Friday, 11 May 2007

New word needed

I am struggling to answer this question!

Is there a single verb to describe the actions of someone walking along a pavement in London, or any other city for that matter, when that person casually/frantically retrieves a mobile phone from a part of their body or clothing; stares at it enigmatically, often purses the lips, then puts it back from whence it was retrieved.

There is never a sound from either the machine or it’s owner.

The action spells despair, hope for unrequited love, position in a hierarchy, peer gropu pressure, insecurity in their society…

I wish I knew, as the word hasn’t been invented yet.
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8 comments:

  1. Tuscan Tony11 May 2007 at 21:17

    Suggest you buy Roger's Profanisaurus if you don't have it alreday, it contains the vital and essential phrases to cover most, if not all, contingencies.

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  2. Electro-Kevin11 May 2007 at 22:58

    I agree with Tuscan - Roger's Profanisaurus cannot be beaten.

    Here are some examples:

    Take an air dump - to pass wind

    Take Captain Picard to warp speed - to masturbate aggressively

    Spasm Chasm - vagina


    My edition is nine years old now. I can't find the word you're looking for, but I do understand what you mean. You can tell a person's status by how anxiously they treat their phone. Real high rollers have one of their entourage carry their phone for them.

    I'm not important enough to have a mobile phone, so that puts me beneath teenagers, chavs and spivs.

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  3. Sen. C.R.O'Blene12 May 2007 at 06:58

    Thanks Chaps, I'd forgotten about that one!

    There was a time when a chum used to call me and introduce the 'Rusty Sherriff's Badge' into every statement he made!

    Have you seen this link?

    http://www.urbandictionary.com/

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  4. Sen. C.R.O'Blene12 May 2007 at 07:12

    Actually, I've just thought of something...

    I'll ask Melvyn Bragg; he knows every word in the dictionary, and I just can't understand him any more!

    I do like the man though, because he introduced Mike Oldfield playing the whole of Tubular Bells live on his show, in November 1973!

    In that performance, (which I watched in ecstasy while Mrs S slumbered), Mick Taylor was playing guitar. I met him a couple of years later when my firm were building a 'meditation room' for him at his house near Rye! It was the closest I've ever got to stardom...

    Actually, this is a more important subject to think about than some kid wandering about peering hopefully at his/her mobile...!

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  5. The Rooms Gallery14 May 2007 at 10:40

    dangle-ber·ry (dan gal běr'ē)
    n. pl. dangleber·ries

    Unpleasant attachment.

    Medical. The small, dark egg of derived from a pubic hair, skin scurf and excereta, having the whole wall fleshy, such as the grape or tomato.
    A small, juicy, fleshy bitter fruit, tasting as a kidney or liver, regardless of its structure.

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  6. Old BE15 May 2007 at 11:21

    I think the verb is "to check the time"

    I haven't regularly worn a watch since I got my first mobile in '99

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  7. lilith16 May 2007 at 15:17

    Sorry Scrobes, we are all just finding out what the time is!

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  8. Sen. C.R.O'Blene16 May 2007 at 20:17

    Lilith and Ed,

    Thanks for the offer of a word but...


    Ed - Good point! Except that without my glasses, which steam up reglarly, I can only see bugger all!

    Lilith - I was going to elaborate on the insecurity bit until you replied, so, back to the drawing board!

    There is a way...if only we can find it. I may ask John Humphrys!

    ReplyDelete