Missing Bodies

Dai Robb wrote:I even got the book from the Library but by the time I found the right chapter i had dropped off to sleep

what on earth are all you reprobates talking about....?

I'm either naive as hell, or I've missed out on an 'in joke'.....

Gordy(being an innocent abroad) asked what i meant by Hanky Panky then had the affrontary to suggest that I was too old to remember what it was? hence the following comments about IT???

Do you want me to spell it out??

houghmagandy

See.......no need for you to spell it out.

Such a quaint old saying? had totally forgotten about you uncouth Edinburgains knowing those sort of things?

but alas, we rely upon your knowledge of sheep for other matters....

I was getting worried at least 3 posts from you without the mention of sheep? thought you were cracking up?

[quote="true_blue_piper"]houghmagandy

quote]

to explain


Adulterous sexual intercourse.


It’s a rare word these days, but as it has a grand sound — and it is of such universal application — perhaps somebody should begin a campaign to restore it to common usage. One well-known appearance is in Vladimir Nabokov’s book Pale Fire: “She would have preferred him to have gone through a bit of wholesome houghmagandy with the wench”. We do know the word was originally Scots, as the guttural gh indicates. The first part is the same word as hock, the joint in a four-legged animal that matches the human ankle, sometimes still spelt that way (as in the Scots’ hough soup). It can also refer to the hollow part behind the human knee joint (didn’t you always want a word for it? Actually it’s better known to medicine as the popliteal area) as well as the nearby thigh. The second element of the word is problematic; it could be from canty, a Scots and northern English dialect adjective for someone who is lively or cheerful, or perhaps active or brisk. So, a bit of active thigh work — you can see how the word could have arisen

It sort of takes away the magic of it all though ??