A Different Blue(27)

It was easier to do with the wood, I'm sorry to say. The officers let me keep Jimmy's tools, but

they took Icas to an animal shelter. They said he would be able to see a doctor, but I was very

afraid that Icas couldn't be fixed. He was broken for good. I felt broken too, but nobody could

tell.





Chapter Five





“When the ancient Romans would conquer a new place or a new people, they would leave the

language and the customs in tact – they would even let the conquered people rule themselves in

most cases, appointing a governor to maintain a foothold in the region.” Wilson leaned against

the whiteboard as he spoke, his posture relaxed, his hands clasped loosely.

“This was part of what made Rome so successful. They didn't try to make everyone Romans in the

process of conquering them. When I went to Africa with the Peace Corp, a woman who worked with

the Corp said something to me that I have often thought about since. She told me 'Africa is not

going to adapt to you. You are going to have to adapt to Africa.' That is true of wherever you

go, whether it's school or whether it's in the broader world.

“When I moved to the States at sixteen, I had my eyes opened to the differences in our

language, and I had to adapt to America. I couldn't expect people to understand me or make

allowances for the differences in our language and culture. Americans may speak English, but

there are regional accents and phrases, different spellings, different terminology for almost

everything. I remember the first time I asked someone on campus if they had a fag. It's a good

thing I didn't get pounded. In Blighty, a fag is a cigarette, and I was going through a stage

where I fancied smoking. I thought it made me look older and sophisticated, see.”

“What's Blighty?” someone asked amid the snickers that had erupted when Wilson said fag.

“Blighty is a nickname for Britain. We have nicknames and phrases that would make absolutely no

sense at all to any of you. In fact you might need a translater for a while if you lived in

London for any length of time, just like I did when I came here. Luckily, I had a couple mates

that looked out for me at Uni. I've had years to become Americanized, but I find that old habits

die hard, so I thought you might like to hear some British slang. That way if I slip and say

something wonky, you'll have an idea of what I'm referring to.

“For instance, in Britain we call an attractive girl a fit bird. It works for blokes as well.

You might say that's a dishy bloke or a dishy bird. We would also say scrummy – which I suppose

comes from the word scrumptious. Food is scrummy, naps are scrummy, books are scrummy. You get

the idea. And if we like something we say we fancy it. If you fancy a scrummy bird you see at a

do or a party, you might try to chat her up or flirt with her. If I were to call you a twit or a

tosser I would be calling you an idiot or a jerk. If I were to say you looked smart, I would be

referring to your clothing, not your intelligence. If you're daft or nutters or barmy it means

you're crazy. And if someone is brassed off or cheesed off in England, it means they're fed up

or angry. Not pissed, mind you, that means drunk. We don't say trash or garbage, we say rubbish.

And, of course, we swear differently, although we have adopted many of the curse words your