bill cobbett wrote:miltiades wrote:CBBB wrote:bill cobbett wrote:miltiades wrote:Bill wrote:
"""My dear M, please, please consider using the 'charlie' word a little less. It makes me feel unhappy and second class."
Bill , a Charlie is the salt of the Cypriot earth mate , the majority of Cypriots are connected to us Charlies , I'm proud to be a Charlie , I take it in my stride and have never felt second class!!
When in Rome do us the Romans do , but dont poison bloody cats or wear all your jewelry when out shopping , for women that is , for men dont talk gibberish , half Egle and half , well almost half Grieco and never refer to the locals as "The Cypriots ""as if you were from Mars !!
ps . my brother law Charly , a well known personality in Limassol , has the supermarket at the Kanica block next to the Welsh Inn , Charly is known by all as a real character if anyone on this forum knows Charly give him my regards !!
I blend in well with the Cypriots cause I'm one of them !!
LONG LIVE THE CHARLIES !!!!
Nice piece of "spin" M.
I like this "charlatan" word. Shall we relaunch ourselves as "Charlatans"?
Where does the expressions "Charlies" come from?
Was it a Charalambous who changed his name to Charles for the benefit of the Brits that started it off?
The earlyCypriot immigrants to UK did their best to blend in as it were , so a name such as Kiriakos , Gavriel and a few more became Charly !!
I was called John since Yiannis sounded rather foreign , remember that way back in the late 50s early 60s it was considered rude to speak in your own language in front of English people , quite right too , unlike today that people on buses , public places etc converse freely and loudly in their own language .
People called me John it stuck so although I have always retained my official name as Yiannis Miltiades ( I have TWO first names !!!)
Many of us Charlies when visiting Cyprus fall into the trap of talking half English and half Greek dreadful way to omila ego pistevo !!
LONG LIVE CHARLIES THE SALT OF THE CYPRIOT EARTH
Re Pappou John (aka Yianni), in all my many years here in London I have never come across any CyBrit called Charlie. This Charlie business must have been started by the Cypro-Cypriots in Cy.
Charlie
A Cypriot male, born in the United Kingdom, Charloua if female.
This may also be applied to Cyprus-born Cypriots if their sojourn abroad has rendered them sufficiently anglicised.
This group, or their parents, compelled by the disasters of the 1974 Turkish invasion, or by post World War II* poverty moved to Britain to seek their fortunes or at least recoup their considerable losses.
By & large they worked hard & later returned to Cyprus with money & a desire to re establish their lives in their or their parents' homeland.
These individuals fall into two groups both of whom are equally despised.
1. Charlie/Charloua type 1.
This person combines the best of the English/Cypriot fusion they represent.
The politeness of the English with the hard working enthusiasm of the Cypriot.
The negative aspects of the two races are to some degree filtered out by their experiences, plus the fact that outside Cyprus most mangoscines are arrestable offences under law and that the classic British arrogance and coldness are totally alien to the friendly Cypriots.
2. Charlie/Charloua type 2.
This person combines the worst of the English/Cypriot fusion they represent.
The arrogance of the English with the intelligence of the Cypriot. The positive aspects of the two races are totally filtered out by their experiences, plus the fact that they are not outside Cyprus any more.
It is curious to note that whilst most expatriate parents are type one, many of their children are enthusiastically type two to the point of Yuppiedom**.
The Cypriot detestation of both of these divergent groups with equal enthusiasm is puzzling but is theorised to be based on the following points.
1. The Charlies actually possess the experience & sophistication the Cypriots like pretend to.
For example, relatively few own thiplowgambina or even feel any need to apologise for this deficiency.
Thus when a Cypriot drops a casual "Y'know" or "innit" into conversation to imply his easy, cosmopolitan familiarity with the English language, a Charlie may then address the speaker fluently in that language & so explore his actual state of linguistic proficiency.
Thus the Cypriot is embarrassed & made to feel a gouloufos (Pesant)
2. The Charlies often have money, but do not feel the need to tell everybody about it or at least to give it freely and without delay to the local population on demand.
This combination of riches & restraint is not readily forgivable in a land motivated by external validation to the degree of building shrines the concept.
3. Charlouas tend to be unmoved by mangoscines & have even been known to find such behaviour amusing.
This is offensive to the true Cypriot male whom even at the age of 45 years & an unladen weight of 120 Kg knows his sexual irresistibility to these females is & must remain beyond question. Bathing regularly, shaving occasionally & changing his underwear would be merely gilding the lily.
4. Type two Charlies are more Cypriot than the Cypriots are, which is enough to upset anybody forced to share a planet with them.
* 1939-1945 (1946 in the Pacific)
**Young upwardly mobile professionals. A 1980's phenomenon in Britain characterised by youth, near feudal rudeness, arrogance & ignorance.
