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Bits and bobs about my life in my lovely home, Thatchwick Cottage, Pretoria, South Africa.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Monday 16 March '09: Fabulous, stunning, awesome et cetera


Here is my Fabulous Blog award given to me by a new friend, Vicki Lane of Vicki Lane's Mysteries. Vicki is a published author of five mystery novels and her words of commendation to me: Eleanor...for you lovely words and pictures" were a great compliment. Thank you, Vicki! I am passing on the Award and the rules at the bottom of this little posting.

This Award aroused my nostalgia for the vocabulary of my 60's teenagerhood. Everthing was just "Fabulous, fantastic, super or smashing!" From a party to hairdo to a new boyfriend to a pair of low heeled, square toed shoes worn with an extra-short mini skirt.

Of course, for those of us with a British colonial past of some sort, there was that wonderful superlative: 'Jolly' used to preface any other adjective, positive or negative, and lift one's description to the n-th degree. My expressions of: "Jolly nice, jolly delicious, jolly late or even jolly irritating" had my adopted US family (American Field Service days) fascinated with my speech. In Rugby, North Dakota, I learned the current Americanisms to label life's sublime moments "Cool, swell, great or oh-so-neat!"

Hunky-dory had a short spell of popularity in South Africa; today all is stun---ning, darl! Or "Awesome, especially when you wear it!" Then there is the wonderful South African standby: "Lekker!" A translation will render 'nice' but that hardly does justice to the versatility of the word. What does it mean? Fabulous, cool, awesome...take your pick!

The rules of the Fab Blog Award:

1 Pass it on to five other Fabulous Bloggers in a post.

2 Include the person that gave you the award, and link it back to them.

3 List five your Fabulous addictions in the post.

Here are my prize winners. I have chosen four South African bloggers out of the five by way of encouraging a jolly good habit:
1 Adel at The Egypt Experience (I just found she has just been awarded this honour by another fan but I am giving it to her all the same!)
2 Greetings from Gauteng
3 SA Photographs
4 Mom's Meanderings
5 And last but not least, Kathryn Bechen who encouraged me with my first blog posting in 2008.

And here are my own Five Fabulous Addictions:
Reading memoirs
Wearing red
Talking to myself
Rising and retiring very early
Blogging

13 comments:

Janet said...

Why thank you Eleanor! How lovely - you've made my Monday!
LOL! At SARS! Wasn't that your lucky day!
:-)

Anonymous said...

Many thanks for the award - me bowing and being very grateful!! I need Jeanette to show me how to transfer it to the side like everyone else does!!! I am so computer illiterate it's unbelievable!!!! I also have one from Janet (Greetings from Gauteng) and don't know how to copy it !!!!! LOL's

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

This is really sweet of you Eleanor. I do appreciate it very much.

I had to smile at your post as these were all the rage back in the 60's when I was a teenager. My Dad would have smacked me black and blue though if I had used any of them though. LOL!! He believed that if you spoke a language, it had to be pure and without slang. Till today I never use slang and most people ask me if I am from Zim as I do not have a typical SA accent. :)

Vicki Lane said...

Neat-o, Jet-o, as a friend of mine from California used to say back in the Sixties!

I look forward to checking out these other blogs -- easy travel to faraway places!

Carol Murdock said...

Eleanor.......
Congrats! You do have A Fabulous Blog and I'm looking for that Central Meeting ground ! HA!

XOXO,
CAROL

SmilingSally said...

The superlative I hear most often is "Awesome." Did anyone ever say, "Jolly Fabulous"?

Tess Kincaid said...

When I was in high school in the early 70's the word was "tough" or "tuff".

Soooo tuff!

Kat Mortensen said...

This is one of my favourite awards. It's so classy looking, isn't it? Just like you, Eleanor!

Kat

Anonymous said...

Oh thanks for tips!!! Shall try it in the morning when the little brain is fresh!!! Jeanette put my few 'goodies' down the side to show me what to do - but that was when I first started and cannot for the life of me remember what she did!!! One day I shall have a smart blog like everyone else !!

Anonymous said...

When I was at Uni in the early seventies, we were surrounded by "unreal"s and "far-out"s.Years ago, the high school students were saying something was "fully sick" if it was awesome.You have me thinking now about my own five fabulous addictions - reading blogs would have to be right up there as number one.

Robyn Kadis said...

Thanks so much for thinking of me for the award... I am humbled coz your blog is so much better than mine. Thoroughly enjoyed hearing "lekker" again, it's been a while. When I use the word here in Egypt in my English classes, I get a general blank stare back from the students. But it is still my fave word.

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Congratulations, Eleanor!

I like all these words. One of my favourites from old books is 'topping!' 'I say, old chap, how absolutely topping!'

I haven't forgotten about posting on your questions! I've been pondering what should be in my briefcase as I've been working - it's been very busy here ...

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

Eleanor, first of all congratulations on the Fabulous Blog Award. I saw you on Kathryn Stripling Byer's blog and wanted to say hello. You live a very interesting life and your house and photos are fabulous, just like your blog award.

Kathryn passed the award on to me at My Carlina Kitchen and I passed one of mine on to a great food blog in South Africa, My Easy Cooking. She uses some very unusual ingredients that I'm not familiar with and that turns cooking into a nice learning experience for me. She used Peppadew in a recipe the other day. It's the first new fruit to be introduced since the kiwi.

I've never been to South Africa but have friends that have and they had a great time. Maybe we'll get over there someday. We lived in the northern islands of the Bahamas (Abaco) for ten years on a tiny private cay (cays are smaller than islands) and had the time of our lives. We now are addicted to France (one of the addictions I listed).

Again congratulations on your award. It's always nice to meet someone new.
Sam