I hadn't thought of that, Rob, do you think there's a career opportunity for me?
we used to say 'tatter' in Brum, for people who dealt in scrap, going
'tatting' was to be after junk (or property - the lead off church
roofs notoriously) that could be sold to a dealer. I'm sure that has a
wider use in that sense than just the Brummagem of my youth.
I do know the word has more respectable meanings.
2008/6/4 Robin Hamilton <[log in to unmask]>:
> It's worryingly close to totter (archaic) a rag-and-bone man.
>
> As in Steptoe and Son
>
> [I wouldn't have seen it as archaic myself, quite. Dell-Boy as tottler?]
>
> R
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Bircumshaw"
> <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 10:17 AM
> Subject: Re: (protective charm) Snap- totler
>
>
>> Yeah, Patrick. And people pronounce it 'totaller' while if read as
>> spelt it sounds oddly like 'toddler'.
>>
>> (g)
>>
>> d
>
--
David Bircumshaw
Website and A Chide's Alphabet http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/
The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
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