Batons and battens.

[Chris Bacon]

Do many people know or care what the difference between these is (cf. lose and loose)?

[Mr Fizzion]

A baton is what the police might beat you with if you are involved in some kind of riot. A batten is what you fix to the wall.

Who knows whether the piece of wood that goes between battens is called a nogging or a noggin? I always thought the former - the latter being a childrens cartoon character from the 60s!

Mr F.

[Vaci]

Oops, I was a bit fast and lose with my batten :S

[Bob Mannix]

Yes, many people do

[Peter Taylor]

also:

Lintel / Lintol Cill / Sill Kerb / Curb Soffit / Soffite Asphalt / Asphalte Gully / Gulley Cistern / System (Estate Agent's details - "Concealed Systems" :o) ) Baluster / Bannister Grille / Grill Concrete / Concrate (seems to be Irish in origin)

[Frank Erskine]

And of course the classic:

Silicon / Silicone

[Roger]

The message from Mr Fizzion contains these words:

I have always used noggins but thought I had best check a dictionary before commenting. Good job I did as it confirms noggings for the bits of wood. Noggin is another word for a wee dram which is probably why I have got it wrong all these years. :-)

Being a child of the 50s rather than the 60s I don't actually recall anything about the cartoon character other than in the later part of

1962 we had a fellow student who was nicknamed Nog. Something to do with him being a 'Horrible Northerner' I believe.

[Bob Mannix]

No excuse, I am a child of the 50's and well remember Noggin the Nog... "This is the saga of Noggin the Nog..."

[Steven Campbell]

Is it the same for bought and brought? I only ask as I have seen loads of posts on various newsgroups relating to buying something. Like the quote 8 posts ago in "Rubber wiring......" "A friend of mine moved into her first home 4 month ago. She brought it 50/50 with a housing assocation"

It happens that often that I have started to believe brought and bought mean the same. Do they?

Steven.

[Peter Taylor]

Bought is the past tense of buy - I bought it 50/50 Brought is the past tense of bring - I brought it home in the car

[peterd]

No... brought comes from to bring bought comes from to buy

Thus bring and buy sale should really be a brought and bought sale..

-- peterd

[Andrew Gabriel]

Plastering has some problems in this area, as some of the terms mean different things in different parts of the country. Apparently, if you do the C&G exam, you are asked which part of the country you are from. The only one I recall now is a 'snot' which IIRC in some areas of the UK means a 'run' where the plaster has slumped, and is the name of the 'hook' of plaster which has been forced through and out the back of a gap to hold plaster in place (lath and plaster) in other areas of the UK (which is otherwise known as a 'nib'). There are a few other plastering terms which have such an issue, but I don't recall what they are now.

[david lang]

But without looking, can you recall the name of his arch enemy?

Dave

[Rob Morley]

Nogbad the Bad. What was the bird called?

[Zipadee Doodar]

Nooka the Nook

[Roger]

The message from "Bob Mannix" contains these words:

in 1962 I doubt whether I had watched as much as 20 hours TV in total.

[Rob Morley]

:-) I meant Graculus

[jacob]

noggin around here. lose and loose are 2 different unrelated words - lose rhymes with booze but not nose and loose rhymes with noose but not nose or news which rhymes with pews queues flooze trews (also known as slacks) and loos (plural of loo) and brought and bought are what you will have done after a satisfactory bring and buy sale. Theirs moor too hit than meats the aye

[Chris Bacon]

My gosh, and I thought I'd been at it. Good Luck, I hope your AK&Sons hinges are swinging as freely as they appear to be.

[The Natural Philosopher]

No, thats BRUNG., I BRUNG it home in me MOTAH. :-)