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As an American I rely on certain comic strips to keep me up to date on the state of the Commonwealth (such as it is anymore): âAndy Cappâ for Brit-land, âFor Better or for Worseâ for O-Canada, and âGinger Meggsâ for Down Under.
One of the things Iâve learned from Ginger is that âgingerâ is a common Brit-and-related-lands word for redheads, a usage so unknown in America that it doesnât appear in two popular American dictionaries I checked.
I was grateful to have learned this or else I would have been confused when a news interview I saw just yesterday had Prince-and-Probable-Future-King William refer to his brother Prince-and-Also-Ran Harry as a âgingerâ.
(Iâm hoping Queen Liz outlives Charles so we can skip the boring bloke. Assuming sheâll have the late Queen Mumâs longevity and Charles gets the short-gevity of her royal father, she will.)
Thanks for the info on Princes William & Harry. I didnât remember which one was the eldest, and therefore most likely to become king. I agree, I would hope England could skip having Charles as king.
Yep, the term Gingerâs been around longer than Australiaâs been colonized.
Itâs a pretty obvious connection; people with ginger coloured hair being called a Ginger, but I can see how it wouldnât be as plainly understood in the US if itâs not a term of common usage. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ginger)
That said, Iâve just spent the last month in the Unites States, and every single person I mentioned Ginger Meggs to, cartoonist and non-cartoonist alike understood the âginger/red-headâ connection. Perhaps itâs just New York/Los Angeles thing.
Good to keep tabs on how the stripâs translating; please keep posting your thoughts as theyâre all extremely valuable and, as always, thanks for reading :)
(As an interesting historical fact on the strip as an addendum to the comment above:)
Ginger was actually named Ginger Smith back when he first appeared in 1921. He wasnât named Ginger Meggs until he was made the main character of the strip later in the 20âs. The strip was in black and white, so his hair had no colour; (and no grey or black.)
When it came time to run the strip in colour, the creator, Jimmy Bancks, was given the option of three colours for press to colour Gingerâs hair; Yellow, Blue or Red.
He chose red, and thus Ginger became a red-head! Had he chosen yellow, I suspect the parallels with Dennis the Menace may have seen the strip become less popular than it is today.
As a result, for generations any Aussie kid was given the nickname âMeggsieâ or âGingeâ when they were growing up. Many fans have emailed to tell me the nickname has stuck through adulthood.
i_am_the_jam over 15 years ago
Odd, I thought they all wereâŠ
IncredibleWerekitty over 15 years ago
-_- Of course they all were, because the setting is usually done manually.
pschearer Premium Member over 15 years ago
As an American I rely on certain comic strips to keep me up to date on the state of the Commonwealth (such as it is anymore): âAndy Cappâ for Brit-land, âFor Better or for Worseâ for O-Canada, and âGinger Meggsâ for Down Under.
One of the things Iâve learned from Ginger is that âgingerâ is a common Brit-and-related-lands word for redheads, a usage so unknown in America that it doesnât appear in two popular American dictionaries I checked.
I was grateful to have learned this or else I would have been confused when a news interview I saw just yesterday had Prince-and-Probable-Future-King William refer to his brother Prince-and-Also-Ran Harry as a âgingerâ.
(Iâm hoping Queen Liz outlives Charles so we can skip the boring bloke. Assuming sheâll have the late Queen Mumâs longevity and Charles gets the short-gevity of her royal father, she will.)
Smiley Rmom over 15 years ago
Thanks for the info on Princes William & Harry. I didnât remember which one was the eldest, and therefore most likely to become king. I agree, I would hope England could skip having Charles as king.
Ginger Meggs over 15 years ago
Yep, the term Gingerâs been around longer than Australiaâs been colonized.
Itâs a pretty obvious connection; people with ginger coloured hair being called a Ginger, but I can see how it wouldnât be as plainly understood in the US if itâs not a term of common usage. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ginger)
That said, Iâve just spent the last month in the Unites States, and every single person I mentioned Ginger Meggs to, cartoonist and non-cartoonist alike understood the âginger/red-headâ connection. Perhaps itâs just New York/Los Angeles thing.
Good to keep tabs on how the stripâs translating; please keep posting your thoughts as theyâre all extremely valuable and, as always, thanks for reading :)
Ginger Meggs over 15 years ago
(As an interesting historical fact on the strip as an addendum to the comment above:)
Ginger was actually named Ginger Smith back when he first appeared in 1921. He wasnât named Ginger Meggs until he was made the main character of the strip later in the 20âs. The strip was in black and white, so his hair had no colour; (and no grey or black.)
When it came time to run the strip in colour, the creator, Jimmy Bancks, was given the option of three colours for press to colour Gingerâs hair; Yellow, Blue or Red.
He chose red, and thus Ginger became a red-head! Had he chosen yellow, I suspect the parallels with Dennis the Menace may have seen the strip become less popular than it is today.
As a result, for generations any Aussie kid was given the nickname âMeggsieâ or âGingeâ when they were growing up. Many fans have emailed to tell me the nickname has stuck through adulthood.
Thanks for reading.