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Much ado about smoking



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Anti-smoking hysteria continues with the announcement that the UK Government is considering making cigarette sales "under-the-counter" and also on the horizon is the removal of vending machines from pubs and clubs. As an exercise in propaganda it is well timed considering that the two-year anniversary of the smoking ban in Scotland fell on 26 March, but it does raise the question of how far the anti-smokers are prepared to go in their war against tobacco.
Making cigarette sales under-the-counter will not reduce smoking in young people and vending machines account for just under 2 per cent of cigarette sales in the UK. A voluntary scheme is already in existence in the hospitality industry where customers change money into vending-machine tokens , thus controlling use of them.

EDDIE DOUTHWAITE, Provost Milne Grove, South Queensferry, West Lothian





The full article contains 146 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 26 March 2008 8:22 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Thomas Laprade,

Thunder Bay, Ont. Canada 27/03/2008 03:44:45
There are two basic reasons for no-smoking bans and neither of them are about health.

1. Quarantine/isolate the smoker.

2. De-normalize smoking.

Unfortunatley, the hospitality industry is caught in the cross-fire.

http://pasan.thetruthisalie.com
2

Gdgy,

dundy 27/03/2008 08:02:08
Good - the more we can do to isolate these drug addled losers the better.....
Tax them more, isolate them (make them take their drugs ouside), make them lepers and call them stupid - nothing seems to work - just goes to prove how powerful a drug nicotine is......
3

Beth Boyle,

NY 27/03/2008 08:08:32
I could not agree more Gdgy. Their teeth fall out, their looks go to the dogs, their breath smells fowl, their hearts give out, their lungs fill up, their cloths reek of tar, and still they go on....
4

Scallywag,

Edinburgh 27/03/2008 09:23:54
And lets not forget that many say they smoke to chill out and relax. However they seems to be as tight as a drum and are often on the verge of violence when people suggest that they maybe need to consider the effects of their habit on others. May I say that I'm not convinced by the passive smoking argument but I do want to be able to breath fresh air. While I have no problem with resticting the sale of ciggies I think the next target should be the pub trade in that they are now being exposed for keeping dirty boozers and unhygenic toilets previously masked by other noxious fumes.
5

WJohn,

West Lothian 27/03/2008 09:36:18
Ban it. It worked for cocaine,heroin, crack and cannabis so why not for tobacco.
6

Neil,

Glasgow 27/03/2008 10:21:12
Alternately Scallywag the fact that the anti-smoking activists have gone beyond the verge of using force to dictate to us means perhaps they should be prescribed a relaxing cigarette.

There is, in fact, no real evidence that passive smoking is harmful. This whole campaign is based on a lie.

"The human race divides politically
into those who want people to be controlled
and those who have no such desire."

Robert Heinlein
7

G,

dundy 27/03/2008 10:34:16
"And lets not forget that many SAY they smoke to chill out and relax"...only because not to smoke makes them irrational due to nicotine withdrawal....
8

Scallywag,

Edinburgh 27/03/2008 11:36:27
Neil
As I said I'm not convinced by the passive smoking argument but I am by the following.
- Fags smell
- When in the company of smokers, you end up smelling.
- A smokey atmosphere gives me a sore throat and a hacking cough the following morning.
- A smokey atmosphere makes my eyes water.
- When eating in a smokey atmosphere you do get get the full enjoyment of the taste and smell of the meal you may be paying good money for.
- Smokers drop wrappings matches and fag butts all over the place.
- There is a danger of having you clothes, carpets and furnishing burned by a fag end.
- In the same way that you expect a friend, family member or indeed perfect strangers to cover their nose and mouth before sneezing their cold germs, snot and spit all over your, is it not reasonable to expect the same consideration when lighting up and imposing all the above on us. i.e go outside or to an area where they can do what they need to do without affecting others.

"Oh But it's a habit worth forming
If it means to justify the end"

Thin Lizzy
9

JudithM,

York 27/03/2008 11:47:30
Scallywag - and the answer to your comments is quite simple:- 1. Proper ventilation. 2. Stay away from smokers - if you don't like them, then keep away! 3. Provide proper rubbish facilites for ALL litter dropers. 4. YOU go to another area where your vitriol will not infect and affect others!!

There is always a compromise - trouble is smoker-haters don't want to find it!

"I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex, and rich food. He was healthy right up to the day he killed himself." Johnny Cash
10

Fricke,

27/03/2008 11:53:18
Love some of your anti smoker comments. Beth (No. 3), please tell me where I can get 'fowl' tobacco. Would that be chicken flavour or turkey? Speaking as a smoker I can't say I've noticed a tarry smell on any cloths-dish cloths, face cloths or any other.

Scallywag (8), there is a solution to the problem with smokey atmospheres. Don't use them. Since the smoking ban is so popular-we're told-allow publicans to choose, then the majority will remain smoke free and you won't be troubled by us smokers outside your nice shiny non smoking pubs. Simple.

11

Fricke,

27/03/2008 12:00:56
Judith M. Sorry, didn't see your comment before I went in or naturally wouldn't have copied it.
Stacks.
12

G,

dudny 27/03/2008 12:33:26
#9 Judith M - your idea of compromise is exactly what the law has provided - we non-nicotine addicts stay away from the smokers - smokers have the most effective ventilation system known to man (fresh air) - they are given adequete facilities to dispose of their addiction related rubbish - and now as smokers "apparently" tend to stay away from pubs, we norms can enjoy our food and drink without upsetting them...
Therefore the law has fulfilled all your criteria for compromise.....
13

Scallywag,

Edinburgh 27/03/2008 13:36:48
#9 and #10

Why would I want to keep away from smokers? A number of my best friends smoke, though thankfully a good few have given up over the years. However in all the time I spent with these freinds I never once heard one of them say. 'Oh I'll tell you what, tonight I'll not bother smoking in front of you all'. The usual call was 'Do you mind if I smoke?' and even thought it was to the disbenfit of the majority most people would say, 'Yes go ahead'. To me that says it all about the addictive nature of nicotine. My fag first, the needs of others later.
14

Bill Crombie,

27/03/2008 13:47:55
#9 G, dudny.

The only thing I can say for sure is that HMG is gunning for you lot now, by increasing the taxation on drink(I take it you drink?) and driving. Being smug about the smoking ban will do you no credit - he who laughs first, laughs last.

One thing I am pleased about is having given up going to pubs, I don't have the misfortune of meeting people of your ilk.
15

Belinda-2,

27/03/2008 13:49:31
#12 so what exactly have you compromised in that scenario? Last I heard, compromise was about give and take (not take and take).

The letter was about government misjudging their policy, but the comments have been about teaching smokers a lesson regardless of any truth in the rumours that passive smoking kills. Disappointing, but when the government sets a low moral standard, the people follow.
16

TheTerminator,

27/03/2008 14:09:03
The idea of " under-the-counter" sales of tobacco is suggested by ASH Scotland in their 2007 Manifesto ( Next steps for the Scottish Parliament ) produced before the May 2007 elections. Another idea they had was to limit the times at which tobacco can be sold and the number of places that can sell it. Watch out for this raising it's ugly head soon.The zealots of ASH Scotland now seem to be in the business of exporting their hatred of smoking to England.
17

Neil,

Glasgow 27/03/2008 14:28:01
Well Scally if you accept that McConnell's promise that stopping passive smoking in pubs would save 1,000 lives a year as merely being the standard of honesty to be expected by a totally corrupt fascist politician leading a totally corrupt fascist party then your argument becomes extremely selfish.

It dependeds on 2 million Scots having their basic freedom & human rights suppressed & many publicans & bar staff thrown out of work for a very very minor convenience of yours. By that standard I should have the right to demand that all supporters this & other "environmental" fascism should be prevented from ever leaving their homes in case I might have to suffer passing them in the street. My guess is that you would object to the controls you inflict on others being thus inflicted on you.
18

David from New Mills,

Pleasantville, U.K. 27/03/2008 14:48:01
#15,Belinda-2,
Perhaps Belinda could give examples of smokers' willingness to compromise in the past, when they were quite happy to light up as and where they pleased, to the detriment of others. They're happy now to bleat about compromise. Well, they've got one. Smoking isn't "banned", smokers just have to get off their butts and take their fumes outside. It's actually a win-win situation. Those inside pubs and other enclosed public places are freed from the fumes, pub furnishings and décor are kept cleaner, staff have no smelly ashtrays to have to keep cleaning, smokers get some fresh air in their lungs, and no costly ventilation systems require to be installed or maintained. So everyone gains, apart from Bill Gibson possibly, who's denied a market for his Tornex Tornado Towers.
19

Belinda-2,

27/03/2008 15:00:25
'win-win' in your dreams, David. A compromise, 'win-win' situation is achieved with BOTH parties sitting round the table, not with one party saying we are excluding your gang because of what (we think) happened in the past. Just as the government will no doubt attempt to talk down the shopkeepers and the general public who have given a massive thumbs-down to pushing tobacco sales under the counter.
20

JudithM,

York 27/03/2008 15:42:21
Scally and David. Until we manage to reach a compromise and get what smokers and tolerant non-smokers want - will you please remember in the warm weather when you want your cake and eat it - that the smoke free INSIDE area is your area, not the outside where you have happily sent the old, infirm and sick during the freezing cold winter. Keep your alleged clean clean air and stay inside - but I bet you won't!!!!
21

Alternative (High Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 27/03/2008 16:15:17
Anyone who supports this nazi state ban needs their brains dusted---either than or they are a nazi themselves.

FREEDOM OF CHOICE should prevail. There is NOTHING wrong with having separate INDOOR areas for smokers. It worked before Obersturmbahn Feuerer McConnell inflicted has jack-boots on us. It will work again.

Following up on Judith's point... If any of you anti-smoking whingers dare to come out and sit in the beer garden in the sun when the summer comes, you'd better either light up yourselves or think again. Having people not smoking around me whilst waving their hands around, screwing their faces up as though in agony and huffing and puffing really p1sses me off. It is the height of bad manners and almost constitutes a breach of the peace.
22

Scallywag,

Edinburgh 27/03/2008 16:19:38
Oh Judith don't be silly. At our Christmas do I happily went outside to continue an interesting conversation with a colleague who smokes and I was also sitting outside under a patio heater last wednesday with a good friend. Still good company and a good laugh but no smelly clothes and hair the next day.
My friends and I were a model of tolerance and co-opertion between smokers and non smokers, maybe you should try it, rhater than joining Neil and branding us all fascists.
23

Scallywag,

Edinburgh 27/03/2008 16:22:43
Fuel Head.

Right on queue with more nazi nonesense.
The outside is for everyone and so is the inside. All that is resticted is what you can do in one or other of the areas. If you hadn't noticed your not allowed to shag like bunnies inside or outside pubs either. What a disgrace!! Where do I complain. I have me rights you know. Look forward to a few fat wobbly bottoms coming to a pub near you if I get my way!!!!
24

Alternative (High Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 27/03/2008 16:23:47
#17:

"...McConnell's promise that stopping passive smoking in pubs would save 1,000 lives a year..."

It was actually 3,000, depending of course on the propaganda you were unfortunate enough to come across.

The ban has been in place for 2 years now. Show me figures that prove that 6,000 people less died in Scotland than in the period March 2003 to March 2005.

What's that? You can't? Why not? All the anti-smoking lobby were ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED that the "scientists" who said all this were 100% correct and you cited that as the main reason why the smoking ban was needed.

Clearly they were wrong. Therefore there is no need for a smoking ban. Therefore it MUST be scrapped immediately.
25

Alternative (High Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 27/03/2008 16:27:54
#22:

"The outside is for everyone and so is the inside."

Exactly. So the inside is for smokers as well then. You can't have your cake and eat it mate!

Regarding the other thing you mentioned, why is it that anti-smokers always seem to compare smoking with the most improbable similies they can find? I have seen smoking compared to urinating on my carpet, spitting on my food, farting in my bedroom and now to public sex! Clearly you lot are clutching at straws.
26

english charlie,

suffolk 27/03/2008 16:34:19
Smokers are made to stand outside pubs in full view of everybody, including youngsters and now they want to hide cigarettes. You've got to laugh.
27

Tim85,

27/03/2008 18:40:42
Scallywag 22 - what exactly is anti-smokers aversion to changing their clothes the day after a night out? How many days would you like to go without changing your clothes or washing you hair?

23 - no, both of those areas. At least, if you're on a train station platform - even in the open air. Or on hospital grounds. Again, in the open air.

25 - don't forget the old ridiculous simile that 'a non-smoking section is like a non-peeing section in a swimming pool'. There are NON-peeing sections in swimming pools? ;)
28

Chuckles,

London 27/03/2008 19:07:13
Octanehead21 agree entirely with you. DavidNewMills18 you always seem to forget that pubs and such establishments are privately owned therefore the smoking policy should be up to the individual owners!
29

David from New Mills,

Pleasantville, U.K. 27/03/2008 20:13:12
#28,Chuckles,London.
What Carlo Rossi and the other chuckleheads of the pro-smokers brigade conveniently choose to ignore is that the range of premises covered by the Health Act, 2006, is as defined in that act. Premises open to the public, whether by invitation or payment, do NOT fall within his idealistic notion of "privately owned premises". Ha capito?
30

David from New Mills,

Pleasantville, U.K. 27/03/2008 20:17:09
english charlie,suffolk.
Glad chas w. has a sense of humour, as it might just keep his spirits up. Cheers!
31

David from New Mills,

Pleasantville, U.K. 27/03/2008 20:22:52
#19, Belinda-2.
Belinda is quite astute in realising that my dream came true when smoking was made illegal in enclosed public spaces within the U.K. Nirvana!!
She has failed to elucidate any example of smokers' sense of compromise in the past. So, was it truly non-existent?
32

David from New Mills,

Pleasantville, U.K. 27/03/2008 20:39:25
#20, JudithM,York. Regardless of the wishes of Judith M.,I shall continue to enjoy drinking in the outside areas of pubs, as I've always done, the only difference being that I can happily move inside should it become too cold or wet. Smokers have the same option, but just without their cancer sticks.
33

David from New Mills,

Pleasantville, U.K. 27/03/2008 20:45:08
#21, Petrol Man.
Whether Petrol Man likes it or not, I'll continue to sit outside pubs in good weather, but preferably upwind of and far far away from smokers, removing filthy ash trays first, as I see fit.
Oh, he could try spelling "Führer" like so.
34

David from New Mills,

Pleasantville, U.K. 27/03/2008 20:50:50
#25, Petrol man.
P.h. can clutch at all the straws he chooses, but smokers (a.k.a "you lot" ) have lost their F2S as they please.
Did he mean similes?
35

claire,

cumbria 27/03/2008 21:44:44
Hello David! Nice to see you in cracking form as usual. Life must be looking up, don't think I missed the location of Pleasantville! When I started reading the comments I thought is was going to be one of those 'lets call the smokers worse than muck' sections, as one of the first comments was from Beth Boyle whose use of the usual insults is getting very boring. I really don't know where she gets the idea that 'their cloths smell of tar'. I think this is just bad spelling but she maybe lives near a place where roads are being resurfaced and her cloths do indeed smell of tar. Mine, of course, smell of flash all surface cleaner. I would also like to inform her that I've got all my teeth and I shower daily and wear clean clothes every day and clean my teeth. Maybe she is judging smokers by her own standards of personal hygiene and should really think before she starts dishing the dirt!

Do the anti smokers not understand that there is no such thing these days as fresh air unless you live either in the country or on the coast? Diesal fumes in the cities are a real danger. I live on the coast but my proximity to Sellafield takes that 'fresh air' dream away, as we don't really know what's being pumped out.

As we (us lot) predicted, HMG are now coming for the drinkers (middle aged women who drink a glass of wine are at a 40% increased risk of breast cancer) and the overweight (couple threatened with their kids being taken into care due to them being obese). Both these articles were reported in last week's papers.

The police state is closing in kiddos.
36

claire,

27/03/2008 21:49:07
Sorry David, 3rd line down 4th word in should have been 'it' and not 'is'. Don't want to let standards drop to Beth's level.
37

David from New Mills,

Pleasantville, U.K. 27/03/2008 22:38:15
#35/36,claire,cumbria.
Life's pretty fine here in Pleasantville, with its three pubs and other enclosed public places, all beautifully fug free.
Don't think smokers' clothes normally smell of tar, but their breath is noticably foul when they return inside pubs from having had their fix outside, and the effluence/effluent from their tobacco fumes stands out in the fresher atmosphere within. If they're unaware of this, perhaps they should clean their teeth more often, or maybe even suck some mints.
I'm not too badly affected by "Diesal" or even diesel fumes, nor am I too close to Sellafield/Windscale.
Shall try to keep my wine intake moderate for the sake of my pectorals, and keep children free of clutches of the authorities.
No doubt Claire will carry on blowing her trumpet as an advance warning of any more imminent dangers.
Managed to motor through her error as cited in her #36, but her "don't think I missed the location of Pleasantville" left me more than a little confused.
Perhaps she'll keep trying harder in future.
P.S., I'm still not Me Bungo Pony, Carlo Rossi, chas. winfield's dad, or Maureen Moore. Will she believe me now?
38

mandyv,

banitland 28/03/2008 14:25:42
Well said Eddie, many of us know exactly where this is going, no-one owns the air, although the holier than thou think they do!
2#3#, Is that the sort of filth and hatred you spew, you, will be passing down to your Children/Grandchildren, it does not seem very healthy to me. Intolerance rarely is. Control freaks are addicted to power!
http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com:80/2008/03/berkeley-to-ban-smoking-outdoors.html
Thursday, March 27, 2008

Berkeley to Ban Smoking Outdoors Throughout Business District
According to an article on the KCBS radio station site and another article on the local CBS television station site, the city of Berkeley has approved an ordinance that extends its outdoor smoking ban to include essentially the entire business district of the city.

Previously, the ordinance prohibited smoking within 25 feet of the entrance to any building open to the public and on sidewalks along 16 major streets. Now, the ordinance bans smoking outdoors in all commercial zones and essentially means that smoking will not be allowed at all in the business sections of the city.
freedom2choose.info for tolerant non-smokers and smokers alike
39

claire,

28/03/2008 17:51:35
Hi David! You will always be Me Bungo Pony to me. Is Pleasantville a real place? I thought you were being sarcastic but if not, please accept my sincere apologies. I am known, especially to my long suffering neighbours, to blow my own trumpet but am learning with the local brass band on a cornet which is played the same.

It's a real shame that anti smokers, with the exception of you of course, seem to be unable to construct a sentence without resorting to insults, bad spelling or bad grammar. I think you should take it upon yourself to try and educate the anti smoking zealots in the art of effective arguing to stop them showing themselves up. Its a shame we are not on the same side!
40

David from New Mills,

Pseudo Pleasantville, U.K. 28/03/2008 20:07:33
#39, Claire 77.
Claire dreams on about Me Bungo Pony, lucky chap. There is at least one Pleasantville in the USA, perhaps the best known being near NY, and the HQ of the Reader's Digest, but as far as I know mine is the only one in the U.K.
Sarcastic about what, pray tell?
If Claire is really concerned about contributors' grammar, I'm sure she'll realise that that of Tim from Canada, Rollo Tomassi, James Donald and Duncan, all from Edinburgh, is very much up to standard, together with their debating skills.
However, that of Bill Gibson and most of the licencees in threads such as those on the "Morning Advertiser" leaves much to be desired. Is illiteracy a sine qua non for those in the licensed trade and air conditioning businesses?
So is Claire a Bix Beiderbecke fan, perchance? Perhaps we might have something in common after all?
41

claire,

28/03/2008 23:16:46
Bix Beiderbecke was one of the most talented, sweet sounding cornetists to grace this planet. My late father was a big jazz fan and also a pianist.

I didn't realise that Readers Digest's HQ was in Pleasantville. I take it Tom Champagne lives there, he keeps telling me I'm up to stage 3 in the grand prize draw so I'll be expecting my cheque soon. I always return my 6 lucky numbers, I am also a subscriber of 15 years standing and have even been conned into buying several expensive publications that I've sold on car boot sales......

Sorry folks about the mindless drivel but David and I only meet online to spit venom on occasions.
42

David from New Mills,

The other Pleasantville, U.K. 29/03/2008 13:06:19
#41, Claire 77.
Very true about Bix. Tragic that he died so young. We'll never know how he might have developed.
I only found out about the Reader's Digest connection when doing an ISP search on my adopted home town. Sorochin of Brooklyn advised me on another thread that there are others in the U.S.
Don't know about TC, and assume some UK address shown on Claire's lucky "winning" letters.
One learns by one's mistakes. It's called life.
Regular readers may be surprised, nay astonished,to learn that I haven't started on venom yet.
I'm really quite sweet, just like Bix's playing, but was never ever Me Bungo Pony.
43

timbone,

30/03/2008 00:58:29
Over a number of years, smokers were politely asked not to smoke in cinemas, on buses, in shops, in offices, on planes, and many many other indoor/enclosed areas, including many restaurants, cafes, and there were also non smoking hotels and guest houses, and already some non smoking pubs. This was all accepted by the smoker with respect for the non smoker. Then one day, for some reason, it was made a law, and the one place the smoker had left, the local drinking place, was taken away as well - and non smokers say that we were selfish in the past!!!
44

MikeT,

derbys 30/03/2008 10:36:02
Bix Beiderbecke died because he was an alcoholic. Alcohol is much more dangerous than tobacco.
45

David from New Mills,

Gin free Pleasantville, U.K. 30/03/2008 10:53:04
#44,MikeT,derbys.
Alcohol per se is not necessarily dangerous, unlike alcoholism. Sadly, Bix succumbed to too much cheap gin, but was a beautiful player up to then.
46

MikeT,

derbys 30/03/2008 16:12:03
David. I hope you don't tell binge drinking youngsters that 'Alcohol per se is not necessarily dangerous'.
47

David from New Mills,

Sober Pleasantville, U.K. 30/03/2008 18:29:22
#46,MikeT,derbys.
No point, really. They'd be too far gone to notice what anyone said to them.
48

claire,

30/03/2008 22:24:46
Alcohol is a poison - fact. Too much of it results in dreadful damage to the liver of the drinker and their long suffering families. Poor old Bix is testament to that, but he did play a mean cornet! We are lucky enough to still have his tunes around to show us just how it should be done. Just think how good he would have been if he hadn't been half cut most of the time - Bix we are not worthy! RIP
49

David from New Mills,

Sober Pleasantville, U.K 31/03/2008 11:05:22
#48, claire 77.
Alcohol per se is not toxic, simply deleterious to one's health if consumed to excess.
Perhaps a little alcohol improved his playing in the early days by making him more relaxed, although, as in the case of Billie Holiday in a later era, alcoholism was obviously part of the road to oblivion. Billie, of course, was afflicted with a drug addiction to boot.
Must say, I find these threads much more interesting than the same old arguments about passive smoking.
50

MikeT,

derbys 01/04/2008 08:20:10
I idolise Bix, despite his drinking. I also idolise Billy, despite her drinking, drugs and prostitution, but I hate cigarette smoke. How about you, David?
51

David from New Mills,

Pleasantville, U.K. 01/04/2008 12:12:28
#50,MikeT,derbys.
I'd be more convinced of Mike T's professed idolising of Billie Holiday, if he'd managed to spell her name properly. After all, it was probably easier to get right than Eleanora Fagan.
I hate cigarette fumes too, so what's Mike's drift?
52

claire,

01/04/2008 19:34:03
Love the word deleterious David! That's one I will be slipping in where possible. I agree on the fact that these threads don't just have to be a slanging match, it's been a nice break. We would never have got on the subject if you hadn't mentioned me blowing my own trumpet!

Mike, how can you say you idolise someone despite their drinking, drugs and prostitution but hate cigarette smoke. Did Billie smoke? She was a fantastic talent so where on earth does the cigarette connection come from?

David - is the word deleterious used in the same context as derogatory? don't want to show myself up with bad grammar, you'd never let me live it down!
53

David from New Mills,

Healthy Pleasantville, U.K. 01/04/2008 20:24:45
#52, Claire 77.
Glad to be able to bring some light relief to these threads.
I'll leave Mike T. to make his own response, but as at my #51, could see little point to his smoking allusion. Not sure if his alleged idol BILLIE smoked, but I believe her drug addiction was more inclined towards the serious vein injecting of heroin, which she referred to as the "white trash".
Deleterious means harmful, or having an adverse effect.
Derogatory means implying a critical or pejorative allusion. Glad to be able to elucidate, although I'm still neither an English teacher, nor Me Bungo Pony.
54

claire,

coast of cumbria 01/04/2008 22:42:30
Thanks David for clarifying the word meanings for me. I think you must be an English teacher or an ex English teacher and the constant references to Me Bungo Pony seem quite suspicious. He was from Scotland as well and like yourself, had an excellent command of the written word - do you have a twin? I hope we haven't scared off fellow bloggers who can't work out why an anti smoker and a smoker can have a civilised written conversation!
55

MikeT,

Derbys 02/04/2008 09:37:07
claire. I didn't say that Billie smoked, but if her habit had been smoking instead of drugs and alcohol she would probably have lived a lot longer. Don't you agree?
56

David from New Mills,

Articulate Pleasantville, U.K. 02/04/2008 11:26:12
#54, claire77, environs of Sellafield.
Never been an English teacher, just a student who graduated beyond tabloidspeak level. I've no twin, and it was Claire who was always making the accusation about Me Bungo Pony, and I who consistently denied it.
Claire is slipping, as I'm just a pro-restrictionist, as I'm constantly pointing out to correspondents.

 

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