It could only happen in Southend:
In a letter to the Echo published last month, Lib Dem councillor Ric Morgan said he had been working on the seafront during the airshow when the “nobs” were having lunch at the Cliffs Pavilion. Southend mayor, Lib Dem councillor Brian Smith, was one of only three people at the lunch on bank holiday Monday, even though the council had pre-booked and paid for 60 places.
Shoebury Conservatives accused Mr Morgan of bringing the office of mayor into disrepute and demanded an apology. However, Mr Morgan has stood by his comments and urged his opponents to check the dictionary definition of the word. …
Mr Morgan, councillor for Prittlewell, said he stood by his comments and had not meant any offence by his use of the word nob. He said: “Councillor Jarvis should check his dictionary. The term nob is an old fashioned term for a socially exalted person.”
Luckily for Mr Morgan, the mayor took the remark in the spirit in which it was intended. Mr Smith said: “I took it as a compliment. It is my understanding a nob is someone who is a well respected member of the establishment. It’s quite an achievement.”
The Collins English Dictionary defines the noun nob as British sland [sic] which means a person of weath [sic] or social distinction.
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7 Comments
My favourite part of this story is that Cllr Morgan’s first name is Richard…
Surely, “nob” is short for “nobility”.
Now, if he had called him a “knob” …
I think it would be quite funny if more public figures swore prolifically.
Imagine Brown issuing a statement calling his critics ****s, ****heads, etc. It would be funny, but admittedly would get boring after a while. Maybe every so often on a random basis.
I’m glad to see that Collins has the same high standards as the rest of the Murdoch empire.
They’re expensive though, and then you add on the price of the Power Klaws and Big Choppas, their Battlewagon escort and…
Wait. Wrong website.
Glad to see we are appealing to voters across the social spectrum…
Dictionaries do not define words – they give their common usage.