[TR] Commission plate (and then no more)

[John Macartney <johnbmacartney@gmx.com>]

Iâ??ve had one or two off-list queries seeking clarification of â??â??avin a 
Jimmyâ??.
Itâ??s Cockney rhyming slang that was commonplace in our armed services in 
which the second (unspoken) word rhymes with the actual explaining word. In 
Cockney you only use the first word to convey the point. For the cognoscenti 
among us, a Jimmy Riddle means having a piddle, or â??taking a leakâ??.
Similarly, â??climbingâ?? me apples at â??omeâ?? is â??apples and pearsâ?? = 
stairs - and far too many others of that ilk.
If any of you should ever be in London, every taxi driver knows of a pub near 
the former docks in the East End called The Prospect of Whitby. Itâ??s been 
there for decades and was where all the former dock workers would go at any 
time of the day or night. Itâ??s a tough place, though perfectly safe and you 
truly wonâ??t get yourself knifed or shot at because knives and guns here are 
heavily policed and neither is available to buy anywhere. Last time I was 
there, I saw a sign over the beer-soaked bar top that said, 
â??DONT DROP YOUR OILIES ON THE RORY!!! In true Cockney the full saying would 
be â??Donâ??t drop your oily rags on the Rory Oâ??Mooreâ?? in which rags means 
fags (our term for cigarettes) while Oâ??Moore rhymes with floor - I.e. no 
cigarette butts on the floor. Many are curious how this patois evolved over the 
years and for me, the most credible explanation is this. The now former large 
jail in London was called Newgate and in the 18th and 19th centuries, many 
dockers and other neâ??er-do-wells created this second language so prisoners 
due for hanging or long term incarceration would talk this slang to confuse 
their guards.
To get back on Triumph topic, most of you will be pleased to know the cars you 
own, drive and enjoy weâ??re known by all at all the Coventry factories as 
â??cackersâ??. If you write with your left hand (like me) youâ??re described as 
â??cack-handedâ?? - ergo all left hand steer cars soon became described as 
cackers.
I can think of a few other Cockney terms to describe this bloody iPad crap 
Iâ??ve been given some years back! Iâ??ve turned off predictive texting but 
itâ??s clear the good people at Apple still want to correct what I write in 
British English, while the junk from Samsung I used to use got thrown at a 
brick wall in a blind fury for the same reason.
Anyone do tablets running Linux or BSD that do as instructed without demur?

Jonmac

> On 9 Jan 2026, at 19:00, triumphs-request@autox.team.net wrote:
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>   1. free TR3 parts-cars (2) (David P)
>   2. Re: Commission plate (Joel Justin)
>   3. Re: Triumphs Digest, Vol 19, Issue 6.   Now TR3 Glove Box in
>      ABS Plastic.  AVAILABLE NOW. (JOSEPH ALEXANDER)
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