British Terms

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308Mike
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British Terms

Post by 308Mike »

I'm almost done reading Ed Macy's APACHE, and was able to figure out most of the Brit slang and word usage, but this has me stumped. What's a 'Maff'?

The word is being used: "His coffin was draped in a Union flag and decorated with flower arrangements: Son, Brother and Maff."

I've tried the Urban Dictionary, and I don't think he's a British government agency (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) - is it another term for Uncle, or even Father? It's not in the back of the book either, where they have other terms like 'Piss Boy', and 'Sausage Side'.

What I also find interesting is they make a differentiation between CO (Commanding Officer) and OC (Officer Commanding).

Other than figuring out the Brit-speak, it's a GREAT book and I HIGHLY recommend it!

Apache pilot eyes are like human Chameleons:
The TADS monocle sat permanently over a pilot’s right iris, and a dozen different instrument readings from around the cockpit were projected into it. At the flick of a button, a range of other images could also be superimposed underneath the green glow of the instrument symbology, replicating the TADS’ camera images and the Longbow Radars’ targets.

The monocle left the pilot’s left eye free to look outside the cockpit, saving him the few seconds that it took to look down at the instruments, then up again—seconds that could mean the difference between our death and our enemy’s. New pilots suffered terrible headaches as the left and right eye competed for dominance. They started within minutes, long before takeoff. If you admitted to them, the instructor grounded you immediately—so none of us ever did.

As the eyes adjusted over the following weeks and months, the headaches took longer to set in. It was a year before mine disappeared altogether. During a sortie I once filmed my face with a video camera as an experiment. My eyes whirled independently of each other throughout, like a man possessed.
“That’s disgusting,” my wife Emily said when I showed her the tape. “But does it mean you can read two books at once?”

I tried it. I could.
POLITICIANS & DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON

A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.

I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
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Highspeed
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Re: British Terms

Post by Highspeed »

It sounds like a misprint to me Mike, I've never heard a phrase like that.
All my life I been in the dog house
I guess that just where I belong
That just the way the dice roll
Do my dog house song
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Steamforger
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Re: British Terms

Post by Steamforger »

I never knew what it meant either, but the first family pet I can remember was a cat named Maff.

Weird.
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308Mike
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Re: British Terms

Post by 308Mike »

I see in this FaceBook entry, it appears it might be a pet name. At first I thought it might be his initials, but his middle name is Christopher, but his first and last initials are MF, and perhaps it might be a quick and easy reference to Mathew Ford:
We all had a lovely drink for you on your bday maff...Ina came down n joined us n suprised ya mam n dad..miss ya always..xxxx
Happy birthday maff. wish you was here with us all...missing you always..xxxx
So, I no longer think or believe it's just another British term, rather it's something personal to Lance Corporal Mathew Ford. May he rest in peace, & God bless his soul.
POLITICIANS & DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON

A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.

I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
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workinwifdakids
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Re: British Terms

Post by workinwifdakids »

Well, I just asked a friend, who was born and raised in England. She says she hasn't the foggiest notion. Her exact words were, "No idea, mate!"
:D
And may I say, from a moral point of view, I think there can be no justification for shoving snack cakes up your action.
--Weetabix
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ButchS1066
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Re: British Terms

Post by ButchS1066 »

308Mike wrote:So, I no longer think or believe it's just another British term, rather it's something personal to Lance Corporal Mathew Ford. May he rest in peace, & God bless his soul.
Sounds to me like a nickname derived from the way a child might mispronounce Mathew.
Life is short, ammo is expendable. Empty the mag.
Fivetoes
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Re: British Terms

Post by Fivetoes »

From Wikipedia: Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, a former department of UK government, replaced in 2001.
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Rich
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Re: British Terms

Post by Rich »

I would go with the nickname.

Mathew Ford = MAthew FFord = MAFF

Perhaps he had a sister nicknamed MIFFY. </tasteless joke> :roll:
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- paraphrased from several sources

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Jericho941
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Re: British Terms

Post by Jericho941 »

I'm with the nickname crowd, especially given the way a lot of kids (and some adult Brits) pronounce "th." I can definitely see "Matthew" becoming "Maffew" and then just "Maff."
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workinwifdakids
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Re: British Terms

Post by workinwifdakids »

Or Muff.
And may I say, from a moral point of view, I think there can be no justification for shoving snack cakes up your action.
--Weetabix
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