Unusual words and phrases in Blyton - dictionary needed?
- MJE
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Re: Refuting claims of Blyton's limited vocabulary.
Patrins from "Five Go to Mystery Moor" (signs left by gypsies for others, usually not noticed by those who don't understand them).
I once used to wonder if Enid Blyton simply made this up, but found out much more recently that gypsy patrins are real.
Regards, Michael.
I once used to wonder if Enid Blyton simply made this up, but found out much more recently that gypsy patrins are real.
Regards, Michael.
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- MJE
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Re: Does Enid Blyton ever have you reaching for the dictiona
I think, if I had been your Mum, I would have suggested that it is time you made your acquaintance with a dictionary!Lucky Star wrote:I can remember reading The Island of Adventure and being confused between the words Rough and Rogue! Other than that I mostly worked out new words for myself and if I was stuck I yelled for the nearest adult to come and explain. Usually my long suffering Mum. :lol:
I'm afraid I probably wouldn't have been a very patient parent if I had married and had children at all. (Thank goodness I didn't! It wouldn't have worked.)
Regards, Michael
(who once did a "What Enid Blyton character are you?" kind of test, and came out as Uncle Quentin!).
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- Darrell71
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Re: Refuting claims of Blyton's limited vocabulary.
Enid Blyton is the reason why I don't have to look up many terms and words now. I started reading her books around the age of 7, (if you ignore the Noddy marathons when I was 4 and didn't even know who Enid Blyton was) and I didn't start with the simpler ones, I dove straight into The Mystery of The Secret Room or some other FFO and D title.
I regularly used to surprise my parents when they would start to explain something such as Insurance and I would already know (I credit The Mystery of The Burnt Cottage for that one. ). I guess that was pretty impressive for a 7 year old.
I don't actually remember looking anything up, I read so many Blyton books that I just understood by context. I think that harms me more than it helps me now, though, because when I do read something that I don't understand now, I don't look it up, and since most books I read now have numerous difficult words, I often don't encounter the word in question again, and end up not ever getting to know the meaning of it.
I regularly used to surprise my parents when they would start to explain something such as Insurance and I would already know (I credit The Mystery of The Burnt Cottage for that one. ). I guess that was pretty impressive for a 7 year old.
I don't actually remember looking anything up, I read so many Blyton books that I just understood by context. I think that harms me more than it helps me now, though, because when I do read something that I don't understand now, I don't look it up, and since most books I read now have numerous difficult words, I often don't encounter the word in question again, and end up not ever getting to know the meaning of it.
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Re: Refuting claims of Blyton's limited vocabulary.
Ingots! That's another word I learned from Enid Blyton (in Five on a Treasure Island, of course).
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It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
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Re: Refuting claims of Blyton's limited vocabulary.
Me too! And scones and cowslips and golliwogs and etc etc
Last edited by Darrell71 on 21 Dec 2017, 10:13, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Refuting claims of Blyton's limited vocabulary.
Shhh! You're not meant to know about golliwogs.
That reminds me — this isn't so much a matter of unusual vocabulary from a British point of view, but for an Australian growing up reading Enid Blyton's books, it was fascinating to learn about flowers and trees and birds and other wildlife (particularly in the "Adventures of Pip" stories) that of course I'd never seen before. Many of Enid's nature lessons and imaginative stories stayed with me and I've been delighted, now I live in England, to recognise the little green "purses" on the shepherd's purse plant, or to see a "shimmering carpet" of bluebells in the woods (and even to find a "lucky" white bluebell once, as two children in one of Enid's short stories tried to!), or to see a friendly robin or hear how many different calls the thrush has... I honestly believe that part of the reason I feel so "at home" in Britain is because I read so much Enid Blyton as a child.
That reminds me — this isn't so much a matter of unusual vocabulary from a British point of view, but for an Australian growing up reading Enid Blyton's books, it was fascinating to learn about flowers and trees and birds and other wildlife (particularly in the "Adventures of Pip" stories) that of course I'd never seen before. Many of Enid's nature lessons and imaginative stories stayed with me and I've been delighted, now I live in England, to recognise the little green "purses" on the shepherd's purse plant, or to see a "shimmering carpet" of bluebells in the woods (and even to find a "lucky" white bluebell once, as two children in one of Enid's short stories tried to!), or to see a friendly robin or hear how many different calls the thrush has... I honestly believe that part of the reason I feel so "at home" in Britain is because I read so much Enid Blyton as a child.
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It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
- Darrell71
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Re: Refuting claims of Blyton's limited vocabulary.
I know exactly what you mean. That's what I was trying to say with all the 'scones' and 'cowslips' and all.Courtenay wrote: That reminds me — this isn't so much a matter of unusual vocabulary from a British point of view, but for an Australian growing up reading Enid Blyton's books, it was fascinating to learn about flowers and trees and birds and other wildlife (particularly in the "Adventures of Pip" stories) that of course I'd never seen before
...and the golliwogs...
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Re: Refuting claims of Blyton's limited vocabulary.
I think we all absorbed a lot of general knowledge without even realizing it, by reading Blyton as children. I know I did.
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Re: Refuting claims of Blyton's limited vocabulary.
I often used to ask my mom what words meant when I was reading. The 'use a dictionary' suggestion is all very well...and sometimes I did indeed use a dictionary (I don't know whether other children of my generation had 'dictionary lessons' - but we did - where we had to look up the meaning of several words in a dictionary and copy the meaning down! It was a short 15 minute session once a week in one of my primary school classes) - but asking my mom was easier usually!
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'
(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)
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hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'
(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)
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- Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Refuting claims of Blyton's limited vocabulary.
Same here. Sometimes the illustrations helped too.Darrell71 wrote:I don't actually remember looking anything up, I read so many Blyton books that I just understood by context.
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"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.
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- MJE
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Re: Refuting claims of Blyton's limited vocabulary.
Oh, when I made that suggestion, I was not necessarily meaning to suggest that it was the best suggestion - just that I feel sure, if I had been a parent, I would have lost patience with being badgered with questions and would suggest such a thing just to get a bit of peace and quiet. I make no pretence that I would have been a good parent or that anything I might have done would have been the best parenting.Rob Houghton wrote:I often used to ask my mom what words meant when I was reading. The 'use a dictionary' suggestion is all very well...
I have high-level needs for peace and quiet and time to myself and feeling free from pressure - which of course would be exactly the worst kind of person to start a family - possibly even to marry, unless you found just the right person.
Regards, Michael.
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- MJE
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Re: Refuting claims of Blyton's limited vocabulary.
Well... I can't with full honesty say that I recall Enid Blyton in my childhood being a great source of learning new words or general knowledge. But she turned me into a reader, which I think is probably just as important in other ways.
Regards, Michael.
Regards, Michael.
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- Rob Houghton
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Re: Refuting claims of Blyton's limited vocabulary.
I'm very much the same, Michael - so I probably understand you on a much deeper level than you realise! I have quite a short patience, unless I'm doing something I thoroughly enjoy, like writing or painting etc, then people wonder where I get the patience from...but to me artistic things don't need an abundance of patience, if you enjoy them!MJE wrote:Oh, when I made that suggestion, I was not necessarily meaning to suggest that it was the best suggestion - just that I feel sure, if I had been a parent, I would have lost patience with being badgered with questions and would suggest such a thing just to get a bit of peace and quiet. I make no pretence that I would have been a good parent or that anything I might have done would have been the best parenting.Rob Houghton wrote:I often used to ask my mom what words meant when I was reading. The 'use a dictionary' suggestion is all very well...
I get easily stressed - with having to feed cats, or answering the phone, or having my routine thrown out by someone or something...and suffer from anxiety at quite a high level (leading to panic attacks) if I don't spot it coming and control them. Luckily I have learned over the last seven years to control them to a greater extent. Before 2009 I never suffered any of this - but then my mom and best friend died within 2 months of each other - and that completely changed me.
Anyway - enough of me - but just to say, I'm nowhere near as confident and self-assured in real life as I might appear online, and definitely wouldn't have possessed any patience when it came to kids tugging at my sleeve!
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'
(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)
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hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'
(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)
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- Darrell71
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Re: Refuting claims of Blyton's limited vocabulary.
This is exactly the kind of thing that I live in fear of 24/7.Rob Houghton wrote: Before 2009 I never suffered any of this - but then my mom and best friend died within 2 months of each other - and that completely changed me.
I happen to have 0 patience with little kids too, and if someone asks me to look after their baby for a while at a party, I usually hold it the wrong way (I try not to, I really do), and end up handing it back to the mom concerned because it's crying too much.
Puppies, however, tend to stay with me for hours.
My parents are rather worried about how good of a mom I'll be, if I ever decide to be one. I can see where they're coming from, though.
I never had that particular luxury, growing up reading 2006 editions.Anita Bensoussane wrote: Same here. Sometimes the illustrations helped too.
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Re: Refuting claims of Blyton's limited vocabulary.
At school, we were taught to "sound out" words. Puzzled, I asked my Mum what an "al...sat...Ian" was. She was washing dishes at the time and was probably quite curious herself! The children were,(to her amusement) in fact, being guarded by an Alsatian.
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