Archers thread #161: Kenton seems to be getting better, but the storylines aren’t. Discuss The Archers here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

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For newer listeners, lurkers or those who just have no idea what we're talking about, @DadDadDad has created this useful thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3557323-For-Archers-fans-a-guide-to-acronyms-on-the-long-running-discussion-threads-and-any-other-meta-thread-questions-you-may-have www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3557323-For-Archers-fans-a-guide-to-acronyms-on-the-long-running-discussion-threads-and-any-other-meta-thread-questions-you-may-have]] - BOOP point for him! (See thread for explanation.)

Well, here we are. I was strongly tempted to go for the dog's dinner, dog/human bullies etc suggestions for the title, but Mere asked if we could not have anything graphic in the thread title, so I've held back. In a couple of weeks when this thead is nearing its end the attack may all be a distant memory, anyway.

Goodness knows what's in store for us now. Kenton seems likely to have PTSD, not surprisingly. Surely we must soon find out why HARRY talks so. Unconvincingly. Alice! Hello. CHRIS. CHRIS. etc, and also whether he is (as many of us suspect) addicted to opiates and/or up to no good. Too much to hope why nobody in Ambridge horsey circles had ever heard of him until recent weeks.

Over to you!

In theory I say texted, because I am very old, but in practice I hardly ever need to say text in the past tense. Mostly nowadays I'd say 'I whatsapped you'. I've often wondered if people who talk about texts nowadays are actually talking about WhatsApp. I reserve 'text' for SMS messages. I only send those if I have no internet connection.

Enjoying all the soothsaying! Bring it on.

I would say 'text' for a written message sent on any platform, although I do also use the app name, e.g. 'I WhatsApped you'. Text, IMO, is just a way of describing the medium, along with 'I left you a voice note' 'I dropped you a pin', etc.

I've noticed recently that even my texting app doesn't send SMS messages to most people anymore, it sends RCS messages. I don't know what they are, but they seem to use data and require the receiver to have their data switched on.

You sound very techy, Fink! I don't even know what 'I dropped you a pin' means. I've heard of voice notes but I don't think I've ever sent or received one. Isn't that just voicemail? My phone is several years old and will need replacing soon. Perhaps that will force me to engage with new things. [gibbers in a corner]

'I dropped you a pin' means send your exact location, I think.

Everyone I know does. My teenage/young adult grandsons don't use text messaging so I don't know what they would say if they sent one. They say 'I messaged you' or 'WhatsApped you'.

I'd say 'texted' as well, never 'text' [shocked face].

Having recently downloaded an app to ensure delivery of a vital item, I’ve had to engage with What Three Words to pinpoint an exact location. So I’ll join you in the gibbering corner if there’s space, Gasp.

I say ‘messaged’. I agree texted is very clunky. At a push I would say ‘sent a text’.

Funny hearing Alice and Harry in bed. We don’t usually have bedroom scenes. I heard a trail on R4 for a show with ‘Amy and Chris’ (I missed what it was actually called) which made me do a double-take…

Poor Hilda. I can see they won’t want cat hairs in the ice cream but it was totally Adam’s fault. Having him in charge is proving disastrous. He should go back to picking veg with George and Tom.

I enjoyed the posts on here about what happens in homes when you have a cat on your lap. When we have a deity on our laps we say that we are ‘pinned down’ and it is seen to be the greatest privilege on earth.

I would never say text when I mean texted, and I really don't understand what the problem is with saying it. After all, we happily say tested and nested.

I don't get why Tony has the last say about rehoming Hilda, surely Pat should have some input into the decision? They must surely be running out of people to dump her onto.

I don't get why Tony has the last say about rehoming Hilda, surely Pat should have some input into the decision? They must surely be running out of people to dump her onto.

It's his mother's cat. But Peggy wants Hilda with one of the family. Brian can't - allergy. Tony won't. Can't remember Lilian's excuse. Adam, Kate, Alice, Tom, Helen... James & Leonie? The Brookfield Archers?

Maybe Pat could train the goats into being delivery goats. Farming Today - 09/02/2024 NFU Scotland Conference, Cumbrian rainforests, working goats - BBC Sounds

Lilian's got a dog, Alice has Martha, Adam has Xander. Tom has the girls. Helen has Henry and Jack. Tom & Helen are both renting so might not be able to have a pet.

Maybe Jim could take her.

Kate is living with Brian, so is off the hook.
Tom is too self-centred and I don't know that Hilda and toddler twins would be a good mix.

I wouldn't have thought Tom's flat is in any way suitable for a cat, to be fair. Not sure why having older children would disqualify Helen?

@Flamme ,Tom doesn't live in a flat. Because Helen's children are not like other children.

Those of you who say texted. Are you saying text-ed. Because unless you're doing that, I can't hear any difference between that and text.

I don't care about Harry but I do about Alice.

If Harry is a recovering addict then he is not good news for her either. He should have disclosed this when Alice disclosed her addiction.

Still want Alice and Chris to get back together.

I say text-ed (probably more tex-tid in sound.)

@BeatriceBatchelor , I would say texted as tex-tid, tested as tes-tid, lasted as las-tid etc. I'd say parked as parkd.

I'm not sure how you could say texted without it being 2 syllables.
Given the number of posts I see on here where the verb is missing the ed (e.g. I am bias) maybe I live in a parallel universe.

So do I but come to think of it people say 'messaged' most of the time.

I remain of the opinion that she'd make an excellent pub cat. She'd definitely attack any Bad People trying to set fire to the Bull.

Pub Cat would be an excellent role for her. Sadly it doesn’t look as if there’ll be a pub left for her to protect soon …

And make sure they never had any customers.

You can't have a pub cat who randomly attacks people! My cat is one of those bastards and I have to chivvy him out of the house when the step kids come over and several of my friends because he's unpredictable. You can't have a cat like that in a place of business 😆

Perhaps Hilda could live in the Ploughman's when there are customers. Or they'll learn not to cross her. It's about time Eccles the peacock is replaced with another animal.

I've been listening since about 2010 and don't remember hearing about the Ploughman's until now - what is it, an annex? A room within the Bull? A magic sandwich that serves bottled beer?

The Ploughman's is where they do pub meals. I've always pictured the Bull as the main bar where things like the pub quiz happen, then the Ploughman's off to the side - separate room, but sort if open to the main bar room. Plus there's the Bull Upstairs.

The Bull has always had two bars, the main bar and the Ploughman's (think Saloon and Public), and served snacks at both. That is why people like Emma or Kenton are said to be serving in the Ploughman's if they are not in the main bar when someone looks for them there. There is also the dining-room, which was built on when Aunt Laura paid to have that added with a flat above it for her to live in (the flat seems to have vanished when she moved out to live at what was not yet called The Stables), a computer annexe, and the Bull Upstairs.

These days there is confusion about the pub meals as opposed to the dining-room ones, but as far as I can make out you order food at whichever bar you are sitting in and it gets brought over to you.