Comments on: Jennings and Darbyshire

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 22:06:14 +0000

As a child I devoured the Jennings books but just could not understand the attraction of William – a judgement reinforced by going to boarding school & coincidentally finding myself surrounded by boys called (I kid you not) Jennings, Derbyshire, Atkinson (Rowan of that ilk), etc etc. Have never felt bothered to revisit that judgement in adulthood (what’s the point?). On the other hand, genuinely fascinated by the lack of transatlantic exposure for Biggles & co – a fate presumably shared by Worrals of the WRAF, the Chalet School, The Mountain of Adventure, etc etc. Which also may go some way to explain my complete bafflement, on going to the US as a graduate, by references to Nancy Drew & the Hardy Boys . . . (who or what were they exactly?)

By: astrongmaybe

astrongmaybe — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 16:36:06 +0000

The US is the only place I know where the stories haven’t become popular at any stage, and I have no idea why. I used to think they were too English, but if so why are Harry Potter and Bertie Wooster so popular here?

I don’t think Biggles ever made it over here (US) either. Maybe just the contingencies of marketing rather than any deeper cultural reason.

By: MissPrism

MissPrism — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 13:14:24 +0000

I’d forgotten all about Jennings!

Today, in celebration of your reminding me, I will take care to call someone a clodpoll. Thanks!

By: guthrie

guthrie — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 10:44:32 +0000

I happen to have a large pile of Jennings books in my attic; the first one i read was so funny that i bought lots more. As far as I can recall my childhood, I preferred jennings to William, but I cannot recall exactly why.

By: mykej

mykej — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 07:19:37 +0000

I believe Castellana deserves the credit. From what I understand, in the script “D’oh” is spelled “annoyed grunt”.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 02:56:51 +0000

Interesting that on the blog credit seems to be going to Homer Simpson, or even Dan Castellana, rather than Matt Groening or his writers.
When they put up a monument to Peter Sellers in Balham (“Gateway to the South… Time has passed by Old Balham: so shall we”)Frank Muir had to remind them sharply that the words were his and Norden’s, not Sellers’, after which the council added a small additional plaque.
Well, at least in the dictionary A. Fein gets a gurnsey.

By: taion

taion — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 00:06:33 +0000

These are the first few quotations from the OED: 1945 T. KAVANAGH It's That Man Again (B.B.C. radio script: 8th Ser. No. 166), Tom: Yes, out of the nest-Diana: What nest? Tom: In those whiskers-Diana: Dooh! Its [sic] no good talking to you. 1945 T. KAVANAGH It's That Man Again (B.B.C. radio script: 8th Ser. No. 167), Diana: The man I marry must be affectionate and call me ‘Dear’-Tom: Oh you're going to be a stag's wife-Diana: Doh! Tom: Same thing. 1952 A. BUCKERIDGE Jennings & Darbishire xii. 183 ‘Doh!’ An anguished gasp of exasperation rang out loud and clear as Mr Wilkins found his voice again. The given etymology only mentions Dan Castellaneta popularizing the word as the voice for Homer Simpson, though.

By: Aaron Swartz

Aaron Swartz — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 00:05:18 +0000

Here’s the citations for Doh:

1945 T. KAVANAGH It’s That Man Again (B.B.C. radio script: 8th Ser. No. 166), Tom: Yes, out of the nest-Diana: What nest? Tom: In those whiskers-Diana: Dooh! Its [sic] no good talking to you. 1945 T. KAVANAGH It’s That Man Again (B.B.C. radio script: 8th Ser. No. 167), Diana: The man I marry must be affectionate and call me ‘Dear’-Tom: Oh you’re going to be a stag’s wife-Diana: Doh! Tom: Same thing. 1952 A. BUCKERIDGE Jennings & Darbishire xii. 183 ‘Doh!’ An anguished gasp of exasperation rang out loud and clear as Mr Wilkins found his voice again. 1989 Beano 11 Feb. 23 (caption) [Speaker is a man who is knocked against a bus stop.] Doh! 1991 Chicago Tribune (Nexis) 15 Nov. (Friday) H, ‘The movie had one good point: It wasn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen.’ ‘It was the worst movie I’ve ever seen.’ ‘Doh!’ 1993 HP Professional (Nexis) July 28 Along their long path ISO sort of missed local area networks and network management, which gave the market over to TCP/IP and related technologies. As Homer Simpson would say: ‘Doh!’ 1996 A. FEIN et al. Simpsons Comics strike Back! 14/2 ‘Look out, you dern fool! You’re gonna cut off your…’ ‘D’oh’ 1998 N. JONES Hollyoaks (Mersey TV transmission script) Episode 256. 44 Cindy: What are we doing here, anyway? Paul: Doh! Use your head, eh?

By: otto

otto — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 23:37:52 +0000

I confess to a weakness for the Jennings episode where the prize-winning entry to the poetry competition had in fact been entered for the handwriting competition.