Things get a bit sticky for Major Quibble and the Lads |
This reminds me of the story from the Korean War*. A British unit has been surrounded by the enemy and cut off. After some difficulty, radio contact is made and the American general in command asks the British officer in charge of the unit for a situation report. "Well, Sir" he replies "Things are beginning to get a bit sticky here". British users of the English language would immediately translate the report as "The shit has hit the fan and there's blood running down the walls. There are 10,000 Chinese coming up the hill towards us and we've run out of beer cans to throw at them. Please evacuate us as soon as possible." However, the American general feels reassured by the calm response and tells his subordinate to hold on.
*Please someone tell me the source of this - it's bugging me! It's normally told in connection of the destruction of the Glosters at the crossings of the Imjin River
The sand of the desert is sodden red, --
Red with the wreck of a square that broke; --
The Gatling's jammed* and the colonel dead,
And the regiment blind with dust and smoke.
The river of death has brimmed his banks,
And England's far, and Honour a name,
But the voice of schoolboy rallies the ranks,
"Play up! play up! and play the game!"
*As readers of this blog will know, it was a Gardner.
"Please send either Brigade of Guards or platoon of Gurkhas" |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1316777/The-day-650-Glosters-faced-10000-Chinese.html
ReplyDeleteOK, I'm going to have to dig out my copy of The Edge of the Sword and see what Farrar-Hockley actually says.
Well that brought a smile to my face, thank you.
ReplyDeleteWe aim to please.
DeleteIs that heroic understatement or company policy?
DeleteReal life example - During a large(ish) NATO exercise in the North Sea in the Autumn of '74, Peter Coward (Captain, HMS Sirius) was in command of a frigate squadron of mixed nationalilty. During one evolution, the Dutchman 'Van Spejk' went off station (VERY unusual for a Dutch ship) and received the signal "Quo Vadis?". Unfortunately, the Dutch skipper wasn't a latin scholar and he continued on his merry way until brought up short by another signal more typical of the modern Admiralty. The Dutch ship's company thought the episode was hilarious and typical of those crazy British . . . .
ReplyDeleteAh RN signalling (smartarse version) - now that's worthy of a post of its own!
DeleteI came across this example of understatement which I liked....
ReplyDeleteBritish Airways pilot Eric Moody in 1982, after flying through a cloud of volcanic ash over Indonesia:
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress."
Classic British understatement- which I missed. I like the Korean story btw.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Pete.
Reminds me of an Aussie/American communication issue during the Vietnam war. Aussie said they would indicate position to chopper with a Torch. The American was freaked out as to them a Torch meant a flaming piece of wood like a tomb exploring movie scene. The translation to Merica speak for Aussie Torch is FLASHLIGHT.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Max Hasting's 'The Korean War' (1987) has the following quote: "When Tom told Corps that his position was 'a bit sticky', they did not grasp that in British Army parlance, that meant 'critical'."
ReplyDeleteThe chapter notes that "All quotations in this chapter... are based upon author interviews with participants."
Don't know if that helps.
Yes, it does help. Thank you.
DeleteLove the story! And then we say that we have troubles with the Dutch language! :-D
ReplyDeleteGreetings
Peter