Nico wrote...

Australians and New Zealanders say "Oh, bugger!" when something goes wrong, even more so after a popular ad featuring a farmer who said it a lot.

Myself I'm inclined to use bugger rather a lot, not being exactly gently spoken most of the time ;-). More or less synonymously with sod 'sod it' or 'bugger it' 'stupid sod' 'stupid bugger'. I rarey just use 'oh bugger' as an expression of dismay when something goes wrong. Occasionaly just 'bugger' on it's own.

I changed it to the weak "Oh, no!" which admittedly Vila did say a lot.

He manages to put a remarkable amount of feeling into such a simple commment though. (Thinking particulary of the rather quiet 'oh no' when he realise who Babyan is in City on the Edge of the World.

I can also see him saying "Oh, damn!" but not "Oh, hell!" Not sure why.

Maybe it's the way he normally talks so much so quickly. Short comments aren't really his style. The odd exclamation maybe but if he wants to swear I can see him going for long involved creative cursing.

Incidentally, anyone would have got a fine display of British-style swearing had they been (un)fortunate enough to see me a few hours ago, bound up the stairs , stub my toe on a pile of spear shafts (of all things) on the landing, hop, swear, almost fall back *down* the stairs and bleed all over the carpet.

I belive it went something like... buggerbollocksbastardthingsowowowowbollocks... followed by my sitting on the floor and hissing and clutching my foot for some time.

No I'm not accident prone. Not at all. No no, those bruises aren't at all indicative - I just collided with the box of tiles in the hallway. That one? Well someone missed with a sword on Saturday. Don't look at me like that it *was* blunt. Look I'm not mad, I'm a reenactor. Which is why it's just as well I'm not at all accident prone isn't it. No the fact they call me the group victim is entirely coincidental...

Leia (Who shouldn't write email's late at night when common sense has abandonded her)