Posted by Ed Kiser on January 28, 2018 at 08:09:17 user Kisered.
In Reply to: Re: CAKE IN A PUDDING? posted by Mike Dennis on January 28, 2018 at 00:30:50:
It never occurred to me that "pudding" is British for "Dessert". But perhaps that is not quite right either, as I would say "have cake FOR dessert", not "have cake IN a dessert." But it is close, and much better than the image I had of mashing the cake and stirring it around a bit to make it mushy, with perhaps some other stuff stirred in to the mix. That image was disturbing. Glad to get that corrected.
This forum has been a blessing to help understand the UK version of certain words.
My first "what the heck is That?" was there is SA, first chapter, when Roger came running up others with that telegram in hand. John, seeing the paper waving in his hand, asked him: "Despatches?" Right away, I became aware that reading this would take some translation.
Some time ago on this forum,I learned what "Midden" is, as used in the phrase "cock of the midden". To be "High and mighty", to stand on the high ground, that image gets knocked down a peg or two when that "high ground" is just a pile of stuff that occasionally gets scraped out of a chicken house.
Ransome has been a fantastic LEARNING experience, and not just learning about how to sail. My first sailing experience was just fine because I had read Ransome - I'm sure others could say the same. That first day out sailing, I felt I could hear Nancy saying, "Fingers, fingers." Yet somehow, I have a feeling that something a bit more forceful was needed by John when sailing the Goblin in stormy seas.
It was Ransome that got me interested in Morse Code. I was the kid that was always last to be chosen for the team, so to be asked by our Boy Scout Master to teach Morse to the others was quite a feather in my cap, a role of leadership among my peers. The Nerd was "in charge" for a change. Of course, that was back before the time of "cell phones". Hard to get kids motivated for Morse Code when they are busy texting.
There is that "secret" code that one uses when knocking on the door of a friend, a tapping that seems to mean, "It's me." Not really secret as it is well known. To put words to that code: "Shave and a hair cut, two bits." With the "and a" being said quickly together, and the other words all separately, and using the concept when banging Morse Code to send a DOT as one bang, and DASH as two bangs close together, (reminds me of the "double click" of the computer mouse) that little code becomes in Morse as "Dot Dash Dot Dot - pause - Dot Dot" which are the codes for "LI" (first two letters in "listen").
It was wonderful to be learning without knowing that is what was happening.
And the learning process continues. Ah, the marvels of modern communication...
Ed Kiser, Kentucky, USA [ kisered@aol.com ]
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