Saturday, August 19, 2006
Stereotypes
The downside to Glyn's promotion of all things Welsh during his stay in the Big Brother house is the return of some stereotypical attitudes towards the Country. This morning's Western Mail features an outraged Max Boyce hitting out at the return of the demeaning phrase 'Boyo'.
This slang term has been much in evidence in the London press to describe popular Big Brother contestant Glyn Wise. He has been labelled "wonder-boyo" and "boyo-Glyn" and shown support with "let's hear it for the boyo!"
Quite reasonably Max Boyce, who of course never dealt in stereotypes in his act, believes that the phrase is outdated, irritating and demeaning and he disputes the idea that Welsh people use the term. He says that the only reference he has seen to it is in Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, where there's a character called Nogood Boyo. The paper quotes literary expert Peter Finch as saying that "boyo" was once in common use, probably more in Swansea and Carmarthenshire than elsewhere.
I may be misremembering but I seem to recall that the Welsh maths and science teacher, Mr. Price, played by Richard Davies in the 1960s sit-com 'Please Sir' using the phrase all the time. Of course this was done to underline the stereotype but it was there nevertheless.
This slang term has been much in evidence in the London press to describe popular Big Brother contestant Glyn Wise. He has been labelled "wonder-boyo" and "boyo-Glyn" and shown support with "let's hear it for the boyo!"
Quite reasonably Max Boyce, who of course never dealt in stereotypes in his act, believes that the phrase is outdated, irritating and demeaning and he disputes the idea that Welsh people use the term. He says that the only reference he has seen to it is in Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, where there's a character called Nogood Boyo. The paper quotes literary expert Peter Finch as saying that "boyo" was once in common use, probably more in Swansea and Carmarthenshire than elsewhere.
I may be misremembering but I seem to recall that the Welsh maths and science teacher, Mr. Price, played by Richard Davies in the 1960s sit-com 'Please Sir' using the phrase all the time. Of course this was done to underline the stereotype but it was there nevertheless.
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In my first year in the UK, I was surprised by the attitude of some British people (specially from London) towards Wales and its culture. Fortunatelly this is only a minority in the capital city that exists in every country. I feel that most of the British people like both Wales and Welsh culture very much.
Oh, yeah, and I supported Glyn. The blondie called Nikki was really nasty, haha.
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Oh, yeah, and I supported Glyn. The blondie called Nikki was really nasty, haha.
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