Wordie: Hooligan: Comments

Comment by Goatboy, 7 months ago

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 03:12:31 +0000

The term "hooligan" has a disputed derivation, but it is generally accepted to have begun to appear in London police reports in 1898 in relation to violent street gangs.

Writer, Clarence Rook (1862-1915) wrote a book entitled The Hooligan Nights which was about a young criminal’s story told in his own words.

In this account, Rook wrote: “There was but a few years ago, a man called Patrick Hooligan, who walked to and fro among his fellow men, robbing and occasionally bashing them.”

Comment by reesetee, 7 months ago

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:47:57 +0000

Haha! Oily birds aren't quite as funny, of course. :-(

Comment by Asativum, 7 months ago

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:07:56 +0000

Well, like they say: The oily fish gets the worm.

Comment by reesetee, 7 months ago

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:43:49 +0000

Wow. That must be one oily fish.

Comment by Asativum, 7 months ago

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:31:52 +0000

Also a colloquial name for the mighty eulachon, or Thaleichthys pacificus, an anadromous smelt of the north Pacific. It is also called the candlefish because, as Wikipedia tells us, "if caught, dried, and strung on a wick, it can be burned as a candle."

I can only imagine how that was discovered.