As well as loving some words however, there are some that just make me see RED, and a prime example of this is UPSIDE THE HEAD!

Now what exactly does that mean?

I know what it’s supposed to mean, and I know what the words mean on their own, but to hit someone upside the head!  Why not say slap them on the face, or slap their head, which is at least correct grammar.

Why not hit someone on the side of the head?  The word upside is usually used with the word down.  It shouldn’t be the opposite of the word downside, at least when it’s referring to hitting someone on the upper part of their head at least.

It’s just one American expression that really goes get my goat, one of quite a few actually, and before you start on me, YES I know in England we also have a lot of odd phrases… you are not alone ok!

Some odd American words get to me as well, the unreal words that ought to not exist, but for which it’s hard to think of an alternative, without sprouting a whole sentence at least.

A classic example of this is the word WINNINGEST as in They are the winningest team, or he is the winningest coach.

That word is so wrong it’s not true, but I can’t think of an alternative way of saying “he is the winningest coach” other than “he is the coach whose team has won more games than any other”.  Phew what a mouthful! 

Another classic phrase that my boss used to use when I worked in Indiana is “don’t got to”.  That used to make me want to vent a whole power plant worth of steam I can tell you.  

Now if he had said “haven’t got to” that would be fine, but the misuse of the English language is something that well, you know how I feel…

I’m not sure if it’s because when I was growing up in England all the television and radio presenters used to speak “BBC English”, rather like The Queen.  This is PROPER ENGLISH both in pronounciation as well as accent and of course grammar, and sadly in many ways it has now disappeared in the UK.

In fact in the 80′s and 90′s you would think that it was mandatory to either speak in a horribly common accent or to have a speech impediment in order to secure a job in television or on the radio.

But there you have it, one of My Pet Peeves that really irritates me, but at the same time a topic that I do find really amusing.

Do you enjoy language and the different ways that people say things?  If so, please drop me a comment.

I’m not such a big fan, but Debbie loves the show, and it turned out to be quite an interesting night.   But where to begin…

I guess the story begins 2 weeks ago, when Debbie’s daughter asked if we wanted to go to the eviction, as they had managed to get tickets.

Well we agreed, seeing as it would be something different, and two weeks ago off we set on a Friday evening, 4 of us in a Mini, to drive the 100 miles from where we live to the studios.

Well to cut a long story short (if that is ever possible for me), we got stuck in heavy traffic, made it there in time, but the tickets only allow you entry if there is room, and by the time we arrived they were full to capacity.   So, we ended up going to McDonald’s to grab a bite to eat, and then drove home.

Since we could not get in, the studios allowed us to get tickets that would guarantee us entry for last night’s eviction, provided we got there by 6:20pm.   And so we decided that we needed to leave earlier than before, not taking into consideration the fact that this weekend is August Bank Holiday weekend in the UK, the equivalent of Labor Day weekend in the USA, when the whole country are on the move for a long weekend away.

Well, we set off at 4pm, in Debbie’s daughter’s boyfriends new toy, a BMW, which was a nice comfy ride, hit the motorway, and it wasn’t too long of course before we hit the traffic.   First it was road works on the M3, which delayed us about 30 minutes, and then a 20 mile queue on the M25, which delayed us close to an hour.  By the time we got to the studios it was almost 7pm.    We joined the queue of people waiting to get in, and were relieved to find that we were not too late this time, however we were already close to the back of the queue.

Despite the fact that it’s close to the end of August, and supposed to be nice and warm, it was chilly and there was a cold wind blowing.  Add to that the dark clouds that came over and dumped heavy showers of rain on us for a good 20 minutes, and we were all cold and wet.   Debbie’s daughter did have a small umbrella, but it wasn’t enough for four of us, and not for that amount of rain either.

After about an hour and a half we got into the studios, and unfortunately the best spots to stand were already jammed, but we found a good place to stand close to the stage and below the platform and stairs where the house mates come out when they are evicted.

There were a number of cameras there, to get shots from different directions, and lots of people had banners to hold up, so we knew that chances are we wouldn’t appear on television, and watching the show this morning confirmed that.  Oh well… It might have been a claim to fame, but not the best in the world…

On a number of occasions the host of the show, Davina McCall came out and gave announcements for the show, and also interacted with the audience, and everyone was going crazy and having a good time.

Whether it was a combination of not having eaten or drunk anything for a few hours, the excitement, getting cold or what, Debbie started to come over faint, and the two of us headed out of the enclosure, more or less frog-marched through security, to the building where the studio is, so that the paramedics could make sure she was ok.    She got to sit down, and they gave her some water to drink, and as she was starting to feel better, in popped Davina, as we were right by the studio door.     She asked Debbie if she was feeling ok, then held her hand, and miraculously Debbie started to feel better, as the excitement came over her.

We went back to the guest enclosure, and it was then only 5 minutes until it was time for the eviction to be announced.   The two contestants who had been nominated were Siavash, an Iranian with long hippy hair who had somewhat stirred things up on the show, and Marcus (nicknamed the “Dark Horse”), who had sideburns that made him look like Mungo Jerry (remember them – In The Summertime?) and a long ponytail.  Marcus also probably has the filthiest mouth of any contestant ever on the show, with hardly a sentence coming out without an “F” or “S” word.  It wouldn’t work on television in the USA, there would be more bleeps than on the Osbournes.   But I have to admit he was a pretty funny contestant.

Well eviction time, and we were standing right under the gangway where the evictee would come out.  And… the evictee was… Marcus…   If you would like to see a video clip of the eviction CLICK HERE.  We were standing to the left of the staircase when the video starts, but it’s not possible to see us of course.  Oh well…

No sooner had Marcus come out, shaken a few hands, posed for pictures, than he was off to the studio, and everyone began to leave.   We stopped at McDonald’s to grab a bit to eat as we were all cold and starving, and then began the 100 mile trip home.  Being after 11pm by this time the traffic was pretty light, and we got home soon after 1am.

Of course with me suffering from what I call “Old Folks Disease”, I still woke up at 7am.  It’s not fair, really not fair at all.  I have always wanted to be able to sleep in, not been able to for years, and now I can, since I am jobless, I wake between 6-7 most mornings.   But this is another story, and I have many more to tell – if you will keep coming back.