to hate Gideon even more after seeing him crying at Thatchers funeral?

[ssd]

detest that man, he cries at a funeral like this then goes back to ruining lives

utterly hate him

Just realised I have no idea what kind of woman would shackle herself to Baron Gideon in matrimony. Must google.

He changed his name to George.

It's an Old Testament name, but then so are Adam, Samuel, Daniel, Benjamin, Noah ........ Abednego. I never thought of them as being especially Jewish. Maybe he did though?

Someone I know met her she's a writer I think and they said she looks like me or vice versa I am most put out!

He married some buxom scullery maid called The Hon Frances Victoria Howell. But apparently his daughter is called Liberty! Surprising, I'd have thought that was a bit too OK magazine for the Baron.

This be she

If it makes you feel any better noddy, I have been told that I look like SamCam if she looked into the back of a spoon :(

Wow. Dead-eyed stares come in job lots Chez Osbourne.

They have that sibling-y look thing going on.

I never refer to him by his given name. I always call him Gidiot.

I don't know what religion he is, but his brother is muslim.

Shesheslob, that is a perfect compromise.

LaVolcan, it is an identifiably Jewish name like Solomon or Chaim or Ariel and it is not widely used outside Jewish circles.

It really does make my hackles stand up that it's used as an insult.

I much prefer cunt.

I thought people called him Gideon because it sounds posher than George, thus suggesting that he changed his name in order to sound more like one of us (even though he did it at the age of 13).

I did not know that Gideon was a Jewish name. I'll warrant many others don't either.

Oh, for crying out loud. He said "Life is easier as a George"

Now there may be other reasons that a person at public school would find life easier without a name usually used by Jewish people, but the only one I can think of is that the atmosphere at that school is so anti Semitic that having a Jewish name is a problem. Or that the person concerned was so anti Semitic that they didn't want to have a Jewish name.

And I find it really hard to believe that most people don't know that Gideon is a Jewish name!

Osborne's family saw fit to use it, presumably liking it, and knowing it from the Old Testament. Same with Solomon. My brother had a teacher with that name; I've no idea whether he was Jewish.

Are Chaim and Ariel in the Old Testament? I didn't think they were.

I genuniely did not know it was Jewish. It was the name of a pervy religion teacher I had in school. He wasn't Jewish.

What seeker said.

Had a look and am hopefully nothing like her! Although am buxom

He may have changed it because it is Jewish, he may have changed it because it is quite unusual and ergo, conspicuous.

I would wager on it being the former, though. I bet the Bullingdon wouldn't have let a perceived Jew into their wanky ranks.

Just remember that "Life is easier as a George"

Just looked up that fount of all wisdom, Wikipedia. It lists Ariel as biblical, but doesn't mention Chaim.

Is St Paul's school anti-semitic? Not all of us are London based, so we wouldn't have a clue about schools there.

I thought people were calling him Gideon because of his pretentiousness. George was definitely old-fashioned in the early 80s. It's only come back now with the trend for older names.

Marmalade - I suspect that's it with regard to the Bullingdon.

The British upper classes are notoriously anti Semitic. Margaret Thatcher was conspicuous for promoting Jewish people into cabinet- the posh boys around r were very uncomfortable about it! Imagine if she's promoted a Jewish woman! No danger of that, though.....