Читать книгу Lost Voices of the Edwardians: 1901–1910 in Their Own Words - Max Arthur, Max Arthur - Страница 157

In the streets, certain unwritten laws applied. Alone you could walk through someone else's territory without coming to too much harm. A few taunts and insults and the occasional stone might be thrown at you but you were rarely assaulted. But for a group of you to do so amounted to an invasion, and an opposing army would rapidly be formed. For a real street fight, a declaration of war would be made, and armed with broom handles and sticks, not to mention a pocket full of cobbles, the invader would advance slowly, chanting insults. ‘Go home, your father wants his boots!’, ‘Get your hair cut!’ or if names were known, little jingles like ‘John, John, put your trousers on!’ Except among a very few, certain words used freely today were taboo. ‘Bleeding’ was acceptable, as were ‘sod’ and ‘bugger’.