BS: translations from Rumpole to American

Subject: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 15 May 05 - 05:49 PM

Well, not translations, probably, but explanations of terms the great barrister Rumpole used in "Rumpole of the Bailey," by John Mortimer.

I believe that Rumpole achieved fame by being dramatized on educational TV. However, we don't watch TV, so we've just become aware of these fine books. If you enjoy polished writing, I recommend the Rumpole stories. Now for the puzzling terms -

1. His son thinks he will not take up law, rather "P.P.E and then go on to Sociology."

P.P.E.?

2. The wife of a member of parliament tells him to fight for the P.P.S.'s job.

PPS?

3. "the usual sort of allegation - villains verballed unless they paid up......

verballed? Talked to death, perhaps?

4. "two eggs, rashers, and fried slice..."

slice of what?

5. "Brown Windsor soup, rapidly followed by steamed cod [yum] castle pudding, mouse-trap, cream crackers and celery...

Castle pudding?
mouse-trap?
Brown Windsor soup sounds rather good, actually

6. "They must be hard up for conversation, to fill in a couple of hours round the A.B.C."

ABC?

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST
Date: 15 May 05 - 06:34 PM

Castle Pudding
Ingredients
60g (2oz) butter
60g (2oz) brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup self raising flour, sifted
1 Tbsp milk
3 tsp cocoa
1 Tbsp hot water
1/4 cup vanilla essence
Directions
Grease 5 ramekins. Cream the butter and sugar together, then beat in the egg and fold in the flour and milk, mixing well. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the mixture into each ramekin and add the cocoa, vanilla and hot water to the remaining mixture. Top up each ramekin and swirl the two mixtures together with a spoon. Place around the edge of a microwave carousel and microwave on MEDIUM for 4-6 minutes. Allow to stand 1-2 minutes prior to serving.


And fried slice is a slice of fried bread.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST
Date: 15 May 05 - 06:50 PM

mousetrap = cheap hard cheese such as might be used as bait in a mousetrap

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: HuwG
Date: 15 May 05 - 06:53 PM

P.P.E. = Political Philosophy and Economy.

P.P.S. = Parliamentary Private Secretary. A back-bench MP who understudies a Minister. The first rung on the greasy pole to higher office.

To "verbal" a villain is for the Police to allege that he or she has made an admission of guilt, or betrayed his/her partner(s) in crime.

Fried slice = fried slice of bread.

Not too sure about castle pudding, but mousetrap = cheese. It is implied that it is the cheapest brand, usually kept in the fridge too long.

ABC = Allied Broadcasting Corporation.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: The Shambles
Date: 16 May 05 - 03:04 AM

'She who must be obeyed'?

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 16 May 05 - 03:37 AM

She who must be obeyed = wife

Verballed = a false police allegation of an oral confession (emphasis on the "oral".

ABC can't be Allied Broadcasting Corporation - when would Rumpole have been to the USA to see ABC? In the UK in the period in question ABC was unknown - it must have been the (UK) ABC cinema chain.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: Metchosin
Date: 16 May 05 - 03:38 AM

She who must be obeyed? Why Rumpole's wife, Hilda, of course.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: The Shambles
Date: 16 May 05 - 03:57 AM

ABC can't be Allied Broadcasting Corporation - when would Rumpole have been to the USA to see ABC? In the UK in the period in question ABC was unknown - it must have been the (UK) ABC cinema chain.

There was a chain of self-service cafes called ABC - perhaps it was more likely to be this?

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: s&r
Date: 16 May 05 - 04:28 AM

Isn't 'she who must be obeyed' a quote from H Rider Haggard?

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: s&r
Date: 16 May 05 - 04:34 AM

Could be ABC TV 'ABC Television or ABC Weekend TV was the British Independent Television (ITV) (commercial television) contractor on Saturdays and Sundays in the Midlands and North of England between 1956 and 1968.'

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: The Shambles
Date: 16 May 05 - 04:46 AM

'Nippies' -- those pert waitresses with their starched aprons, caps and a ready smile -- epitomised the swift, cheerful service expected by customers of Lyon's Teashops -- and 'Corner Houses', as their larger establishments were commonly known.

From the 30's to the 50's, they were a national institution, serving tea and cakes at notably reasonable prices to the country's workers.

Lyon's main rivals in mass catering were the ABC chain. An ABC menu from 1932 highlights the superb value on offer: thick mock turtle soup, roast ribs of beef and Yorkshire pudding, boiled potatoes, spring greens, bread-and-butter pudding or a roll and cheese all for the princely sum of 1s 6d.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 16 May 05 - 02:20 PM

Thanks everyone. From the context, ABC must be a cafe, not a broadcasting network.

Guest: Thanks for the recipe for castle pudding. I''ll be set to go as soon as I figure out what a ramekin is. (Just kidding!)

leeneia
(a/k/a She Who Must Be Given Chocolates)

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST,hungry
Date: 16 May 05 - 04:07 PM

Maybe the castle pudding recipe could be copied onto the BS Mudcat's Just Desserts Cookbook thread?

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST,Liz the Squeak
Date: 16 May 05 - 05:20 PM

Funny you should mention that.. I thought of it as soon as I saw it above.

'She who must be obeyed' is indeed from H Rider Haggard - from 'She' in fact!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST,McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 May 05 - 07:50 PM

ABC - Aerated Bread Comppany, or rather the chain of cafes set up by the company under that name. Rather Like Lyons Teashops. Sort of diustant ancestor of Starbucks, but nothing like them of course.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 16 May 05 - 10:09 PM

AB = "bread raised by charging dough with carbonic acid gas, instead of generating the gas in the dough by fermentation."

"The product was temporarily successful as a novelty. ABC was liquidated in 1951."

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST, heric
Date: 16 May 05 - 10:23 PM

Oh, sorry, that was the US company founded by the 1862 US patent holder Stephen Ambler.

An earlier UK patent went to Dr. John Dauglish in 1856, leading to a company of the same name as referenced by Mr. McGrath.

The things you learn. . . .

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 16 May 05 - 10:33 PM

Ah, the tea shops. She who must be obeyed and I, on vacation in jolly old, ventured into one. We were fascinated by a gentleman at the next table who finished his meal with a desert we had never before seen served in a restaurant. The waitress placed before him a candy bar (resembled an American Mars) on a small plate which he proceeded to cut with a knife and fork and ingest by conveying the loaded fork to his mouth with his left hand. We were fascinated!

We also were confused by the large butterknife, which appeared whenever a fish was the main course. She who ... tried buttering a roll with it, but decided it was too cumbersome (why did waiters keep coming by and whisper and peer?).

I think we have all the Rumpoles and other assorted Mortimer novels somewhere in the house.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: DMcG
Date: 17 May 05 - 08:00 AM

Perhaps the waiters were whispering because that was a fish knife?

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 17 May 05 - 08:40 AM

Standard form in the UK, GuestQ, is to hold the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right hand at all times, thereby removing the need for the annoying practice Americans have of cutting, putting the knife down, and switching the fork to the right hand to convey the food to the mouth. Tsk Tsk, no standards these colonials!
S:0)

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 17 May 05 - 08:53 AM

If you think the way of handling the knife and fork is annoying, Johnny, just wait till we feed you some corn on the cob. heh heh

DMcG: Thanks for the link to the silverware site. I was intrigued by the cocktail fork. Over here we just drink our cocktails.

In P.G. Wodehouse's books, Bertie Wooster often plans to give a fish slice as a wedding present to a doomed fellow-Drones member. I've often wondered what a fish slice looked like.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: Charmion
Date: 17 May 05 - 09:13 AM

Imagine a large, fancy spatula made of sterling silver with a pearl handle and that is your basic post-Victorian upper-middle-class English fish slice. It comes with a matching large, fancy serving fork.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST,jeffp
Date: 17 May 05 - 01:56 PM

The fish slice was discussed in this thread.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 May 05 - 07:26 PM

Here is a page with a selection of fish slices. I think a fish slice would be a pretty mouldy wedding present. Even if made of sterling silver.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 18 May 05 - 09:13 AM

Thanks for the info, everyone. At last I become worldly.

I agree that it would be less-than-thrilling wedding present.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST
Date: 18 May 05 - 10:46 AM

Not if someone else had given you a fish.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST,The Shambles
Date: 18 May 05 - 10:54 AM

I had forgotten "Chateau Thames Embankment"

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 18 May 05 - 03:28 PM

Yes, Chateau Thames Embankment was Rumpole's usual tipple.

However, the lunch above, ""Brown Windsor soup, rapidly followed by steamed cod castle pudding, mouse-trap, cream crackers and celery...

was to be eaten on the train and accompanied by Chateau Great Western.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 May 05 - 03:46 PM

Loved those programs. I haven't read the books.

FYI: In the U.S. the ABC network is called American Broadcasting Company, (ABC, Inc.) NOT Allied Broadcasting Corporation.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 18 May 05 - 04:16 PM

Also the Australian Broardcasting Corporation. Don't know where they're based though...

We decided the fish slice was not, in any way shape or form, a spatula. Reminding people of them will only lead to trouble.

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 19 May 05 - 12:01 AM

Thank goodness for your sapient intervention, Bunn. Some threads are bizarre enough without enticing those who think "spatula" is a typo for "Shatner."

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: The Shambles
Date: 19 May 05 - 05:09 AM

Do I remember Rumpole having some nice names for his judges?

Subject: RE: BS: translations from Rumpole to American
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 May 05 - 11:18 AM

I was going to make the link and connection earlier but I got sidetracked and forgot to add it. Thanks for the reminder!

SRS