That's very interesting, John (Lucky Star). I've read Decline and Fall but it was years ago and I'd temporarily "grown out of" Enid Blyton at the time.Lucky Star wrote:I am currently reading Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall and have just come across avery comedic scene featuring a Welsh silver band which is liberally sprinkled with "Look yous" and "Whatevers". The book is set in North Wales in the fictional village of Llanabba. Whether or not it is true that Welsh people do, or ever did, use these terms it is clear that Blyton was not the only author to put them into the mouths of her Welsh characters.
I grew up in North Wales and never heard those expressions, but they do appear to have a long pedigree. We've talked before about a Welsh character in Shakespeare's Henry V who says "look you" repeatedly:
http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... sh#p262285" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Edit: A Welsh detective saying "look you" in Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal was also mentioned here:
http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... 71#p224871" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;