Re: English humor

> Hi Ken,
>
>> Terry's reference to the "proverbial pot" comes from "didn't have
>> a pot to piss in" and the "things have changed - at least down south"
>> is a dig at Ian being in Sheffield (an old mill town).
>
> Your geography is a little off, the mills were more my part of the country.
> Sheffield made steel and stainless steel and was/is the heart of the knife
> making business. The rest is about right. Londoners think the North begins
> at Watford while us true Northerners say it doesn't start till Knutsford.
>
> Terry

Actually my geography was correct (I know about Sheffield steel!), we call
"the plants where steel is made", "mills", here in the states ... as in "a
steel mill", thus my reference to Sheffield as "an old mill town". Here in
the States I would refer to Pittsburgh as "an old mill town" ... though
I'd wager some mills in Sheffield are a tad older than the ones in
Pittsburgh :-) Your concept of "old" over there differs a bit from ours.
My father-in-law in Penrith collects "old books" .... so do I. The ones
I collect are from the 1940's ... the ones he collects (Bibles mainly),
are from the 1500 and 1600's!

Your Watford/Knutsford line is a bit like our Mason/Dixon line in terms
of defining where the "unsophiticated country folk" dwell :-)

Cheers,

Ken