BLAKE WEEK EIGHT REVIEW: Dyana Ferreira
I want to do a review of something I took away from a post Dyana did a while back. She did a post about meeting her cousins in Portugal a few years ago and how she still stays in touch. I think that is a great thing Dyana. Family is important. It reminded me of my experience when I met my cousins from England. They visited in July last year. Mike was 17 and Del was 15. They were a bag of laughs.
I enjoyed the questions they asked my brothers and I. My cousins were fascinated in the language barrier between Britians and Australians. When I say "language barrier" I mean different terms we use for different things. Some of the questions and answers are below.
Mike: What do you guys call McDonalds?
Us: Maccas.
Mike: We call it "Micki-D's".
Mike: Do you guys call it football?
Us: Nah Soccer.
Mike: We call it football.
Us: duh
Us: What do you call Rugby League?
Del: Pussyball
Us: Hahahahahahaha
Del: Do you call them tits?
Us: Yeah.
Del: We also call them "knockers."
Us: Hahahahahaha
Us: What do you guys say when you like something?
Mike: That's well good.
Del: What do say when you see a pretty girl?
Us: She's hot.
Del: We say "she's fit."
Us: Yeah?
Del: Yeah. Pete your girlfriend is fit. Do you think she'll kiss me goodbye?
Us: Haha Yeah of course mate.
Del: That's well good.
Us: Have you ever had a Tim Tam?
Mike: No. Do you have any?
Us: Yeah here you go.
Mike: These are well good.
Us: Yeah they are fit haha.
Mike: The most popular biscuits in Britain are called "Penguins".
Us: Sorry if we take the piss out of you alot. Your accent is funny though.
Del: Take this piss? What does that mean?
Us: Sorry if we tease you.
Del: Oh we call that "taking the mickey." Taking the piss sounds odd.
Us: Well what the hell is a "mickey" then? Haha
Is it this Mickey?
I think this experience showed me that even though we both speak English, we use it differently. My twin brother Phil went over to England a few months later to visit Mike and Del and they asked him straight away, "Did you bring Tim Tams? And are you still playing Pussyball?" They are funny. I was suppose to go and visit them in January this year. I had paid for the flight and everything. I was going with my girlfriend at the time. We broke up though a few months before leaving and I had to cancel the trip. I lost about $1400. Oh well. I will eventually get to England one day. Let that be a lesson. Be absolutely certain you are with the right person before you commit to a big trip or expensive investment. It could turn pear-shaped and then you lose out.
Does this relate to Blake? I don't think Dyana intended her post to be about Blake. I think she was just sharing an experience. I see some links though. Blake used a certain language in his poems and luckily people didn't understand what he was writing because he could have been in strife. There was a language barrier of some kind. Blake used metaphors and imagery that were not easily interpreted. He was a smart bloke. In class we still have troubles working out what he was saying. This just reminds me of the different words we use in comparison to my british cousins. I also believe that we live in a small world in some respects too. We had heaps in common with Mike and Del too. Knowledge on sport entertainment and music. We might be separated by alot of land and sea but we have similar interests and hobbies. That is why I think Blake's poems relate to people around the globe. I think the poem "London" can relate to other places than London. The message and language is universal.
Thanks for sharing Dyana.
Tucks Signing Off.
Click on the plate above to read London