4 ms·

I find it fascinating that I don’t understand a sentence of this.

by ahoka 2y ago

lsaferite 2y ago
In this case 'fag' seems to follow the definition: an English public-school boy who acts as servant to an older schoolmate https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fag https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fag
- hallway_monitor 2y ago
  It’s listed on that page as a synonym for toil or drudgery. So basically a chore is a fag. It seems like the definition you mention is likely the origin of today’s gay pejorative.
  - pessimizer 2y ago
    It's the same definition. A servant is a person who toils. This is a discussion about English public schools.
  - xanderlewis 2y ago
    See also: ‘can’t be fagged’.
zinckiwi 2y ago
Recommend Roald Dahl's "Boy" for a fascinating glimpse.
- duskwuff 2y ago
  As well as a reminder that, at the time (~1930), it was really just a form of extended and unusually cruel hazing.
isoprophlex 2y ago
Something happened around 7:00-7:15, of that we can be sure.
KineticLensman 2y ago
'mandatory milk' Many primary schools in the UK in the 1960s/1970s would have had 'milk monitors' - pupils whose job was to help distribute small servings of milk to their classmates. The milk distribution was an attempt to offset child malnutrition. The role continues to evoke strong feelings today. The Brit ex prime minister Rishi Sunak was described as a 'jumped up milk monitor' and when (in the 1970s) Margaret Thatcher as education secretary (minister) cancelled the school milk programme, she was reviled as 'Thatcher Thatcher Milk Snatcher'.
- Symbiote 2y ago
  I was "computer monitor" (no pun!) for a year in the 1990s, when I was about 10. I can't really remember the timing, but perhaps in the first half hour before lessons had started I would go to the classrooms of the 5-8 year olds, and if the teacher wanted I'd switch on the classroom computer and load the required program. (Maybe a different child did the 9-11 year olds' classrooms?)
TRiG_Ireland 2y ago
I found it fairly transparent, maybe because I've read more than one novel in that setting.

I find it fascinating that I don’t understand a sentence of this.

by ahoka 2y ago

I find it fascinating that I don’t understand a sentence of this.

In this case 'fag' seems to follow the definition: an English public-school boy who acts as servant to an older schoolmate https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fag https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fag

hallway_monitor 2y ago
It’s listed on that page as a synonym for toil or drudgery. So basically a chore is a fag. It seems like the definition you mention is likely the origin of today’s gay pejorative.
- pessimizer 2y ago
  It's the same definition. A servant is a person who toils. This is a discussion about English public schools.
- xanderlewis 2y ago
  See also: ‘can’t be fagged’.

zinckiwi 2y ago

Recommend Roald Dahl's "Boy" for a fascinating glimpse.

duskwuff 2y ago
As well as a reminder that, at the time (~1930), it was really just a form of extended and unusually cruel hazing.

isoprophlex 2y ago

Something happened around 7:00-7:15, of that we can be sure.

KineticLensman 2y ago

'mandatory milk' Many primary schools in the UK in the 1960s/1970s would have had 'milk monitors' - pupils whose job was to help distribute small servings of milk to their classmates. The milk distribution was an attempt to offset child malnutrition. The role continues to evoke strong feelings today. The Brit ex prime minister Rishi Sunak was described as a 'jumped up milk monitor' and when (in the 1970s) Margaret Thatcher as education secretary (minister) cancelled the school milk programme, she was reviled as 'Thatcher Thatcher Milk Snatcher'.

Symbiote 2y ago
I was "computer monitor" (no pun!) for a year in the 1990s, when I was about 10. I can't really remember the timing, but perhaps in the first half hour before lessons had started I would go to the classrooms of the 5-8 year olds, and if the teacher wanted I'd switch on the classroom computer and load the required program. (Maybe a different child did the 9-11 year olds' classrooms?)

TRiG_Ireland 2y ago

I found it fairly transparent, maybe because I've read more than one novel in that setting.