I appreciate that the era and place where you were born and raised, may mean that some of my vocabulary and phrases are alien to you, so, here’s a little dictionary to help you along.
Preface
Jelly Tots: Little round pieces of fruit-flavoured candy made out of gelatine. Made specifically for young children, but I’ve spotted many an adult covertly popping one into their mouth.
Toddler Years: Giving in to Fear
Cadbury’s Crème Eggs: A chocolate in the shape and size of a chicken egg, Inside the hollow shape is a mass of thick, white, sticky, vanilla flavoured cream with a yellow centre of the same substance; designed to look like the yoke and albumen of a real egg. Sickly sweet, but delicious.
Pogo stick: Google definition: A toy for jumping about on, consisting of a long, spring-loaded pole with a handle at the top and rests for a person’s feet near the bottom.
I still want one.
Space hopper: Google definition: A toy for sitting on and bouncing around, consisting of a large orange (mine was yellow) ball made from rubber and having flexible projections at the top to hold on to.
Those, flexible projections, were not projected enough and my fists would often slide off them as they became sweaty. Hence the broken vases and bruises.
Katie Kopycat Doll: She was amazing! This doll sat at the opposite end of a table to yourself with a pen and paper and copied everything you wrote down. I still don’t know how she did it.
Primary Years: Quality Time
Kit Kat: A delicious chocolate bar with three thin layers of wafer in the middle. Originally packaged as four sticks, but owing to public obesity fear, they are now mostly sold in twos. For the sake of nostalgia, I tend to stick to the original four-stick consumption policy.
Tweens: Power Tools
Bible verse: Philippians 2:9-10 NLT
Tweens: The Mystery of the Disappearing Boy
TARDIS: Stands for: ‘Time and Relative Dimensions in Space’. (As if you care – I don’t either.) A science fiction time-travel machine from UK Sci-Fi drama, Dr. Who. It is a long, narrow black object, similar to an old, English phone box, yet upon entering, it was magically ten times the size inside. It had the power to disappear into thin air and resurface elsewhere.
Heelys: a sports shoe that looks like a trainer, but has one or more wheels embedded in each sole, so that the wearer can skate at considerable speed along the pavement, by placing their weight onto their heels.
Tweens: Swollen Rivers
Wee Willie Winkie: A character from a Scottish nursery rhyme who had annoying nocturnal habits similar to those of The Sandman.
Tweens: Remember Charlie?
Ska music: This originated in the 1950’s, but the SKA music of the early 80’s were mostly bands that consisted of young white boys who sang like they were bored and had a little bit of reggae infused in their tones. The most popular ones in the early 80’s were: The Specials, The Selecter, The Beat, Madness and Bad Manners. SKA actually stands for Skills, Knowledge & Ability, which when you listen to any of their songs, you may consider all three adjectives to be debatable.
Suggs: The lead singer of 80’s pop group, Madness.
Ali Campbell: The lead singer of white-reggae group, UB40 and the only person I know who can sing while chewing gum at the same time.
Bicycle shed: An outbuilding where pupils can safely store their bikes. More often used for clandestine kisses and a puff on a cigarette.
New Romantics: A type of music culture most dominant in the 1980’s although it began in the 70’s as it has its roots in Punk Rock. The music is characterised by the use of synthesized keyboards which were programmed to mimic the sound of conventional musical instruments. The hairstyles were typically long fringes draping diagonally across one eye. Men had pale faces owing to make-up and they often wore eyeliner and lipstick. The clothes consisted of, smart trousers that were exceptionally baggy on the thigh, frilly long-sleeve shirts and also, smart suits with oversized shoulders. The female artists wore a variety of brightly coloured baggy clothing and typically had permed or spiky hair, no matter the length.
Hungry Like the Wolf: A hit by New Romantic band, Duran Duran.
Don’t You Want Me?: A hit by New Romantic band, The Human League.
Vienna: A hit by New Romantic band, Ultravox.
Red, Red, Wine: One of UB40’s most popular songs.
Heart and Soul: An 80’s song by pop group T’Pau. Carol Decker was the lead singer.
Jezebel an evil queen from the bible days who was manipulative if she didn’t get her own way. One day a man was approaching her about a serious matter, from which she knew she may not survive, so she dabbed kohl eyeliner onto her eyes in the hope that her beauty might dissuade him from punishing her.
Teenage Years: Victory Over Victor
Capital Radio: A regional radio station located in London.
Blondie: An 80’s pop group lead by singer Debbie Harry. She was very blonde.
‘Be anxious for nothing’ bible verse: Taken from Philippians 4:16 – Amplified Version
Sex Pistols: An English Punk Rock band from the 70’s, whose lyrics were so obscene that they were banned from being played on the radio. They encouraged rebellion and revelled in stirring up a spirit of anarchy amongst their avid followers.
Cockney: An east London accent, commonly associated with those from a working-class (low-class) background.
Various chapters
The Holy Spirit…is not some freaky, religious ghoul, peering at us through two holes in a white sheet. Jesus is physically in Heaven and the Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus on earth. Don’t get too hung up about it. Like water, steam and ice, God is three persons in one, but with different roles. Ice is still water, but in a different form and one of its main functions is to preserve and cool. Water helps things to grow, cleans things and quenches thirst. Steam releases creases, opens pores, sterilises and cooks in a way that preserves vitamins.
Likewise, Jesus was the one who physically died on the cross for our sins and God, who remains in Heaven, is the one who sent him down to earth to pay the penalty for our sins. The Holy Spirit is most commonly known as, The Comforter. Both him and Jesus were with God when he created the universe.
