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David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

@jesszafarris.com @robwords.com This will interest the two of you since Rob brought it up in last week's "Words Unravelled".

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David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Wait till they demand the country's official first language...

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David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Really interesting, thank you, and (on the use of 'fuck' as an intensifier) when the Glaswegian novelist James Kelman won the Booker Prize in the 1990s there was much disapproval in conservative circles of the constant repetition of the word in his dialogues. Anyone who has ever lived in Glasgow...

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David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

What a load of crap! You cannot compromise on this particular issue: either that march goes down the Garvaghy Road or it does not. And, as for nobody in N. Ireland wanting to go back 28 years, just what makes you think that is a fair description of the Orange Order?

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David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Well, since I don't have any kids it's easy for me to say, but I would not want any children of mine to be forced to sing an explicitly anti-Scottish song which requires voluntary self-abasement before an unelected ruler and the continuation of British imperialism. Call me a Leftie if you want: I am

David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Jeez... that is grim! But there is a certain splendour in those skies, not least when you know that half an hour later it could be bathed in glorious sunshine!

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Oh, my goodness. These look like the famous shot of Daleks on Westminster Bridge in London in the 1960s. But this is real life, not sci-fi.

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2/2... which sounds much more likely to me in view of the location. But the Ulysses legend has a lot of cultural prestige attached to it and gives the city an aura of classical greatness. (And it is wonderful. I just don't believe that particular story.)

I live near Lisbon. Legend has it here that the city is named after Ulysses, with it being suggested that he ended up here in his odyssey after the Trojan War. Highly improbable, I think, but I am no expert. There are suggestions of a Phoenecian origin, meaning 'pleasant bay', which sounds... 1/2.

Many congratulations, @billykayscot.bsky.social! May you keep going for mony a year yet.

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Ah, no, not right now, thank you. I have a couple of trusted colleagues looking over it.

A really good episode, as ever. When you mentioned the wonderful Turkish expression '(S)he is parsley in everything', I remembered that wonderful Scottish phrase for telling someone that they're talking nonsense: 'Your arse in parsley!'. Say that in Turkish to solve the problem! @robwords.com

It depends on the context. Here it is the Introduction to a book, so the publishers have priorities for the series. If I were writing only for people in my own academic field, then it is harder to resist just saying all that you think you have to say! (But your readers still may not like it...)

2/2... in a given context and you realise that there is a lot of detail which is not needed for that purpose. It is not wasted effort: anything written and cut is kept, and I can potentially use it in subsequent work. But it is very good discipline always to bear in mind who your audience is.

Ah, the key thing is to remember what the purpose of the piece is. So my initial draft was very much what I felt I had to say about the general subject, and that helped me formulate my thoughts and understand the detail more clearly. But then you think about the needs of the specific readers... 1/2

David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

2/2... institution. It is an indirect way to kill different subjects off in stages. The viciousness with which they are approaching the Scottish-based subjects is particularly worrying, since there are few other institutions to retain them at the same level. Very sad indeed.

David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Yes, indeed. It is the widespread nature of these cuts which is really alarming. And the argument being made about certain JH programmes not being viable is utter BS: the structuring of the Edinburgh Arts programme allows certain combinations to remain on the books for years at no cost to the...1/2.

David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

In which the UK's self-proclaimed Prime Minister in waiting announces his intention to force the RNLI to conduct criminal investigations on people drowning at sea before actually pulling them out of the water. 'Let them all drown' is the motto. Just let that sink in.

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David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I know the feeling... if it's any encouragment, I am currently writing a piece which is supposed to be about 10K. My first draft was 20, and there was nothing I felt that should be omitted!! I now have it down to just under 11,000. It can be done. But you have to be really disciplined. Good luck!

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David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Oh, wow, those are wonderful: just like some of those really intricate, detailed illustrations which were common in the nineteenth century. Well done to your sister (and to you, of course, for your book, which I am sure will be wonderful anyway!). But that is stylish.

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Oh, my goodness... I never thought that even he would be quite so blatant with his vile racism.

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Thank you for sharing all of that with us.

This whole thread is well worth reading and sharing onwards. Thanks to Richard Haviland for forwarding it.

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Thank you for posting that, Richard. Well worth reading indeed.

David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

AAAAARGH! Why do we have to have these ridiculous League tables?

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And these people have the barefaced cheek to talk about the UK being 'invaded' while they get to lead their balaclaved fascist militias through city centres?

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Another useful one in Portuguese is 'ter o queijo e a faca na mão' (literally, 'to have the cheese and the knife in your hand'), in other words 'to be in control of a situation'. I really like that one, partly because I love cheese. But it is a great way to say you're in charge.

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Ooh, I didn't know that one. Obrigado!

When will you make a guest appearance, Jess?

2/2... ships looking for slaves in the hold, and Portuguese captains were said to have found ways of hiding their presence. So 'ser tudo para inglês ver' means that an action is entirely superficial. There are plenty more in Portuguese. I will think further. It sounds like a good episode!

A wonderfully useful one in Portuguese is 'para inglês ver' (literally 'for an Englishman's eyes'). You do something 'para inglês ver' when you act for appearances only, often without even doing anything at all. It goes back to when the British navy took it upon itself to apprehend foreign... 1/2

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That is really interesting: thanks for sharing it. In particular, we should note that Scott's first novel, Waverley, was published (also anonymously) only in 1814: in other words, they were not following in his wake.

Very funny, Richard, but also very much to the point. You have a great way with words.

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David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

My goodness, that is pathetic. Do they not get what AfD really is?

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Very, very tight... both that and the Duran 'goal' in the first half. There is a procedural issue here, though, if they were unable to draw lines: once more, the technology, which was supposed to resolve things, is faulty. I just hope the League doesn't come down to goal difference in May.

David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Reform could not give out seats in the Lords because their donors are almost entirely from outside the UK. The donors would not be eligible to take their seats. This is pseudo-democracy, and not one word of questioning the very existence or functioning of the upper House, which is far more important

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David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

This is a female protestor being physically manhandled by conference participants at the Reform UK Rally, ahem, conference, in Birmingham yesterday, while Farage mocks her. On the day when his party and he himself were exposed as law breakers, he presides over the actions of the fascist mob.

David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Richard is citing here an earlier post from Andrew Sparrow, which said "Reform UK says it would declare 'national emergency' on day one in power, not letting judges or officials 'get in our way'". Precisely. Any parallels to Germany in 1933 are, of course, entirely coincidental.

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David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Indeed. Spot on as usual, Richard.

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David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

That sounds delicious but horribly bad for you!!! (I'll go off to the supermarket now to get the ingredients...)

David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

A powerful statement here. I am not sure I am 100% in agreement with all that is said, but, as one other person remarked, plenty people in Ireland are talking about Andy Burnham's recent dismissal of a border poll. But then Irish opinion never really counted for much in the UK...

David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Glad you're still with us... I had a similar experience once with a transfer in Mexico City. I wondered why I was out of breath so quickly and then thought... 'Oh, oh, altitude!'.

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David Frier @dgfrier.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I actually had one of the Symington family as one of my students in Portuguese at Leeds University. I am afraid I can't remember her first name, but she did arrange a case of very nice white Port for a reception after we had the Portuguese composer Emanuel Nunes make a joint visit to us and Music 😊.