"works a treat"

[dc20]

worked a treat" kinda bugs me when people on the forums use it, since it means nothing to me and also sounds silly to me. I think "worked great" would be more effective in relating to an international crowd that one's suggestion was helpful.

Is "worked a treat" the opposite of "played a trick" ?

 

[KenCunningham]

'worked a treat' seems OK to me, but as you say it may be a little coloquial for some of the readership. Essentially, it just like 'worked like a charm' which is another phrase often used. Oddly, both are not usually partnered by a purple star for some reason ;-)

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Purple stars are nice ... but I've yet to find a store which will trade them for goods.

& all the best.

 

[dc20]

Ken,

At least I can understand what a charm does, I'm not sure what a treat does.
It also isn't phrased as "worked like a treat". That, for me would almost be ok, since as you indicate, I could mentally replace treat with charm. I'll take the purple stars though.

 

[SilentAiche]

Y'all,

I may not be the brightest bulb in the chandelier (heck, I should aspire to even be a socket), but "works a treat" seems to me a simple phrase equivalent to "works like a charm." It strikes me as one of those Briticisms that we Americans find a bit odd. But, given the USA's youth among nations, should we even speak of our elders' grammar?

I think knot.

THanks,
Tim

 

[SteveGlo]

SilentAiche

You'll be hiding your light under a bushel next!



Ancient Briton

 

[columb]

dc20's original post highlights the danges of colloquialisms. I, as a Brit, know and understand it. Others, dc20 in particular, have not been brought up with it and find its poor grammar annoying. I spent some time working across the USA and discovered only too well that phrases I thought were common usage were merely British common usage and unknown to the people I met. We all know about pavement/sidewalk type differences but how many non Brits knew what the full monty meant before the hit film?

On another note, whereas I'm quite happy with works a treat in the chatty Tec-Tips forums I'd never use it in formal writing.

Columb Healy

 

[KenCunningham]

Columb's right. However, those who think the Full Monty refers only to the art of hiding anatomical details behind balloons might be interested in:

http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/articles/full-monty.htm

 

[tsdragon]

Purple stars are nice ... but I've yet to find a store which will trade them for goods.

Maybe we need to talk to D&D about that. After all, they DO have a store.


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Sorry, who are/is D&D? What store?

& all the best.

 

[SantaMufasa]

CorBlimey,

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[strongm]

>how many non Brits knew what the full monty meant before the hit film?


What do people think it means, then?

 

[Dimandja]

I still don't know what "full monty" means.

__________________________________________
Try forum1391 for lively discussions

 

[ToniL]

Neither do I... I slept through the movie...

Peace,
Toni L.

 

[columb]

The full monty derives from Field Marshall Montgomerie's habit of always having a full english breakfast. His troops, who held him in high regard, started calling this breakfast the full monty and from there it spread to mean the whole kit and caboodle or the full nine yards.

I know where the the full nine yards comes from. Another military one refering to the length of the shell ribbons used during WW II. Does anyone know the whole kit and caboodle? Or is this drifting too far off topic?

Columb Healy

 

[strongm]

>derives from Field Marshall Montgomerie's habit of always having a full english breakfast

Hmm, there's a fair amount of disagreement that this is the source. Here's a list of the more common alternative sources (but no-one knows definitively):

a corruption of “the full amount”;
a reference to bales full of wool imported from Montevideo;
from a TV commercial for Del Monte fruit juice, in which one of the characters insisted on the full Del Monte;
gamblers’ jargon meaning the kitty or pot, deriving from the old US card game called monte;
the casino at Monte Carlo, in which the full monty would equate with breaking the bank;
Field Marshal Montgomery on parade with all his medals;
from Field Marshal Montgomery’s liking for a good breakfast in the morning;
being supplied by the British tailors Montague Burton with a three-piece suit; or
being provided with a complete wedding outfit from the same firm.


However, the point of my question is that I believe that many American's, being unfamiliar with the phrase before the film of that name arrived, are under the erroneous impression that it means being completely naked...

 

[SF0751]

According to World Wide Words, the meaning of "the whole nine yards" is in doubt, while "the whole kit and caboodle" boils down to everything that one has - equipment and personal possessions.

Since I had never heard of "the full monty" before the movie was release in America, I always thought it meant being stripping down to complete nudity.

Susan
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." - Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894)

 

[elanor]

Hmmm...seems to me that some of you need to watch more BBC programming on public television!
Thanks!
Elanor

 

[BillyRayPreachersSon]

At the risk of having to give an explanation to non-Brits, I'll go ahead and recount a story my Dad told me as a child (yes - he really did tell me this!).

He used to work as a vacuum pump engineer in a company that made light bulbs, and was one of the company first-aiders, so I had no reason to doubt the story. Needless to say, I thought it was quite hilarious.

He was called to the first-aid room one day, to be greeted by a man with a peanut stuck in his ear.

He tried everything, from removing it with tweezers, to tipping the poor guys head to one side and j-j-jiggling it a bit.

After much frustration, and a sore head on the part of the 'victim', he called another first-aider to ask what to do. The second first-aider immediately sprung into action.

He melted a bar of chocolate, let it cool down a bit, and then poured it into the guys ear.

Of course, at this stage in the story (being the interested child that I was), I naively asked "what happened then?"... To which the asnwer came back:

"Well... It came out a treat".

Of course, as soon as he'd told it, I realised that it clearly wasn't a true story, but very funny anyway.

Dan


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