The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Bez Thomas:

I respectfully disagree, Dave. Possibly part of the confusion is that the lyrics quoted are "as j h sings them".

The original:
"And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march,
Reviving old dreams of past glories
And the old men march slowly, old bones stiff and sore.
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, what are they marching for?
And I ask myself the same question."

On a side note- "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" was released in 1972. Part of the original context was the refusal of the RSL to allow Vietnam veterans to march in Anzac Day parades.

Dave @ #123:
Identifying a narrative persona with the author is always a dangerous game to play. Sometimes you lose.

"Did you think that we'd forget you mate
With the slow march of the years?
That as time passed, we'd wipe the slate
Of your sorrow and your tears?
Did you think we'd scorn your sacrifice
Find no honour in the debt?
When your lives paid our freedom's price
How then could we forget?"

Amy @ 38: For "complained bitterly", read "throw missiles at the 17-year-old if he marched". The RSL has said they'll have him attend an unspecified Dawn Service instead.

Dave @ 19: I'd say that the jingoistic and flag-wavy content of Anzac Day has increased, but only from certain quarters. Compare and contrast Howard's 2005 speech at Gallipoli with Bill Crews' speech from 2006.

Could someone clarify some usage for this Antipodean? When reportage on Senate control mentions "Democrat seats", is that shorthand for "Democratic caucus seats"?

Ah, musk lifesavers. It's not just for deodorant any more. The flavour also comes in chewy sticks and 'muskettes', which approximate lifesaver holes.

My corresponding experience in America was wintergreen lifesavers, which taste like Dencorub (q.v. IcyHot) smells. They also seems to be the same flavour as root beer.

Serge- The best place to start is, unsurprisingly, the first book - Flashman. If the style and content floats your boat, you have a choice of reading the rest of the series in order of publication, or in chronological order.

George MacDonald Fraser is a remarkably prolific author - aside from the Flashman books, there's a pile of screenplays (Octopussy and Red Sonja would probably be the most infamous) and other books, fiction and non. I recommend Pyrates (a swashbuckling comedy) and Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers.

The OED usage citations for this particular sense of wide shows an interesting transition in slang use. It seems to mean "clever, sharp-witted" before WWII, and then acquires the connotation of shifty criminality, probably because it was being used by the black marketeers themselves. Compare it to the American "wise guy".

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