The Bluestocking: the one where AI finally learns what a blackbird is (we hope)

[Magpiecomplex]

Welcome all, New Year (nearly), new thread!

Chiming in, agreeing with @DeanElderberry. I used to get 1d a day pocket money, with which I could buy four blackjacks or fruit salads. Each one cost a farthing. The shop was opposite my school, as far as I remember.

My brother took me to school: a walk, a bus ride and then a walk. When he moved to secondary school I went in my own, aged 7. I don’t remember how much the bus fare was or ever losing it or spending it on more blackjacks.

A farthing = ¼ penny. (d)
240 pence = £1.
Therefore, you could buy 960 blackjacks for £1 (in 1960.)

I bought a box last year, for memory’s sake.

@DeanElderberry a nasty kind of chalky violet thing

A tube of Parma violets? Or fat crayon-shaped, with a pointy bit at one end? It also came in pink or yellow, like Edinburgh rock?

"in Queer Street" meant in financial difficulties at one time.

I once accidentally swallowed a sherbet lemon whole. One of the relatively few memorably unpleasant occurrences in my mainly happy childhood.

Oh, I'm back, BTW.

Not in too much pain at the moment, but it'll get worse before it gets better. Will be grabbing as many opioids as I can No bedside quokkas, sadly.

Shall we try to keep you distracted? Hope it all went well.

https://www.aquarterof.co.uk/retro-sweets
Thank me later...

CHER!!!

Cher's back, everyone!

Over here, put your feet up & relax & tell the gerbils what you need.

Glad you're back with us Cher.
Maybe if they give you enough opioids you'll see quokkas?

Tube of Parma violets, that's the ones, vile violet scent. My pal V's all time favorites, which just goes to show it takes all sorts. Prawns hadn't happened, but pear drops had. Also nasty, but any affordable sugar product in a storm.

And for all your bovine friends' needs: Cheno Unction - still going strong, 50 years after I first heard of it.

https://www.greggcare.ie/product/cheno-unction

Welcome back Cher! Have you been given opioids?! Last time I had an operation, and a fairly heavy duty orthopaedic one at that, I was sent home with instructions to buy my own paracetamol if I needed pain relief.

The best of a ridiculous bunch from the AI...

Incidentally, we must be about the same vintage - I'm also too young to remember the thrupenny bit being legal tender but do remember the florins and shillings identifying as decimal coins.

Ornithology, pedantry, pictures, it"s all distraction.

It's MINE field, not MIND field FFS!

However the person who said it has had a terrible time, so she is forgiven. Just venting quietly, here in Pedantry Corner.

I'm wondering if I should start a Pedantry Corner thread for Mumsnet for general purposes and for people to vent about others' grammar and spelling without quoting them in the thread where they've been WRONG. 🤔

Bar gerbil, could I have a pint of your finest hot chocolate please? I've invigilated four exams this week, marked three of them, dealt with parents taking the piss and then rounded the week out by encountering two different dickheads after work today.
On second thoughts, make it two pints of hot chocolate.

Pear drops, chocolate limes, jap desserts, dolly mixture...

Don't get me started on the different varieties of Spangles.

I was only little when decimalisation happened. I can only infer that I even remember it. An uncle gave me a few of the old pennies, I kept trying to make off to the local sweet shop to spend them, one of the adults would intercept me as I made a break for it on a heavy tricycle that I could barely move. I don't know why I didn't just walk. I can only think that the tricycle had little metal storage box with a lid and I must have thought I'd need the space for all the sweets i was intending to buy with the moolah I'd been given.

Refreshers.

The gerbil in the blue dress proffering cake is my favourite!

.

Mine too!

This is weird. I can see the original post which says decimation, and I was going to say that it must have been very traumatic to see one in 10 be killed when so small (not lots of killing which is how decimation is now used). But when I added the post as a quote, it clearly says decimalisation...

Odd.

Edited to say: Ah! I can see that you had edited it to decimalisation but my browser hadn't updated.

hssss @WhiteHairedMyrtle https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/pedants_corner

And welcome back Cher and other invalids. The san is filling up far too fast, but the beds are comfortable and the heating system keeps the rooms at just the right temperature - the mantlepiece is just for old times sake and to give the Sylvac bunnies somewhere they can sit while they keep an eye on things.

I saw it too. But it's been edited. You're not going mad.

Edited to say I can see you've edited your post to say you can see the other post has been edited.

Thank goodness MN introduced the edit option or this place would be very confusing.