I don’t know if this was included in the TV adaptation, so I’ll just quote directly from the book.
Equal Opportunities, pp.353-354
Questions:
Why are they writing a code on it at all? How does that fit with the context? What do Geriatric Shoe Manufacturers (or old cobblers) have to do with anything? And ‘Round Objects’? What ‘round objects’? What on earth are Bernard and Hacker referring to?
This is the one joke in the entire Yes Minister series that I simply cannot understand. I know analysing it will probably kill the chuckle-value, but it’s driving me nuts! Help me!
As for the code, well, they’re government documents and will likely be kept on file. It would be improper to see that the Minister for Administrative Affairs, or his private secretary, had been scrawling derisive obscenities over the paperwork during their tenure. It’s the kind of thing that could really come back and haunt someone about 30 years down the road.
“Cobblers” is cockney rhyming slang: Cobblers => cobblers’ awls => balls.
“balls” is a rude expression equivalent to “bullshit” on this side of the Atlantic. So a “Load of old cobblers” is a “load of balls” is a “load of bullshit”. And “round objects” are balls. Which means bullshit. There ya go.
Hmmmm, would “balls” really be equivalent to "bullsht"? I think you can say balls and not offend someone as much as saying sht or bullsh*t in the UK. Well to me anyway
I’d say “bullshit” and “balls” in that context are about equal. Given that this was a 1970s TV show, that joke was probably considered quite racy at the time - also, the humour lies in the euphemistic way in which they reveal the rude expression.
Irrespective of the derivation ‘load of old cobblers’ has been a very common expression in England for many years. It will be cheerfully used in almost any circumstances, which means that, like the word ‘burk’, most people don’t have any idea where it comes form and hence what it means. I have used it and heard it used frequently and had no idea that was where it derived from until now. It’s just a generally accepted expression meaning ‘a load of rubbish’.
From a character point of view, a British Civill Servant in the late 70s/early 80s might possibly be less likely to use rhyming slang in the late 70s , however the implication that he is saying “bollocks” is ironically more “learned” as it implies knowledge of the origins of the original obscured meaning of the offensive word. Bollocks laterallly means “balls” as well as rubbish or sophistry.If you look at the earlier thread I indicated Use of the word had become more prominant due to the publicity of the SeX Pistols case - from around 1977.
Looking back at the openinng post quote, it’s the civil servant who is using “cobblers” (rhyming slang) in an obscure way while the PM (of all people) is saying " Bollocks".
Yes, you are right , still a notch up from the civil servants, he is only demonstrating the diplomatic linquistic skills that would one day take him to the top job!
Actually, it was pretty much blind luck that got him the top job. The right people were at the wrong place at the right time so far as Hacker was concerned, and he took full political advantage of it.
By blundering along in his typical way, of course.
On a related note, am I the only one who thinks that iYes Minister and Yes Prime Minister are the absolute pinnacle of humourous wordplay?
