Questions for our British friends

[Greenman]

Not just BBC, ITV/SKY commentators have a complete inability to say anything with a T in it, so Nasser Hussein and Mike Atherton will say that in cricket "Kevin Piedersen(Pietersen) is the next badding for England" mind you thinking back to the excitable Gary Herbert in the Olympics for BBC we apparently saw Sir Steve Redgrave and his crew win medals for 'Grade Briddin' Sheesh!

[Mal Hombre]

Originally Posted by pierrelm

Most notably Mick Jagger, when it suits one...bet 'ee dahn't talk lahk vat at Lords fer ver crikkit tho, innit.

Personally I get hacked off with the ridiculous, disproportionately high percentage of Irish broadcasters we have to suffer. If I never have to hear Colin Murray again, it'll still be too soon. More Geordies would good though, pet...

Jagger's accent is more Essex aping His sometime Mate Keith Richards,It's the Ulster accents (Sorry BB) that annoy Me.."Nye it's time forr the weathor"

[richardoe]

Some of the worst speakers are the so called upper classes, they tend to have a drawl to their voices. Officers in the Guards are some of the worst offenders.

[palo5]

Originally Posted by richardoe

Officers in the Guards are some of the worst offenders.

Have you listened to them on radio communications? They're clear-speakers, and many others are not

[sammyshirt]

On the subject of the 'Soccer' thing.

It was indeed referred to as Soccer in the Victorian period as the game sprang up alongside other ball games like Rugby Football. Soccer was an abrievation of the actual name of the game ASSOCiAtion Football.

However it was also widely know as football from the off as is testament to the names of our football clubs virtually all being [name of place] Football Club.

The Soccer word slowly died out over here as the game of Football became the dominant sport of the country (and now the world). It was only the likes of the BBC and upper classes wanting to distinguish from 'rugger' that persisted with Soccer and with the game being based in the working class heartlands the word Soccer became as distasteful as the 'rugger' types!

What always intrigues me is the fact a Football pitch is marked out in yards and the goals are 8 yards by 8 feet - yet most countries don't use feet and inches. You can't call the 18 yard box the 16.4592m box!

Ironically whilst most Brits like the imperial measurement, many industries now use metric (construction industry for example) and we've adapted to metric, whilst the American's have persisted with imperial more than we have!

[pierrelm]

Originally Posted by sammyshirt

On the subject of the 'Soccer' thing.

It was indeed referred to as Soccer in the Victorian period as the game sprang up alongside other ball games like Rugby Football. Soccer was an abrievation of the actual name of the game ASSOCiAtion Football.

It was only the likes of the BBC and upper classes wanting to distinguish from 'rugger' that persisted with Soccer and with the game being based in the working class heartlands the word Soccer became as distasteful as the 'rugger' types!

A couple of final points - the sport was invented, or at least formalised at Cambridge University where the first laws of the game were drawn up (and pinned to the Elm trees surrounding 'Parker's Piece') to enable players to play under one set of rules rather than whatever arrangement they had at their public school - until WWI, public schools were the bastion of the game, with the 3 terms being separated into soccer, rugby and cricket and many club players being 'gentlemen' amateurs.

And there should be a distinction between Rugby Union (generally played in the south of England plus Wales - the national sport and to a lesser extent, Scotland) and Rugby League, which is primarily based in the industrial north of England. Many Northern clubs - Sunderland and Leeds being obvious examples, are '...AFC' as in 'Association Football Club' to be distinct from ...RFC, the Rugby League playing clubs in their own area.

[haroldeye]

Sammy - We didn't adapt to metric we were ordered to use it by slack arsed politicians who never needed to do anything practical (exceept work out how deep they could get their noses in the trough) and a load of bureaucrats in Brussels.

85% of British houses are built in Imperial measurements but all replacement fittings are in metric. I have a room 18 foot square but I have to buy carpet in metres - nice little earner for the carpet people as they have to provide more tha I need. Likewise replacing door handles that have lost their brass effect finiish, the screw centres are all just about an eigth to a quarter out. Either twisted screws or new doors. Thanks Lord Howe. You should have stuck to backstabbing.

[knobby109]

Originally Posted by pierrelm

A couple of final points - the sport was invented, or at least formalised at Cambridge University where the first laws of the game were drawn up (and pinned to the Elm trees surrounding 'Parker's Piece') to enable players to play under one set of rules rather than whatever arrangement they had at their public school - until WWI, public schools were the bastion of the game, with the 3 terms being separated into soccer, rugby and cricket and many club players being 'gentlemen' amateurs.

And there should be a distinction between Rugby Union (generally played in the south of England plus Wales - the national sport and to a lesser extent, Scotland) and Rugby League, which is primarily based in the industrial north of England. Many Northern clubs - Sunderland and Leeds being obvious examples, are '...AFC' as in 'Association Football Club' to be distinct from ...RFC, the Rugby League playing clubs in their own area.

Although football is an ancient game it was one of "local rules" and only played informally.
It was the massive popularity of cricket which brought the change.As it's a summer game the clubs were left with grounds unused in the winter so they looked round for a "fill in"
A major mover was William Clarke who had married the landlady of the Trent Bridge Inn which had an adjoining field.This was converted into a cricket field where people paid to watch the game;this led to professional touring teams which was sport as we know it today.One local football team played there on what had become the County ground and Notts County was the first professional football team in the world.
Football remained a minority sport for a long time. More people attended the Eton v Harrow cricket match than the FA Cup Final (which was initially played at the Oval!)
Cricket remained the major British sport until well after WW2 , football was just something you played while waiting for the cricket season.It was after that that the middle classes became interested in football (at school it was never even discussed among ourselves, rugby was the proper winter game)and the present popularity only goes back that far.
Perhaps one day cricket will regain its rightful place.

[henryf]

Regarding the forced conversion to metric units, You can no longer buy an 8ft x 4ft sheet of MDF. Instead you have to buy a 2440mm x 1220mm sheet. Just do the conversion!

[teaktop]

St Stephens Day ,why is it called Boxing Day in the UK ? and is it called Boxing Day outside the U.K.?