Pupils flog public school on eBay

Those among you who've ever fancied roasting young toffs over an open fire should get yourselves down to eBay where the pupils of one seat of learning have decided to put their beloved alma mater on the market: The Stamford School auction on eBay The blurb explains: Have you ever wanted to own an authentic traditional …

[Russell Sakne]

If Mr Gombault is the English master...

...then he's certainly not an asset:

"...It has long prouded itself in trying (and failing) to match..."

Prouded: failing, indeed. Even the past participle use of "pride" is desperately clumsy. 4/10. Must do better.

[Richard Cain]

bummer!

eBay has pulled the listing.

Lester, you must brush up on your insider trading skills.

Internet = no!

[War Monger]

Hey, Limeys...

Is "prouded" a proper form of Anglish that us fat, war-mongering yanks aren't generally familiar with, like the words colour, zed and the bonnet on the front of one's truck (excuse me, lorry)?

[Joel]

Ebay

Shame they pulled the listing.. maybe you should have a questionnaire before you can read articles like this.

"Do you work for Ebay?"

"Yes." "No."

[Michael Fletcher]

the great divide

Why do the seppos call the poms Limeys, when they are clearly poms?

[Ed]

War Monger...

... of course it isn't a word :)

Whats zed? Do you mean z?

And truck is perfectly fine in Anglish, though probably refers to a smaller vehicle than a lorry :)

Keep war mongering...

[Rich]

etymology of Limey

The expression "Limey" stems from the sensible practice of English sailors drinking lime juice to ward off scurvy. They were called this by their American counterparts who were showing their traditional refusal to adopt superior foreign technology (cf GSM, electric kettles)

The corresponding term "Septic" came into use as a reference to the rotting extremities of the American scurvy victims, not as is often thought, through rhyming slang (Septic Tank = Yank).

100% TRUE!

[Tim Bates]

PDF's needed in future

Can I suggest that in future the page is printed to a PDF file to make the whole thing available to us (instead of the little capture of the top)?

[Anonymous Coward]

us yanks

War Monger, when you're finished congratulating yourself for spotting that “prouded” isn’t proper English, you might be interested to know that “us yanks” isn’t either. The correct grammar would be “we yanks”.

[Anonymous Coward]

Lorry & Truck

I use both terms (although my wife doesn't like the term truck). To me:

Lorry: Non-articulated heavy goods vehicle

Truck: Articulated heavy goods vehicle

Also a van is a non-articulated light goods vehicle in case you're wondering...

[Ian Clark]

Just like I remember it

And Mr Gombault is still teaching 20 years after I left. The traditions remain, it's just the technology that advances.

[War Monger]

On Utility Vehicles

My question regarding "prouded" was sincere, regardless of tone. Here's another... What word or words are used in the UK to describe the light duty trucks "we yanks" refer to as pickups? I know you've got them, although perhaps not the massive beasts we use to transport our massive derrieres (and not much else).

[Rhys]

Utes.

Short for Light Utility Vehicle, check out http://www.hsv.com.au/cars/vz/main.asp?link=main/maloo.html

and http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm/newsID/2060710.004/country/acf/generalmotors/holden-hsv-maloo-r8-is-world-fastest-ute

Think Pontiac GTO with the rear end torched off and a wellside deck welded on. Thats gotta be more fun than a Chevvy Suburban :D

[Freddie Frog]

On Utes...

Rhys, you have it wrong - only the sheepshaggers (Kiwis) and rooshaggers (Aussies) call them utes, note that the link to the Holden website you posted is for the Aussie GM affiliate. I've only ever heard them called pick-ups in the UK.

As for Pom, if one knows how the word originated, one would know that the only Poms are the Aussie Royalty (Any Aussie descended from convicts).

[Anonymous Coward]

Dialect

Maybe "prouded" is an obscure Fens dialect version of "prided"?

As for all the comments on the names of vehicular transport, we'll have no truck with that sort of nonsense here!