Who's Toto Wolff?
Discussion
Tony2or4 said:
I feel my biting wit has got out of hand here.
The apostrophe in I chatted to her donkey's years ago is spot on. But my 'joke' was that somebody who used apostrophes for plurals would interpret the statement as 'Some years ago I was chatting to her donkeys'.
Hang on a minute, I think a whoosh parrot might be heading in my direction now.
.The apostrophe in I chatted to her donkey's years ago is spot on. But my 'joke' was that somebody who used apostrophes for plurals would interpret the statement as 'Some years ago I was chatting to her donkeys'.
Hang on a minute, I think a whoosh parrot might be heading in my direction now.
To be accurate it's donkeys ears or donkeys because the tradition with cockney rhyming slang is to only use the non-rhyming part of the couplet. So the only possible use of an apostrophe would be if it were the ears belonging to the donkey i.e. donkey's ears but it's not, it's donkeys ears i.e lots of them so the expression should be "I chatted to her donkeys ago..."
RichB said:
To be accurate it's donkeys ears or donkeys because the tradition with cockney rhyming slang is to only use the non-rhyming part of the couplet. So the only possible use of an apostrophe would be if it were the ears belonging to the donkey i.e. donkey's ears but it's not, it's donkeys ears i.e lots of them so the expression should be "I chatted to her donkeys ago..."
I didn't know that donkey's years was rhyming slang and as such should be 'ears' not 'years': I always assumed the phrase was a reference to some (possibly misplaced) general belief that donkeys had a long life span. So, a good informative shout there, Rich.However, I don't get your argument against the apostrophe: surely the phrase donkey's ears is indeed supposed to mean the ears of a donkey?
Tony2or4 said:
RichB said:
To be accurate it's donkeys ears or donkeys because the tradition with cockney rhyming slang is to only use the non-rhyming part of the couplet. So the only possible use of an apostrophe would be if it were the ears belonging to the donkey i.e. donkey's ears but it's not, it's donkeys ears i.e lots of them so the expression should be "I chatted to her donkeys ago..."
I didn't know that donkey's years was rhyming slang and as such should be 'ears' not 'years': I always assumed the phrase was a reference to some (possibly misplaced) general belief that donkeys had a long life span. So, a good informative shout there, Rich.However, I don't get your argument against the apostrophe: surely the phrase donkey's ears is indeed supposed to mean the ears of a donkey?
RichB said:
Tony2or4 said:
RichB said:
To be accurate it's donkeys ears or donkeys because the tradition with cockney rhyming slang is to only use the non-rhyming part of the couplet. So the only possible use of an apostrophe would be if it were the ears belonging to the donkey i.e. donkey's ears but it's not, it's donkeys ears i.e lots of them so the expression should be "I chatted to her donkeys ago..."
I didn't know that donkey's years was rhyming slang and as such should be 'ears' not 'years': I always assumed the phrase was a reference to some (possibly misplaced) general belief that donkeys had a long life span. So, a good informative shout there, Rich.However, I don't get your argument against the apostrophe: surely the phrase donkey's ears is indeed supposed to mean the ears of a donkey?
If you keep staring at the word donkey it suddenly starts looking very odd, for some reason.
ETA: Anybody who picks up in the middle of this thread would probably not believe they were in the Formula 1 forum.
PiB said:
What's with the kids soccer match? Is Toto playing?944fan said:
Would he be anywhere near F1 if he wasn't married to a racing driver ?
Which came first though? On second thoughts perhaps that needs rewording. Did he meet Susie through his involvement in motor racing or was it because he met Susie he got involved in racing. I assumed it was the former.robm3 said:
PiB said:
What's with the kids soccer match? Is Toto playing?This is the main man at Merc http://grandprix247.com/2014/03/25/mercedes-design...
RichB said:
To be accurate it's donkeys ears or donkeys because the tradition with cockney rhyming slang is to only use the non-rhyming part of the couplet. So the only possible use of an apostrophe would be if it were the ears belonging to the donkey i.e. donkey's ears but it's not, it's donkeys ears i.e lots of them so the expression should be "I chatted to her donkeys ago..."
That's a commonly held belief. But in reality you'd find that even a pearly king would actually say Donkey's years, not Donkey's ears, or Donkeys. It's just about unique in that respect. There is a lot of confusion about the origins of that particular saying, it may not actually be a Cockney rhyming slang phrase at all. Another one is 'clever clogs'. There is a suspicion that the word 'Clog' was changed from the original 'Boot' which meant fellow or chap, in order to add Alliteration. I wonder if Toto wears Clogs.Shivit said:
it's just about unique in that respect. There is a lot of confusion about the origins of that particular saying, it may not actually be a Cockney rhyming slang phrase at all.
Given I'm from a near as damn it pure line of 'ampshire 'ogs and the north for us starts at Winchester I'd say "donkeys" isn't Cockney at all.I can recall my great grandparents and aunts mentioning donkey's years - well donkey's years ago. To me it's always been a southern Hampshire colloquialism.
Shivit said:
RichB said:
To be accurate it's donkeys ears or donkeys because the tradition with cockney rhyming slang is to only use the non-rhyming part of the couplet. So the only possible use of an apostrophe would be if it were the ears belonging to the donkey i.e. donkey's ears but it's not, it's donkeys ears i.e lots of them so the expression should be "I chatted to her donkeys ago..."
That's a commonly held belief. But in reality you'd find that even a pearly king would actually say Donkey's years, not Donkey's ears, or Donkeys. It's just about unique in that respect. There is a lot of confusion about the origins of that particular saying, it may not actually be a Cockney rhyming slang phrase at all. Another one is 'clever clogs'. There is a suspicion that the word 'Clog' was changed from the original 'Boot' which meant fellow or chap, in order to add Alliteration. I wonder if Toto wears Clogs.He's a real terminator now, half man, half metal implants.
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/207026/1/mercedes-bos...
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/207026/1/mercedes-bos...
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