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Michael Deacon @MichaelPDeacon
, 17 tweets, 7 min read Read on Twitter
Bought a second-hand copy of the Penguin Dictionary of Historical Slang (1937) and it's the finest 10p I ever spent
So many beautiful old words and phrases that are ripe for revival
Poetry
All these years we've been spelling it wrong
Where did we get the idea that Victorians were prudes
We've got to bring back firkytoodle
Apparently a "gammoner" was someone with the ability to con lots of people
Very gay indeed
FIRKYTOODLING HAS BECOME A MOMENT twitter.com/i/events/10289…
"I saw them close together at poop-noddy"
"Not a vulgarism"
Victorian MRAs
There are literally hundreds of these
Good morning
There's no rap battle like a Georgian rap battle
Catching an early flight tomorrow. Should anything go wrong, let this tweet be my legacy
Landed safely
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More from @MichaelPDeacon see all

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Glorious quotes from David Davis's past: number 94 in a never-ending series telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/…
Up there with his warning from 1985 about "big projects" that fail because of poor planning and "skimpy feasibility studies" telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/…
...and his speech from 2002 in which he warned the Commons about the dangers of poorly thought-out referendums google.co.uk/amp/s/www.tele…
Read 3 tweets
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Jacob Rees-Mogg was supposed to board the Brexit fishing boat at Embankment pier. But he's just been told he's not allowed on because no one asked TFL's permission
Blocked from boarding his Brexit boat, Jacob Rees-Mogg is now having to walk to Parliament instead
A cyclist stops at the side of the road to inform Jacob Rees-Mogg that he (Jacob Rees-Mogg, not the cyclist) is "our next prime minister"
Read 14 tweets
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We live in remarkable times
Journalist: "Will you guarantee that you won't resign from the Cabinet this year?"
Boris Johnson: "Well... look, you know... we're all very lucky to serve"
Sometimes I write a parody of a politician’s speech, and people assume he really said it. Other times, I write down something a politician really said, and people assume it’s a parody.

This one is not a parody. My sketch, on Boris Johnson and carrots: telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/…
Read 3 tweets

Related threads

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#poetry
an old fairytale from 2012
The art is Arthur Rackham - Princess and Troll

The Troll’s Wife

I’ve lived, for what seems ages,
under a wooden bridge
with my constant husband.
He is a troll.
I have been enchanted, spellbound,
but no longer.
I brewed his tea with herbs of sleep
and found his magick book
and while he slept
unwove each charm
I let him bind around me.

I don’t know how this came to be,
this sorry state of wedlock.

No – that’s a lie.
I remember it well.
I was a stupid child
grown to a stupid woman,
a willing victim
never understanding there are those
who play with people:
out of ego, spite at life
or mere amusement.
I wandered blindly,
always ready to taste
the sweet but meeting only the sour.
Read 12 tweets
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#poetry

declaration

not for me the cryptic tongues of men
who even as they yearn deny it readily,
not for me the pious tongues of saints
who even as they burn deny it steadily,
not for me the artful smile and arch uplifted brow
by which the maiden signifies that she is ready now,
no i will speak in forthright tones
that resonate from blood and bones
and tell you plainly to your face
with no attempt at girlish grace
i want you now and for all time
at matins, lauds, at tierce and prime
to take me, own me, every part,
impress yourself upon my heart,
and when no longer passion rages
love lives on in these bound pages.

© 1999 RC deWinter ~ All Rights Reserved
always, my darling man
Read 3 tweets
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I'm making new wall art for my classroom and would love to feature lines of poetry that inspire/provoke. Anything beautiful that Ss might love seeing on the wals, and if possible, POC writers. Please share your favorites! :) #TeachLivingPoets #aplitchat #aplangchat #engchat
This one will definitely be hanging up in my classroom:

We are each other's harvest;
we are each other's business;
we are each other's magnitude and bond.
- Gwendolyn Brooks

@arcticisleteach @TchKimPossible @tianasilvas @AnnaOz249 @vickiboyd
Compiled everyone’s beautiful suggestions here for easy reference! #TeachLivingPoets #aplangchat #aplitchat #engchat #poetry twitter.com/i/moments/1018…
Read 3 tweets
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In 2016, I went on a reporting trip to the village of Hotasar in Rajasthan which was being electrified for the first time -- sharing some pics from that trip here. This is Akbar Pardeshi, who bought a second-hand TV 2 weeks before the electrification date.
Before electrification, all Akbar's family had was this old solar panel which could charge 1 small Nokia phone in a day. There was very poor connectivity though, so sometimes, they had to climb trees to make phonecalls
the women of the village - like Akbar's mother here - had never seen electric bulbs in their lives. In some villages, people were so afraid of electric connections, govt officials said they were shooed away. Folks thought electricity was dangerous and would cause fires.
Read 12 tweets
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First time they saw each other at the metro platform, waiting for the train. He worked in a press & she, a salesgirl in a jewelry showroom. It was 9 am in the morning & as usual the rush hour. As the train doors opened, crowd gushed toward the train
Unlike other days when she carried a handbag, she had with her a packed painting for the showroom she worked with. Walking fast towards the train, her left foot got twisted & she fell. He was standing next to her. Before she could get up & gather her things, train had left
To her amusement, the boy whom she was while waiting was still there helping her. She smiled & thanked him. That evening coming back from his factory, he bought a branded perfume for the first time in his life
Read 12 tweets
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Have you ever heard of "Kamau Maithori" the secret group that emerged around independence, complete with oathing and such, to demand settlement for displaced Kikuyus in Central Province, or permanent settlement in R. Valley?
Also, anyone have or know where I can get a copy of "A Love Affair with the Sun: A Memoir of Seventy Years in Kenya" by Michael Blundell?

I am willing to buy a second hand copy.
In Kikuyu "Kamau Maithori" means "Kamau in tears" or something close to that. It could be (and most likely was) "Kamau who makes people cry."
Read 19 tweets

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