I think it's probably easier to think about the quirks in our harbour. It's full of them, including me. Now see what I've done. I've given human shape to a quirk. Well what would you expect in a harbour full of "liars and peasants"?
Haha!
That's got you wondering hasn't it?
It's actually what we affectionately call our fellow liggers. In Dutch, your schip or barge as we call it, 'lies' in a harbour, not 'is moored'. Mooring is something you 'do' and is not a state of - well - being moored. So 'mijn schip ligt in de haven' is literally 'my ship lies in the harbour'.
Yes, I've made the 'ship' mistake quite often too. The last time was to another English teacher who gasped when I told her "my ship is on the slipway". I think she had images of the QEII or something.
Anyway, to get back to liars and peasants, it follows then that if you 'lie' in the harbour, you are a 'ligger', or a ..um..liar?
The 'peasant' bit is our own corruption as well. If you are just 'passing through', and you want to stay over, you lie in the passantenhaven. I don't think it takes all too much imagination to figure out how we get to peasants from there…
So there you have it: a harbour full of liars and peasants. Now is that quirky enough?
 |
| A friendly liar with his baby, otherwise known as a fib |
 |
| Long term liars |
 |
| A more recently inaugurated liar |
 |
| A stunning liar |
 |
| Outright liars |
 |
| And a typical peasant |
If you are interested in dipping into my books about life on the water not to mention life on a smallholding in rural England, why not visit my author pages on Amazon.com or Lulu.com and read some extracts they have made available.
You can also reach the individual books through my sidebar here.
Very quirky!! Sounds very strange to us landlubbers : ))
ReplyDeleteWell, we were just passing through your peasant (sorry, pleasant!) haven and definitely wanted to stay over, so we must be peasants too. Very much enjoyed the wit of this post! Off to lig about a bit, now.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, thank you for 'passing by' :-) I'm sure you're happier being a landlubber than a peasant though…and as for being a liar…:-D
ReplyDeleteChristina, you are a natural born peasant, and have all the makings of a good liar. Next time, I shall insist!
Hahaha. Very clever. You are getting soo good at these blog posts!!! I enjoy reading them
ReplyDeleteIsn't it wonderful how every way of life/ pastime/ profession has it's own jargon. Sometimes it serves to exclude anyone not 'in the know' but I think it also provides a lovely sense of identity and belonging to those included!
ReplyDeleteI understand your definitions of the differences between Lying in the harbour and being Moored to which I offer another description is that you are berthed ?
ReplyDeleteThanks Carol, Jo and Mel.
ReplyDeleteJo, I agree, although I don't think many of my Dutch friends would understand our particular pieces of corrupted language in quite the same way :)
Mel, yes! I had forgotten about being berthed! That just shows I need these blogs to keep my English up to scratch. Thank you!
Ah yes, the peasants, those on the barge trips, etc, not the ones who actually live on them!!! It's a bit like how, when I lived by the sea in Norfolk, anyone who visited was a 'grockle' - said not without a little disdain!! :)
ReplyDeleteHaha, Terry, but in this case you might prefer to be called a peasant than a liar :-) I also remember the grockles! When I was at school in Lyme Regis, we used to scorn the thousands of grockles that visited the town every summer. Poor souls!
ReplyDeleteI am off to ask my fellow liveaboard a whether they are liars or peasants. If I come back with a bloodied nose it will be your fault!!! Forget moored or berthed what about parked (Hee Hee, that's just to wind Mel up!!!) xxx
ReplyDeleteHow complicated for all us land dwellers,but such fun to put your own interpertation on it.
ReplyDeleteFran, what happened? Iiars, peasants or a bloody nose? I loved your comment, haha, we do have no parking signs here for boats! xx
ReplyDeleteAnne, this is K's and my joke as we mix the languages up and see the possibilities for confusion all the time. I wouldn't be surprised if we got a bloodied nose for thsi too if any of our Dutch friends knew what we were talking about.The result of our 'mixed mingling' so to speak!