Unfortunately Guy Fawkes Day is not a national holiday in the UK. We do like to burn a good effigy though. Guy Fawkes night is often called bonfire night and the fire is usually accompanied with fireworks (gunpowder, you see). Great fun. Warm clothes and treacle toffee both help to jolly things along.
Dave A:
May 25th, 2010 at 9:51 am
Visiting St. George, Utah, late ’90s, during spring break: I was seated outside an ice cream shop, near a table of four high school girls who were watching other teenagers cruise the strip. Finally, one of the girls said, “C’mon, guys, if we don’t go, we’re not gonna meet any guys!”
admin:
December 5th, 2011 at 3:55 am
Well, maybe not an official national holiday, but bigger than Arbor Day.
Lee Carver:
July 7th, 2014 at 7:55 pm
When was the casual use of “guy” for “man” accepted? Its use in my novel, based in WWII, has been questioned. Would it be appropriate in that time frame?
I AM 85 TODAY MY FIRST NAME IS GUY MY FATHERS NAME WAS GUY THE NAME STARTED IN ENGLAND WHEN GUY FAWKES WAS HANGED OTHER THAN BIBICAL NAMES IT IS A NAME THAT HAD MEANING
Slightly out on the verse : 2nd line, no “the” : 3rd line, “I see no reason”. Try saying it aloud and you’ll see that it scans better, which is why it survived.
I have only ever heard it expressed as a term for a ‘mate’ by the yanks, can you please advise when the yanks first adoptred the word as a general term?
Tom Noddy:
May 15th, 2018 at 2:13 pm
For the person asking whether the use of the term “guy” for a man was current during WWII (as depicted in his/her novel), we can say this … Damon Runyon used the word often in his writing and Runyon died in 1946.
Elaine:
August 3rd, 2020 at 12:31 pm
Please excuse me, but the Spanish word “gallo”, pronounced guy-o, meaning rooster or cock, is a much older source for the term guy, meaning man. Its application as a nickname for Guido may be a more recent development. The same word is used for rooster or cock in Italian but pronounced gall-o.
Marpinderkarpinder:
November 23rd, 2020 at 3:32 pm
Well done Elaine, I suspect you are very near the mark. In West and South Yorkshire (especially Barnsley and environs) an affectionate or endearing greeting in the street is still quite often ‘Ey up Cock!’ or perhaps even ‘Ey up Cock spahrra (sparrow)!’ if the speaker is older. Slightly bewildering on first hearing to people from the colonies (I’m originally from Canada) but a beauty of a greeting when you realise it’s really a kindly moniker. Remarkable how time manipulates language.
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David:
September 7th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Unfortunately Guy Fawkes Day is not a national holiday in the UK. We do like to burn a good effigy though. Guy Fawkes night is often called bonfire night and the fire is usually accompanied with fireworks (gunpowder, you see). Great fun. Warm clothes and treacle toffee both help to jolly things along.
Dave A:
May 25th, 2010 at 9:51 am
Visiting St. George, Utah, late ’90s, during spring break: I was seated outside an ice cream shop, near a table of four high school girls who were watching other teenagers cruise the strip. Finally, one of the girls said, “C’mon, guys, if we don’t go, we’re not gonna meet any guys!”
admin:
December 5th, 2011 at 3:55 am
Well, maybe not an official national holiday, but bigger than Arbor Day.
Lee Carver:
July 7th, 2014 at 7:55 pm
When was the casual use of “guy” for “man” accepted? Its use in my novel, based in WWII, has been questioned. Would it be appropriate in that time frame?
GUY:
June 17th, 2015 at 12:14 pm
I AM 85 TODAY MY FIRST NAME IS GUY MY FATHERS NAME WAS GUY THE NAME STARTED IN ENGLAND WHEN GUY FAWKES WAS HANGED OTHER THAN BIBICAL NAMES IT IS A NAME THAT HAD MEANING
Joanna:
November 12th, 2016 at 9:08 pm
Slightly out on the verse : 2nd line, no “the” : 3rd line, “I see no reason”. Try saying it aloud and you’ll see that it scans better, which is why it survived.
Shaun Newman:
February 8th, 2018 at 8:28 pm
I have only ever heard it expressed as a term for a ‘mate’ by the yanks, can you please advise when the yanks first adoptred the word as a general term?
Tom Noddy:
May 15th, 2018 at 2:13 pm
For the person asking whether the use of the term “guy” for a man was current during WWII (as depicted in his/her novel), we can say this … Damon Runyon used the word often in his writing and Runyon died in 1946.
Elaine:
August 3rd, 2020 at 12:31 pm
Please excuse me, but the Spanish word “gallo”, pronounced guy-o, meaning rooster or cock, is a much older source for the term guy, meaning man. Its application as a nickname for Guido may be a more recent development. The same word is used for rooster or cock in Italian but pronounced gall-o.
Marpinderkarpinder:
November 23rd, 2020 at 3:32 pm
Well done Elaine, I suspect you are very near the mark. In West and South Yorkshire (especially Barnsley and environs) an affectionate or endearing greeting in the street is still quite often ‘Ey up Cock!’ or perhaps even ‘Ey up Cock spahrra (sparrow)!’ if the speaker is older. Slightly bewildering on first hearing to people from the colonies (I’m originally from Canada) but a beauty of a greeting when you realise it’s really a kindly moniker. Remarkable how time manipulates language.