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2/11/2016 0 Comments Welcome to Autumn!It's been a busy couple of months for Bestwood Village WI and now Autumn has well and truly arrived we'll soon be moving our thoughts towards... well, we won't say the C word just yet, but we know you're thinking about it too! Our next Fayre will be revealed very soon just in time for the festive season. We'll be moving our meeting to the Church for winter to save on those very dark walks into Bestwood Park, but our final meeting at Dynamo for the year was a jovial one, welcoming local historian and wordsmith Bob Massey. We all love a good idiom, but can you explain what one is? Bob revealed some very interesting origins of well known sayings, idioms and expressions and opened up the great debate of dialect and regional naming - do you say barm, batch, cob, bap, bun or roll? Or something else entirely?! Many popular sayings evolved from a very literal starting point, and over the years have become idioms or proverb like statements which can seem a little strange without context - for example, "one in the hand is worth two in the bush." These days the younger generations might wonder what exactly you'd have in your hand compared to the bush, but the meaning was very straightforward in the days when falconers were more regular hunters with their birds of prey. To translate, the meaning is quite simple - the one in my hand (the bird of prey) is more valuable than the possible two (the prey itself) hiding in the undergrowth. A falcon or owl was much too expensive a hunting weapon to potentially lose it, to risk snaring what may or may not be hiding in the bushes. A particular favourite for the night was the meaning of 'to give the cold shoulder,' which originated in medieval times. Wealthy owners would receive guests and it was traditional for the host to offer a hot meal, often before even being introduced properly, so eager were they to impress and be hospitable. However, a subtle way to suggest a guest should leave - or was not welcome - was to offer them the cold cut of lamb, beef or pork shoulder, hence being 'given the cold shoulder.' Bear that in mind next time you are offered a beverage at a friends house! The village Bonfire night takes place on 5 November and the WI will have a table, if anyone is free to assist please let Brenda know - same again for the village Christmas light up on 9 December if you're free! The next Coffee Club is 12 November and Knit & Natter on 10 November, and don't forget we'll be in the church for our next meeting on 23 November.
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