Old Lad

I’ve been a member of Rotary for over twenty years. It followed on from being a member of Round Table when I was under 40. The reasons I joined these organisations was twofold. Firstly it was a way of socialising with people from outside my own profession – doctors can be a bit tedious because they always talk shop! Although I have to admit I could not avoid informal consultations from time to time. The second reason was it was a way of getting involved in charitable activities for the local community. Sadly the next generation ( are they Z or Y or something) are not interested in joining any more. We recently Had a survey of Rotary members in our District in NW England. Out of some 1200 members, 700 are over 70 and 200 are over 80. I fear the writing is on the wall..

You might be wondering why I titled this piece Words. Each year our Rotary Club recreates the old BBC TV Programme “Call my Bluff”. For those who never saw it, a team of 4 people each give a definition of an obscure word – one is the true definition and 3 are not – or “bluffs”. Because I love words and language I have been a regular player, and our team of 4 asks the audience to identify the person giving the true definition. We have had some spectacular obscure words requiring great ingenuity to describe a false definition which I have to say keeps the brain active. It also requires the ability to keep a straight face and appear to be absolutely truthful. Whether you think doctors are good at this I couldn’t possibly comment!

Words of course are constantly changing and it is a mark of getting older that you find yourself using what to the modern generation seems archaic language. I still find myself calling the radio the wireless. I took what I termed a bedspread to the laundry to be informed that’s it’s now called a throw. And when did a black coffee become an Americano or a milky coffee become a latte or a flat white. When I was at school in the sixties we saw the rise of coffee bars and the drink known as “frothy coffee” produced by some enormous machine. Plimsolls have become sneakers, jumpers are now sweaters and tee shirts are tops. If you are a true Old Lad you probably still use expressions like “jolly good show”, “Crikey”, or one of my favourites passed on from my Gran which was “ Well I’ll go to the foot of our stairs” – an expression meant to convey wonder or incredulity!

Perhaps I should start work on an Old Lads phrasebook.