Tuesday, July 24, 2007

English word of the week: bowser

Bowsers are being deployed in parts of flooded England. A bowser is, apparently, a water tanker, though it's not a word I can honestly say I have ever heard in polite conversation.

If pushed, I'd have assumed that a bowser was either a breed of dog, or something to do with Web 3.0 ("a wreb bowser").

Of course, given the flooding, there's plenty of water on the ground - it's just not drinkable. So they have to ferry (ha!) the clean stuff in.

Though the flooding has (briefly) troubled parts of London, it won't become real until there are salmon swimming in Bank Underground Station and old ladies being rescued from the roof of Television Centre.

I wish it would snow.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bowser is the Australian word for petrol pumps

Anonymous said...

Echoed in The Guardian newsblog.