Mr Rooter is quite a guy, if the ad is anything to go by; he's "no ordinary plumber", is "honest and dependable" and "respects your home". Not only that, but apparently he is also willing to clean the bowl and urinal! To my mind, this puts him ahead of the athletic-yet-mechanical sounding Roto-Rooter -- who only seems to be at his best when performing "emergency service" -- and the engagingly named Rigid Rooter who lays claim to a special interest in "septic fields".
Whilst we're on the topic of intriguing cross-cultural concepts, this is a sign that gave me, oh, at least three minutes of puerile amusement in Copenhagen:
I've been doing this at home under poor bathroom lighting for years, and only now do I find that there's a service out there to meet this vital need without me spending precious minutes of my own time every day to achieve it.
After spending some time last night attempting -- and failing -- to define "dagginess" to my Canadian host I realised just what a nuanced concept it is. The term is so frequently used by Australians, yet I was at a loss to convey it with any clarity. Any contributions to this important mission of international understanding would be appreciated.
6 comments:
Hey Suzzette you big ol' blog liar you !- and I believed you... what a dag I am!- I went to the movies.. (or 'pictures' as I am used to calling it prior to the morre Americanized English that now tsunami's over our continent..)with rr recently. When we were both work colleagues of the lovely ms r, I often noted that SHE wore the ultimate in fashion crime (hussy! my mum would've said) of the black bra under the white (or coloured) top.. but ... oh no! not content to leave it there recently on our outing to the pictures she wore a WHITE bra under a semi opaque dark blue top!- now I just had to say ... dag, dag, dag!..
Keep the dag illustrations comin', Miss Wendy! It's a difficult concept to convey, so I need all the help I can get.
He he he -- RR committing Foundation Garment Infractions! Well I never! I can't say I'd ever noticed these violations prior to now, but oftentimes an elephant could have cavorted past the photocopier and I'd have missed it... until it came between myself and the coffee mug, of course.
Does this help?
Kind of.
"Matted wool on a sheep's tail"? I've always known dags to form a little lower than the tail, actually... under its bum, specifically, as indeed it goes on to say in subsequent definitions there.
The rest of the definitions here are not untrue, but don't really reflect the full meaning of the word. Spinach on your teeth is daggy, for example. It can also mean something which is a bit tatty. I think it's a term which can only be defined by usage.
What do you think the postage costs would be for me to get a roto rooter?
I'm astonished I've not been flooded with such enquiries since posting this, miss wendy. They've simply got everything over here in North America!
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