Here are a few notes – by no means conclusive – from Mr Key’s American sojourn. Further bulletins may follow.
I met a fanatical devotee of Jethro Tull, with whom I shared observations about the first four or five LPs and the apparel worn by the flautist Anderson in the early days.
I am minded to note that what British people call a “flannel” and Americans call a “washcloth” has always been known in my family as a “facecloth”. This is possibly due to a transliteration by my Flemish-speaking Ma. It has been decreed that henceforth the social networking application Facebook will be referred to as Facecloth. All Hooting Yard readers and listeners are expected to adopt the new term exclusively and with immediate effect.
I met a couple who have a pet eel named Peaches. Sadly, I did not meet Peaches The Eel herself. (Himself? Itself?)
I believe ‘face cloth’ is in common use in the UK. I suspect ‘Peaches’ is not…
I wonder whether eels are very reciprocal? Can one build a relationship of mutual trust and affection? I fear not.
It was always a facecloth with my family, Yorkshire born and bred. A flannel was something for soft southerners.
Facecloth..?
Corner of a hankie covered in mumspit helped give me the cherubic complexion I still retain to this day…
O.S.M.
A bunch of Afrikaners in South Africa calls it “Vleisbroek” (with your Flemish background you might figure it out). It literally means “Meat pants”, but somehow it became general to call FB that due to the fact that the sounds are similar.