WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Just talking the other day about words and phrases that have changed their meaning over the years or mean different things in different areas. For example, back in the early 70s, when I was about ten, I used to take a tranny to bed with me at night. My parents were well aware of this and nobody would have batted an eyelid. Nowadays I'd have a team of social workers at the door!

Then there's the old Glasgow word 'dogging.' This meant skiving off school and was used by the teachers as much as by the pupils. If you did not produce a note after being absent the teacher would shout at you that you had been 'dogging.' If a teacher accused a pupil of 'dogging' these days he'd have to have a damned good solicitor.

Even in Glasgow there were differences. In Castlemilk 'smoking the beef ' meant smoking a cigarette all the way down to the filter. When I lived in Springburn 'smoking the beef' meant something entirely different. I'll leave it to your imagination to figure out what!

I'm sure there must be more!