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Grassing up the neighbours

Posted: September 14th, 2020, 4:38 pm
by brightncheerful
From and including today, we are encouraged to report the neighbour(s) if they're observed to be in breach of the "Rule of six"

Imagine you're selling your house and amongst the buyer's enquiries is whether you are in or aware of any dispute with the neighbour(s).

i wonder how well the answer "yes, with everyone in the street" would go down with the buyer. :D

Re: Grassing up the neighbours

Posted: September 14th, 2020, 5:31 pm
by UncleEbenezer
My house is one of five in the row. Two of them are rented: no question of a sale to be affected should they choose to grass me up. And I've no reason to suppose either of the others want to move in the foreseeable.

Not that I have any expectation of having large numbers in here. Can't recollect when I last had more than four at any one time.
i wonder how well the answer "yes, with everyone in the street" would go down with the buyer. :D

Friend of mine tells of his new neighbours' immediate enthusiasm: Great to have you here: you're not [...]. :D

Re: Grassing up the neighbours

Posted: September 14th, 2020, 6:04 pm
by terminal7
Great to have you here: you're not . . .


Mark Francois?

T7

Re: Grassing up the neighbours

Posted: September 14th, 2020, 9:04 pm
by Mike4
Swerving off topic (perhaps), what is the origin of the term "grassing up"?

It sounds to me like cockney rhyming slang, but for what?!

Re: Grassing up the neighbours

Posted: September 14th, 2020, 9:46 pm
by swill453
Mike4 wrote:Swerving off topic (perhaps), what is the origin of the term "grassing up"?

"Snake in the grass", ostensibly.

Scott.

Re: Grassing up the neighbours

Posted: September 14th, 2020, 9:54 pm
by zico
'Grassing up' was originally a term used by criminals to refer to other criminals informing on them. Understandably, the criminals were peeved at this, 'honour among thieves' and all that. I've never understood though why it should be applied to non-criminals. If I see a child knocked down by a hit-and-run driver, why should I be called a 'grass' if I report the number plate and driver description to the police? Or does 'grassing' only apply to 'nice' crimes like ignoring public safety rules in a pandemic?

Re: Grassing up the neighbours

Posted: September 14th, 2020, 11:42 pm
by UncleEbenezer
zico wrote:'Grassing up' was originally a term used by criminals to refer to other criminals informing on them. Understandably, the criminals were peeved at this, 'honour among thieves' and all that. I've never understood though why it should be applied to non-criminals. If I see a child knocked down by a hit-and-run driver, why should I be called a 'grass' if I report the number plate and driver description to the police? Or does 'grassing' only apply to 'nice' crimes like ignoring public safety rules in a pandemic?


If you witness a serious crime and report it to the police, you're doing your civic duty. I expect you make your own judgement on what crime is so serious as to merit the effort of reporting, and perhaps (if the occasion were to arise) the risk to yourself and your family in reporting it.

Entirely different: a government actively urging people to report on a particular activity - and very far from a serious crime, with lower risk than the motoring offences many adults routinely get away with. And by implication, seeking to convey an Orwellian expectation of surveillance to the people. Instill fear of the Special State Police.

I've just had my espresso, and I'm reminded of the battle over coffee in the European Enlightenment, when it was often central to people getting together and discussing dangerous ideas such as liberty. The Gestapo or the Stasi may have instilled fear, but even those didn't go so far as to ban getting together in your choice of setting - that hasn't happened since the battle for coffee was won!

Re: Grassing up the neighbours

Posted: September 15th, 2020, 8:26 am
by didds
Meh. My neighbours are a farm on one side and a B&B about 100m+ away, then the next property is across the road and 150m away.

I'd need a tall ladder and binoculars to see what any of them are doing at the barest minimum, or a surveillance drone.

And ditto in reverse.

We're all having raves this weekend I suspect.

didds

Re: Grassing up the neighbours

Posted: September 15th, 2020, 8:44 am
by bungeejumper
UncleEbenezer wrote:I've just had my espresso, and I'm reminded of the battle over coffee in the European Enlightenment, when it was often central to people getting together and discussing dangerous ideas such as liberty. The Gestapo or the Stasi may have instilled fear, but even those didn't go so far as to ban getting together in your choice of setting - that hasn't happened since the battle for coffee was won!

It used to be reckoned that one in six East Germans was working for the Stasi. And that the quickest way to get a promotion was to grass up your neighbours - or for children, to denounce your parents if you wanted an exam pass or a Young Pioneers badge.

The question you'd have to ask these days is whether the neighbours would ever find out that it was you that had told on them? After all, a brick through the window may cause offence. So who'd be in charge of keeping the encrypted records? Dido Harding, probably. https://twitter.com/bbckamal/status/657 ... 96?lang=en :(

BJ

Re: Grassing up the neighbours

Posted: September 15th, 2020, 9:40 am
by brightncheerful
I'd need a tall ladder and binoculars to see what any of them are doing at the barest minimum, or a surveillance drone.


So having tried a short ladder and no binoculars, that's your conclusion? :D

Re: Grassing up the neighbours

Posted: September 15th, 2020, 9:46 am
by bungeejumper
zico wrote:'Grassing up' was originally a term used by criminals to refer to other criminals informing on them. Understandably, the criminals were peeved at this, 'honour among thieves' and all that.

The term first came to my attention during the 1970s, in the context of Northern Irish supergrasses. But not before some of my university friends had asked where they could buy some of this legendary stuff? :D

BJ

Re: Grassing up the neighbours

Posted: September 15th, 2020, 3:47 pm
by didds
bungeejumper wrote:The term first came to my attention during the 1970s, in the context of Northern Irish supergrasses. But not before some of my university friends had asked where they could buy some of this legendary stuff? :D

BJ



https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090102/

Re: Grassing up the neighbours

Posted: September 15th, 2020, 5:45 pm
by brightncheerful
I read that the Home Secretary (apt description under the circumstances, Priti Patel would report her neighbours if they broke the rules.

Even if i were so minded, I think it's too late for me to report the neighbours. None have held informal street gatherings since the lockdown ended. Not daring enough any more; either that or the evenings are drawing in and apart from the past few days of above average temperature for this time of the year not warm enough.

Re: Grassing up the neighbours

Posted: September 15th, 2020, 5:51 pm
by swill453
brightncheerful wrote:I read that the Home Secretary (apt description under the circumstances, Priti Patel would report her neighbours if they broke the rules.

I wonder where she draws the line? What if she spotted any breaches of international law?

Scott.

Re: Grassing up the neighbours

Posted: September 15th, 2020, 6:59 pm
by UncleEbenezer
swill453 wrote:
brightncheerful wrote:I read that the Home Secretary (apt description under the circumstances, Priti Patel would report her neighbours if they broke the rules.

I wonder where she draws the line? What if she spotted any breaches of international law?

Scott.

Demarcation, innit?

She's home secretary. International law is someone else's turf.

By extension, those of us who aren't home secretary can treat our neighbours with a live-and-let-live attitude.