Hugh Beswetherick

Say Boo to a Goose Hugh Beswetherick

It happens repeatedly, we do it almost without thinking, make our observations about human behaviour in terms of the other world - that of beasts and birds, fish and annoying insects. A particularly fierce woman, and she's a tigress, a clumsy man a bull in a china shop. Work hard, keep at it, and you're an eager beaver; become important and you're a big fish. Will it ever stop? I hope not, even although there are times for being formal and speaking 'proper English'. Does the Queen succumb? Probably, yes. Who in their senses would wish to banish 'cats' whiskers' or 'dogs' dinners'? The language suffers if it is to be always stiff and correct as, indeed, does the 'terribly proper' human. Which reminds me. In the west of England 'proper job' means fine, everything going well, but you won't get that in London, Manchester, Glasgow or Belfast. Here, in Book 4 of this series on English idiom, the message is 'loud and clear', as we say. Human behaviour and that of the 'lower' world' can be so alike that one may wonder where the one begins and the other ends. Allow the goose to scare you and not say 'boo' to it and his friends will get to know and you won't be in control of anything at all.