Bottom in butter, orange in turban

[Vinny Burgoo]

The twelfth Danish cartoon shows a nerdy Nordic Dane wearing a turban.
An orange has just landed in this turban. This orange is labelled "PR".
(The nerdy chap is holding a drawing of a bearded stick-figure,
presumably the prophet Mohammed - but I don't want to get into that.*)

"An orange has landed in your turban" is apparently a Danish expression
meaning something similar to the Belgian "Your bottom has landed in the
butter".

Ain't idiom odd?

(a) Why bottom? Why butter? Why Belgium?

(b) Why orange? Why turban? Why Denmark?

[dearcilla]

Post by Vinny Burgoo
The twelfth Danish cartoon shows a nerdy Nordic Dane wearing a turban.
An orange has just landed in this turban. This orange is labelled "PR".
(The nerdy chap is holding a drawing of a bearded stick-figure,
presumably the prophet Mohammed - but I don't want to get into that.*)
"An orange has landed in your turban" is apparently a Danish expression
meaning something similar to the Belgian "Your bottom has landed in the
butter".

Obviously a reference to William of Orange, whose wife's sister's
consort was a certain Danish prince. Prince George of Denmark was a
Knight of the Garter, which he took to wearing on his head in later
years in the fashion of a 'turban'. Pro-William partisans would throw
oranges at George (since he was the leader of the so-called Cockpit
Circle), thus the expression 'An orange has landed in your turban'.

[Vinny Burgoo]

Post by dearcilla
Obviously a reference to William of Orange, whose wife's sister's
consort was a certain Danish prince. Prince George of Denmark was a
Knight of the Garter, which he took to wearing on his head in later
years in the fashion of a 'turban'. Pro-William partisans would throw
oranges at George (since he was the leader of the so-called Cockpit
Circle), thus the expression 'An orange has landed in your turban'.

Thank you.

I don't suppose you remember the story behind "my hovercraft is full of
eels"?

[Father Ignatius]

Post by Vinny Burgoo
*Let others get killed by ignorant bigots, but not me, please, not yet.

Oh, moonshine! Oh, moonshine!
Oh, how I love thee!
You killed my poor father but
Please don't kill me!

[Vinny Burgoo]

Post by Father Ignatius
Oh, moonshine! Oh, moonshine!
Oh, how I love thee!
You killed my poor father but
Please don't kill me!

Amen to that.

[Frances Kemmish]

This post might be inappropriate. Click to display it.

[sage]

Post by Frances Kemmish
I can't answer your questions, but I just wanted to add an expression I
"If he fell off the Co-op, he'd land with his arse in the divi."
Fran

I've never heard your mother's expression before but I was thinking
about the CWS and its dividends the other day; my grandmother was always
keen to get the coupons (and this was way before Green Stamps). Does the
Co-operative Wholesale Society still exist in England? Is there still a
divi? Is there honey still for tea?

Cheers, Sage

[Peter Duncanson]

Post by sage

Post by Frances Kemmish
I can't answer your questions, but I just wanted to add an expression I
"If he fell off the Co-op, he'd land with his arse in the divi."
Fran

I've never heard your mother's expression before but I was thinking
about the CWS and its dividends the other day; my grandmother was always
keen to get the coupons (and this was way before Green Stamps). Does the
Co-operative Wholesale Society still exist in England? Is there still a
divi?

Questions, questions.

Answers, answers:
http://www.cooponline.coop/about.html

There is now a Dividend Card (plastic of course).

I don't shop at the Co-op, but they still seem to be very active -
shops, banking, insurance, farming, etc.

"The Co-op has more shops than any other retailer in Britain."

Post by sage
Is there honey still for tea?

That's a matter of personal choice.

[sage]

Post by Peter Duncanson

Post by sage

Post by Frances Kemmish
I can't answer your questions, but I just wanted to add an expression I
"If he fell off the Co-op, he'd land with his arse in the divi."
Fran

I've never heard your mother's expression before but I was thinking
about the CWS and its dividends the other day; my grandmother was always
keen to get the coupons (and this was way before Green Stamps). Does the
Co-operative Wholesale Society still exist in England? Is there still a
divi?

Questions, questions.
http://www.cooponline.coop/about.html
There is now a Dividend Card (plastic of course).
I don't shop at the Co-op, but they still seem to be very active -
shops, banking, insurance, farming, etc.
"The Co-op has more shops than any other retailer in Britain."

Post by sage
Is there honey still for tea?

That's a matter of personal choice.

Thanks. I didn't try Google because I thought it might have gone under
the feet of Tesco or some such. It seems to be quite an enterprise these
days.

The web address is interesting: I wonder if our resident Coop knows
about it.

Cheers, Sage

[Donna Richoux]

Post by Vinny Burgoo
The twelfth Danish cartoon shows a nerdy Nordic Dane wearing a turban.
An orange has just landed in this turban. This orange is labelled "PR".
(The nerdy chap is holding a drawing of a bearded stick-figure,
presumably the prophet Mohammed - but I don't want to get into that.*)
"An orange has landed in your turban" is apparently a Danish expression
meaning something similar to the Belgian "Your bottom has landed in the
butter".
Ain't idiom odd?
(a) Why bottom? Why butter? Why Belgium?

As in the Dutch-speaking parts of Belgium, and maybe chosen there for
the alliteration.

I find the expression with "nose":

"Hij is met zijn neus in de boter gevallen."
Meaning: Someone who is lucky.

And I also find it with "gat" which means "hole" and I suppose gives
rise to "bottom":

Ik ben met mijn gat in de boter gevallen.

If suppose if you're going to fall, you're lucky if you land in butter
instead of something hard.

Post by Vinny Burgoo
(b) Why orange? Why turban? Why Denmark?

Geen idee... A little searching turns up one answer:

The expression 'an orange in the turban' is from the
play "Alladin", by the Danish romantic poet
Oehlenschlager.

I find that more often spelled Ohlenschlager, and Aladdin's Lampe
(1805). But I find no more mention of oranges or turbans.

[izzy]

In "Much Ado About Nothing", Shakespeare uses the phrase "as civil as
an orange".
This is a pun on Seville, the name of a type of orange and the area in
Spain from
which oranges were imported into England at that time.

izzy

[Vinny Burgoo]

In alt.usage.english, Donna Richoux wrote:

[snip]

Post by Donna Richoux
And I also find it with "gat" which means "hole" and I suppose gives
Ik ben met mijn gat in de boter gevallen.
If suppose if you're going to fall, you're lucky if you land in butter
instead of something hard.

I guess so.

Post by Donna Richoux

Post by Vinny Burgoo
(b) Why orange? Why turban? Why Denmark?

The expression 'an orange in the turban' is from the
play "Alladin", by the Danish romantic poet
Oehlenschlager.
I find that more often spelled Ohlenschlager, and Aladdin's Lampe
(1805). But I find no more mention of oranges or turbans.

Thanks.

Encarta has him as Oehlenschläger, author of "the fantasy in verse
Aladdin of the Wonderful Lamp (1820; trans. 1857)."

Incidentally, I heard the "bottom in the butter" saying from a Flemish
prawn-farmer. There can't be many of those around.