Tuesday, April 21, 2009

UWOTD

My mum was one of 12 children so when I was growing up, I had 11 uncles and aunts who dropped in for regular visits, thankfully never at the same time !

They were mostly farming people who didn't suffer fools gladly and went in for plain speaking. 

Anyone who rambled on with little point to their conversations was called a blether, meaning they talked excessively and not always with anything interesting to say.

A Blether : someone who talks excessively, usually without purpose or relevance.

Anything said by such people was classed as 'blethering' as in.......

"I met her in the street and thought she'd never stop blethering."

Now this isn't to be confused with 'blithering' which I only know of as a word that's put before 'idiot' when used to describe someone of low intelligence.

"He's a blithering idiot." 

It's not a phrase used much these days as sadly it seems to me that blithering has been replaced by the F word most times.

But as that's not the point of this post, I'll go now or else I'll be accused of being a blithering blethering idiot.

4 comments:

rhymeswithplague said...

Blethering is a variant of blathering in my dictionary....

My stepmother was one of ten children, so when I was growing up I had nine uncles and aunts who dropped in for regular visits, usually all at the same time, along with their families. I experienced no small culture shock suddenly going from a small family of three to weekend gatherings of 75 or more. Thanks so much for reminding me....

Daphne said...

I never blether. I am concise and to the point. Any rumours to the contrary are entirely untrue. Glad we've got that clear.

Jay said...

Both words are familiar to me - which could just mean I'm a blithering bletherer too. LOL!

Debby said...

I tend to do a bit of both at times!

I loved this post as just the mention of your Mum and relatives took me right back there. Even to the farm house. I loved your Mum as you know. Oh my, I've become a blether! Ah well, it was worth it for the memories!

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