop

Things that go bump in the night
is a quotation from an anonymous Scottish prayer.

From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggety beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!

Pull out all the stops
is an expression, which means do everything possible.  Stops are knobs on a church organ attached to sliders.  Pulling them out allows air to pass through a particular set of pipes.

Weingarten Basilika  (Photo credit Andreas Praefcke via Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Weingarten_Basilika_Gabler-Orgel_Register_rechts.jpg

Screaming pitch is a level of irritation or annoyance.  People scream from fear or pain, but someone who has reached screaming pitch would like to yell.

Sounding off  means verbally expressing views.

Not my forte is an expression meaning not my strong point.  In music forte means loud.  It comes from the Latin for strong.

Rising to a crescendo is an expression which annoys me.  As a child I used to practise my handwriting, which I found difficult to do neatly, and learn the Italian expressions my piano teacher gave me for homework at the same time.  I had a notebook into which I copied the expressions and their meanings.  Crescendo means gradually becoming louder.  How can a sound rise to a process?  Perhaps I should start a campaign to use the phrase rising to a fortissimo.  I prefer rising to a climax, which seems to have gone out of fashion.

Whistle blowing has a specialised meaning.  Blowing a whistle can indicate an emergency or convey instructions, even to dogs.  People walking or climbing in mountains are advised to take a whistle to summon help in case they fall.  Sports teachers often use a whistle to attract the attention of their classes.  I expect you know more than I do about when a football referee uses a whistle.  The point is that whistles are high-pitched and their sound travels further than the human voice.  So, back to whistle blowing.  Anyone who challenges authority by revealing corrupt practices is described as a whistle-blower.  People of strong principles have sometimes lost their jobs by acting in this way.

Speaks volumes is an idiom applied to an action or a look, where the person’s attitudes or intentions are obvious without their needing to say anything.  Now, is the “volumes” here able to be measured in decibels or in pages?  I vote for pages.

Crash, bang, wallop can be heard.  Aren’t they the opening words of a comic song?  No, I’m thinking of “Flash, bang, wallop”, made famous by Tommy Steele.

Crash out is a slang expression for suddenly falling into a deep sleep.

A car crash is noisy and to be avoided.

A price crash is a sudden drop in prices.

Crack on with means make an effort to do a task.

Have a crack with is an expression used in various parts of the country for having a chat with someone.

“What’s the crack?”  Here someone wants to catch up on the latest gossip or talk of the town.

An old banger is an old motor car (automobile).  If a petrol engine backfires it makes a loud bang.

A slap hits someone or something with the palm of the hand.

To slap down is to disagree with an idea or put someone in their place.

Have a bash means try.  Bash means hit.

Beat the drum sometimes means campaign for a cause.

Did you have it drummed into you at school that children should be seen and not heard?

St Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth about clanging cymbals.
 1 Corinthians 13: 1