Quote:
Originally Posted by 142 Guy
April 1 and April 30 are both 'in April'. April 1 could make for a busy March!
Coming from the former colonies, I am curious about Englandshire. Since it does not appear to be an actual place, I am assuming it is a colloquialism based upon a contraction of England and Shire, Shire being
a) a county or administrative district,
b) a big horse or
c) a stronghold of rural culture?
England big horse would be my personal favorite.
Years ago I worked for a couple of weeks with a field engineer from a manufacturer on the start up up some mega sized air compressors. He was a Geordie. What he was speaking might nominally have been classified as English; but, not to this colonial ear. Communication was a challenge.
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I'd agree with your analysis of Englandshire but also add another possibility that it's a general term for England by those north of the border in Scotland.
"Geordieland" as we southerners call it is just south of the Scottish border and for want of a better description (any Geordies reading this, feel free to correct me if i'm wrong) is generally the area around the River Tyne and is home to the Native Geordie. Almost all of those i've encountered have been a friendly bunch despite the linguistic difficulties i've encountered understanding them.
There is a big horse called a Shire Horse :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_horse
A shire is also a county (although not all our counties end in "shire" for example Devon, Cornwall and Somerset among a few more) and is also often an administrative district. For example, Hampshire County Council would be the administrative organisation for municipal matters in the county of Hampshire. However, just as confusingly, the county i live in has a similar administrative organisation known as Suffolk County Council.
Then there is (or at least was) what is known as the "County Set". Generally upper-class, sometimes landed gentry often with connections to Royalty although sometimes those connections are fairly loose. This might be viewed as a stronghold of rural culture.
This little explanation will either confuse or enlighten you, possibly both - either way, enjoy!
