26 new 10 pence coins are to be issued, representing something that makes Britain great for each letter of the alphabet. I like a lot of them, though ‘ice cream’ is a bit of a stretch and I admit I don’t really understand ‘X marks the spot’.
Wisely they have steered clear of popular culture, with the exception of B for James Bond. That needn’t be a constraint on us though. What are the A-Z, distinctly British things we should celebrate around here? I expect music to dominate but don’t let that stop you suggesting ‘C for Coronation Street’ or whatever if you so wish.
I suggest surnames for nominated individual’s letters. This follows the ‘B for Bond’ rule established by the Royal Mint and allows ‘T for Thompson, Richard’ as well as ‘R for ‘Rolling Stones, The’ who, along with the B coin, I assume to be a shoo in.
http://www.cityam.com/281484/royal-mints-26-new-10p-coin-designs-z-why-britain-great-
NigelT says
Be should have been Beatles for a start…!
Gatz says
And in our corner of the net it can be!
Kaisfatdad says
C is curmudgeon. Where would the UK or the AW be without them…
“A grumpy old man meaner than a codger or a geezer.”
Such a tonic. There’s nothing fake about them.
Mike_H says
A not-quite-remembered quote from F. Zappa. Goes something like:
“I have been called a misanthrope. I prefer curmudgeon. Misanthrope sounds like you’d have to pass an exam to be one.”
retropath2 says
A for Afterword? It is why we’re here.
Moose the Mooche says
A is for Albums. This is what people should say instead of “vinyls”.
GCU Grey Area says
A for ‘Orses, surely?
C for *coat*. . .
Gary says
C for Chalmers, Judith
paulwright says
A for Aspidistra
Gatz says
We have our first disagreement. A gentlemanly discussion and compromise or duelling with rolled up vintage editions of the NME at dawn?
Moose the Mooche says
W is for Where is Beatles Band?
Answer: here, usually.
fentonsteve says
F is for flounce.
R is for The Scottish Band, surely?
Gatz says
It’s a brave man who suggests they outrank the Stones, even on here.
fentonsteve says
I was thinking more Afterword-specific, rather than general pop culture.
I is for Innuendo, as practised by Mini, Moosey and me.
Moose the Mooche says
Los Trios Pervertos!
(cue Tijuana tootling)
Mike_H says
If F is for Flounce, then B must be for Back Again. And Beatles Band.
No reason we can’t have more than one definition per letter.
Gatz says
I’ll be the judge of that! The more suggestions the better of course, but I have no idea how we make the final selection for each.
Mike_H says
It’s your thread, but whittling down to a maximum of 3 per letter would not be terrible.
fentonsteve says
And Bricameron.
D is for Disappointment Choir/Bob.
W is for Whither?
bungliemutt says
J is for Jingle Jangle, sugah.
Moose the Mooche says
Way-hell, ah do declare!
moseleymoles says
Rimple Minds?
Raztec Camera?
Rig Country?
Rorange Juice?
Rimal Scream?
Ray City Rollers?
Rozef K?
The Rire Engines?
Riffy Clyro?
No give up @fentonsteve
davebigpicture says
You are Scooby Doo and I claim my Scooby Snack.
Moose the Mooche says
Get gack in the gox!
duco01 says
I was rather hoping that R would be Rafferty, Gerry.
Mike_H says
Yes of course Gerry should be under R.
S is for Stones.
Ahh_Bisto says
T is for TMFTL
Lando Cakes says
Y is for Yes, The.
Moose the Mooche says
H is for hurrrrrrrrrrr.
Even if I am blowing my own trumpet. (Hur)
PS. I suspect X Marks the Spot will be the very gine song by Michael Head and the Strands. The L coin commemorates Lend’s Some Dough as well, rather appropriately.
Moose the Mooche says
F for fine.
I’m writing this on a phone, hope you like my new direction.
SteveT says
Off the top of my head and without reading the list here goes:-
A is for Aristocracy. Ours has a special place in the World.
B is for Bumble Bees – lots of countries have Bees, We have Bumble Bees.
C is for Cake. Mr Kipling makes exceedingly good ones.
D is for Devon – a wonderful county.
E is Elementary my Dear Watson
F is for Fairport Convention – they took Folk to the masses you know.
G is Golf – we gave it to the World.
H is for Harrods – okay its owned by foreigners but it is British
I is Ipod – originated here
J is for Jingoism. We used to be good at this.
K is for Knowledge. London cabbies have more of this than any other Cabbie.
L is for Love. All you need apparently.
M is for Mersey the river and the beat.
N is for Neanderthals – plenty of them around.
O is for the hole in Polo’s. A British confection.
P is for Pankhurst – did a lot for bringing this country out of the Dark Ages.
Q is for Quintessential. Often used to describe the British
R is for Rover. The car and Roy of the Rovers – the best footballer we ever had.
S is for Something for the Weekend? Were other countries ever as bashful about condoms?
T is for Tea – the cure for all that ails us.
U is for Underground. Our Tube is still the best.
V is for Vulcan. Still scarier than the B52 in my book.
W is for Whippersnapper. What a great British word.
X is for Crossroads – where we are currently at
Y is for Yesterday. All our troubles seemed so far away.
Z is for Z Cars. Best British cop programme.
Moose the Mooche says
There is no way that Leonard Nimoy is scarier than Kate Pierson.
minibreakfast says
“Without reading the list”.
Or indeed the OP. 😊
SteveT says
Non more Afterword than going off at a tangent @minibreakfast.
Arthur Cowslip says
T for Tangent!
minibreakfast says
A is for Arf!
davebigpicture says
I think you’ll find, O is for Mon Repose, letter Os, Os for the gate, Os!
Beezer says
F.U.N.E.X?
S.V.F.X
minibreakfast says
F.U.N.E.M?
Beezer says
S.V.F.M.N.X
Billybob Dylan says
G should be for Gob Iron.
Mike_H says
V is for Van’s Gob Iron (needs sterilising)
dai says
E for The End is Nigh given this amount of naval gazing 😉
Moose the Mooche says
Staring at sailors? Well… it’s those uniforms!
dai says
Oops
Diddley Farquar says
V = vinly
F = fuckwits (in general but particularly those who are all too prevalent at gigs)
L = lists (love them or loathe them)
Lemonhope says
S is for Spotify, or Sufjan 😉
minibreakfast says
B for Blaast, James.
GCU Grey Area says
Aww.
In his honour, T is for ‘The Yes’.
Or, M for ‘Mibbee’.
minibreakfast says
And M for Meringue?
Baron Harkonnen says
`B` has to be for `Bollocks` often spouted around here, by myself included.
Moose the Mooche says
B for bien pensant, surely.
And S for Shirley.
Gatz says
Is no-one going to tackle the ones which get a higher Scrabble score? God forbid we end up with Queen by default.
Jackthebiscuit says
Q is for Quo?
Rigid Digit says
Quiet Riot ?
(perhaps not)
duco01 says
Maybe Q is for Quintessence cover, in honor of the great Pencilsqueezer’s design for the “Spirits From Another Time 1969-1971” CD?
Jackthebiscuit says
Surely X is for XTC?
Sewer Robot says
Re The Royal Mint’s list, shouldn’t “V” have been “Village Green” – you have villages everywhere but the village green seems more quintessentially British..?
davebigpicture says
Here it would be Village Green Preservation Society.
Rigid Digit says
S is for Sham69 – just not enough deep and meaningful discussion about one of the foremost bands of the late 70s
(or should that be: S is for “Shut Up RD”)
Rigid Digit says
W is for Whither (insert name or thing here)
Moose the Mooche says
N is for Numbers.
You can take that as the track by Kraftwerk, the album by Cat Stevens, or the great man himself…
http://web.archive.org/web/20131126054526/https://theafterword.co.uk:80/content/so-long-folks
retropath2 says
In memory of the fallen. Or was he kicked.
N is for Niscum as
I is for Ianess.
B (and H) is/are for,,,,,,,
and
R is for the Void.
Love ’em, hate ’em.
Yup, all that.
chiz says
Lots of lost comrades in that link there, and interestingly a tangent into some mild perving over a lady of some sort, which none of us would think of posting here now. How times change.
The 10th Most Commented in those days had the same number of posts as the 1st Most Commented now. Perhaps N stands for ‘Not so great after all’.
Uncle Wheaty says
W has to be for Waterboys
Moose the Mooche says
L is for lurkers – and Lurkers, The.
Rigid Digit says
which means …
F must be for Fulham Fallout
The production on that album is
amazingvirtually non-existentRigid Digit says
J is for Dyslexics Of The Afterword Unite
(the original working title of Sheila Take A Bow)
Rigid Digit says
Y is for YouTube thread about whatever subject just happens to float through my brain at a given moment
(but will inevitably involve me posting something by Stiff Little Fingers, The Cockney Rejects or Clout)
Uncle Wheaty says
U is for UFO in memory of James Blast who seemed to be the only other fan of the band on here.
hubert rawlinson says
Q for the bogs (at festivals, intervals at concerts etc)
Rigid Digit says
R for Mullard
Moose the Mooche says
P for T-5
Mike_H says
A for TM
B for ye go
C for miles
D for put those earplugs in
E for tit was a good idea at the time
F for fff
G for sss…
Bored now..
Lemonhope says
G is for grammar, Shirley?
retropath2 says
P is for pedant.
Black Type says
As B appears to be taken, D must be for Dame, The.
fentonsteve says
I’ve started reading a book Mrs F bought me for my birthday. It’s about how 70s Bowie & Kraftwerk paved the way for 80s pop. To say the author is quite a fan of The Dame would be an understatement. He refers to Bowie as “He”. It makes reading it strangely difficult.
Moose the Mooche says
Well, using the personal pronoun suggests that DB was human. A bizarre notion.
Black Type says
So Dame, The and Deity it is then.
Chrisf says
Z is for zero – the usual number of comments on threads that I start…..
Gatz says
Hah! If you follow my lead you’ll start a thread which involves us talking about ourselves, reminiscing about the site, celebrating each other, and complaining that we’re all too insular around here. It’s catnip.
Moose the Mooche says
I just made the mistake of starting a thread about music. The idea!
Mike_H says
I say! Steady on old chap!
Don’t want to frighten the horses.