That could get rather sticky.

Point 1 - True!

Point 2 - True (If you believe what you hear down the docks!

Julien

Today's word is:

drongo

A person seemed to be, in some form or another, stupid. Drongo is a typically australian word and is part of common australian dialect.

or

Drongo, common name for a number of bird species found from Africa through Southeast Asia to Australia. The habitat of the drongo ranges from forests to wooded savannas and cultivated lands, and the bird is found at elevations up to 1,500 m (5,000 ft). The drongo looks like a slender blackbird. Its plumage is mostly metallic black with bluish-green reflections. Males and females are similar in color and size. Most species of drongo have a crest of ornamental plumes on the head, and the tail is either deeply forked or racket shaped. It has a hooked bill, and around the gape of the mouth are highly developed bristles that trap flying insects, the drongo's main source of food. The drongo often accompanies troops of monkeys through the forest, possibly to catch insects disturbed into flight by the movement of the monkeys. The drongo builds a basketlike nest of rather loosely interwoven grass, lichens, and hair. The nest hangs from a forked branch, often over water.

The drongo's song is soft and melodious, and some species mimic the songs of other birds. The racket-tailed drongo of India is known for its song, which is said to be one of the finest in the East. It is also prized for its skill in mimicking other sounds. The plumage of the racket-tailed drongo of India is highly ornate. Its wiry outer tail feathers are tipped with flags, and the feathers typically extend 30 cm (12 in) beyond the rest of the bird’s tail.

Scientific classification: The drongo is a member of the family Dicruridae. At least 20 species of drongo are classified in the genera Dicrurus and Chaetorhynchus. The racket-tailed drongo of India is classified as Dicrurus paradiseus.

Nice one, Nick. So how did such a bird come to be slang for an idiot?

Because it is derived from a type of bird of that name (or so I'm informed) that lives in Australia. It was observed by the "Old Australians" as acting rather crazily, and thus an Aussie will call someone a drongo to say that they're an idiot. There are a number of alternative Australian pay-outs of this nature and calibre, such as clown, galah, wakka, minda, and many others.

Enough??

S'pose...

Another Oz-ism is 'as dry as a dead dingo's drongo' One supposes drongo translates as pri*k as well.

Strewth! I didn't know it was a euphemism for that, cobber.

Not a lot of mileage in Drongo!

Hopefully a better word for tomorrow?

Julien

Not my fault if you lot have no imagination...

Today's word is:

Spiny Norman

Dinsdale . . .

Doug and Dinsdale Piranha were born, on probation, in a small house in Kipling Road, Southwark, the eldest sons in a family of sixteen...

Doug was born in February 1929 and Dinsdale two weeks later; and again a week after that.

So you've answered your own 'question'. Now what am I gonna do . . ?

No I haven't, my word of the day is Spiny Norman - all I've done is mention the Piranha brothers. There's lots more yet!

Spiny Norman was the name of Guillaume le batard's pet hedgehog - he can be seen on panel 53 of the Bayeux Tapestry snuffling about amongst the Saxon corpses after the battle of Senlac Hill.

Guillaume was not called le batard for nothing and shortly after stealing the throne from 'Arold he had Spiny Norman wrapped in clay and baked in his personal Tandoori oven, just because he didn't laugh at one of his rather lame jokes. After this display of vindictive bile everybody laughed at everything Guillaume said - which pissed him off even more so he went and built lots of sand castles on the beach at Hastings and flew into a rage when the tide came in and washed them all away - after he had previously expressly forbidden it to do so.

Guillaume was so upset by this that he lost all self-regard and sailed home to Francia a broken man - so he never completed his conquest of England and it was left to his transvestite son, Red Dawn, to complete his work. Unfortunately he was shot in the arse with a red hot poker while out shopping for shoes in New Bond Street.

All the above courtesy of wackypedia.

You sure it's not courtesy of wackybaccy?

Mind you, it all sounds perfectly plausible to me.

Welcome to the home page of top South Wales covers band - Spiny Norman!

Spiny are a Rock 'n' Pop covers band based in South Wales. We've be going for over 10 years now (though we're giving Spinal Tap a run for their money drummer wise) and like to think we've got a set of songs together which people like to get down to.

http://spiny-norman.co.uk/default.aspx

Probably available for weddings and bar mitzvah's!

I was the 1459th visitor to the web page so not exactly Spinal Tap!

Julien

Or.....

A giant imaginary hedgehog from the Monty Python mockumentary skit "The Piranha Brothers" in which gangster Dinsdale Piranha believes he's being watched by same.
Dinsdale was a perfectly normal person in every way, except in as much as he was convinced that he was being watched by a giant hedgehog whom he referred to as Spiny Norman.



Julien

Marvellous stuff. They don't write comedy like that any more - they probably can't get the drugs...

Right, o followers of the word, today's word is:

weeble

A very small male cow - so small that it's impossible to push it over.

Thinking of an Airfix toy line? Wee bull - nice one!

Joseph

'weebles wobble, but they don't fall down'

Worked with a guy who was nicknamed 'weeble' by another staff member. He was short and rotund, resembling a weighted toy.

That's all I know.

I had a Weebles playground when I was small. It had a swing, roundabout and slide, and I spent hours playing with it.

Didn't find out till much later that Weebles were an Airfix product.

Weebles is a trademark for several lines of children's roly-poly toys originating in Hasbro's Playskool division on July 23, 1971. Shaped like eggs with a weight at the fat, or bottom end, they wobble when pushed, but never fall completely over, hence the name and the slogan "weebles wobble, but they don't fall down." Some Weebles were designed to look like humans. The "Weebleville" series of 2004 and 2005 looked more like anthropomorphic animals, but the "Storybook World" series of 2006 has returned to more humanlike faces for the figures.

The popular catchphrase, "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down", was used in advertising during their rise in popularity in the 1970s and during the relaunch in the 2000s.

A wide range of accessories were available for the Weebles including vehicles, buildings and furniture. Some sets had a theme to them, such as the Weebles circus set.


Julien

One is drawn to comparisons between weebles and weasels.

You forget I know where you live

Julien

Right, change of pace for all you poets out there, today's word is:

gruntbuggly

From that wonderful poem "ode to a small piece of green putty I found in my armpit one summers day" I think.


"either.....

tell me how good my poetry is, or die in the vacuum of space"

Dear Douglas Adams, one of the funniest men to have drawn breath

I heartily concur with everything you just said.

"Resistance is useless!"

Should keep you going, for days, this one. Can't help, any more; Gruntfuttock, as evinced by Kenneth Williams, in "Round the Horne," is a different matter.
Edgar

Well from the strange world of the wibbly wobbly way, when you google this in pictures you get;



I have no idea what that is but it looks cool!

Julien

Ah, the poetic stylings of Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz of the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council - can any other poetry move so many people to tears?

And that Lego thing is seriously cool! I've always wondered what a freddled gruntbuggly looks like.

By the way, "Ode to a Small Piece of Putty..." is one of only two poems I know by heart (except for ones I've written). The other one is Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky." Psychiatrists could probably have a field day with that information...

Right then, today's word is:

teaser

An electric device for disabling criminals by making fun of their dress sense.

If it isn't, it should be!

And now the real meaning. A teaser is a short trailer for a movie that (i) usually comes in fits and starts over a dodgy internet connection and (ii) contains every worthwhile frame of footage from the full-length movie. Modern movie teasers may contain as many as twenty or thirty frames! The purpose is to make you regret paying eight quid to go and see the movie - but you still pay the eight quid.

Sounds about right!

Not the meaning I had in mind though - any more?

This one?

A teaser (or a "two-team teaser") is a type of gambling bet that allows the bettor to combine his bets on two different games. The bettor can adjust the point spreads for the two games, but realizes a lower return on the bets in the event of a win.

A teaser is a type of wager used in sports betting most commonly in basketball and football. This wager is a multi-team wager, allowing the bettor to choose a minimum of two teams up to, in some cases, 15 teams. The bettor will get points on his favor to add or subtract to the teams chosen to improve the point spread chosen.

There are two types of teasers known. The first kind, known as a "Super Teaser", "Special Teaser", "Big Teaser", "Monster Teaser", allows the bettor to choose 3, 4 and in some cases 5 teams, and gives a larger number of points to add or subtract to the spread of the selections chosen. In return the bettor will receive less money than the one risked in the bet.

The second type of teaser, known as a "Vegas Teaser", or simply a "Teaser", is more of a combination between a parlay and the first teaser explained. In this case the bettor will receive a fewer amount of points to adjust the spread of the selections chosen, but the more teams chosen in the wager (from 2 to 15 in some cases), the higher the payout will be.

Julien

Nope, although I did learn something new from it.

Also has some musical conertations;

Teaser is the debut album from American guitarist Tommy Bolin. It was released in conjunction with the album Come Taste the Band by Deep Purple, on which Bolin also played guitar. Upon its release in 1975, Teaser received considerable praise from critics. Unfortunately, due to Bolin's obligations with Deep Purple he was unable to promote the album with a solo tour and sales were affected as a result.

Teaser and the Firecat is an album released by Cat Stevens in 1971. It contains 10 songs including hits such as "Morning Has Broken," "Moonshadow," and "Peace Train." It is also the title of a children's book written and illustrated by Cat Stevens. The story features the title characters from the album cover, top-hatted young Teaser and his pet Firecat, who attempt to put the moon back in its place after it falls from the sky. Published in 1972, the book has been out of print since the mid-1970s.


Teaser is the fifth album by Angela Bofill, released by Arista Records in 1983.

Julien

Were you looking for this one?

A brain teaser is a form of puzzle that involves cogitating or mental/cognitive activity to solve. Normally, this includes thinking in conventional ways with given constraints in mind; sometimes, it also involves lateral thinking. Logic puzzles and riddles are specific types of brain teasers.

One of the earliest known brain teaser enthusiasts was the Greek mathematician Archimedes.[1] He devised mathematical problems for his peers to solve.

I also found this one;

"The Teaser" is the name of Amy Crehore's latest painting in her wonderful "Monkey Love" series... err I am not posting a picture link to this one!

Julien

Teaser and the Firecat is one of two things I had in mind (classic stuff from the Cat), but the other thing is linked to yesterday's word, in a way.

Right, I'm off to sing Morning Has Broken to myself. Ah, happy memories of primary school assembly - thanks Julien!

Ah ha!

The second teaser of wot you is speakininnit is from hitchhikers guide if I recall without recourse to the book of interwebnet "Teasers" were rich kids who dressed up in silly outfits and buzzed earthlings in their dad's borrowed flying saucers - correct?

That's the one! They usually landed in the American mid-west and picked some hick farmer who'd never be believed.

Today's words:

don't panic

. . . they don't like it up 'em, you know . . .

Stupid boy

You're beginning to understand me now!