Being British: Thread the Tenth

[Equinox Chick]

Hello,

Lalala.. so, I suck at understanding British politics - do they have one Minstry with different departments (defence, home politics, education), or is it one Ministry per... thing, like "Ministry of Defence", and so on, which then again have different departments? I think (from what I gather from my google research, but I suck at understanding things late at night) the latter one, because then the Ministry of Magic fits into the rest of the system very neatly, but I want to make sure.

Hmm, politics is not my strong point. We have a parliament (all voted in), and the party that holds the majority forms the government. The Government splits into different Ministries (Defence, Foreign Affairs, Home Office, Treasury.) then they have little sub division too (Work and Pensions would come under Treasury for instance.) Each department has a Minister in charge of it and then the Prime Minister is in charge of them. Technically, the Queeen is the Head of State, she doesn't have any real power but she has a lot of influence.


Yes you can use 'is pissed' - that's rude (ish) so if you want something else you could say
'he's bladdered' (lovely connotation ha ha). Bladdered is probably more of an 80's/90's expression so it really depends which era you're writing.

We used to use 'bevvied' at one time (bevvy being short for beverage), or 'out of my tree'
'trollied', (Oh, they're all coming back to me now).

Not sure about 70's era 'pickled', 'pissed as a newt' or just 'really drunk'.

Carole
xxx

[Naiara]

I don't know where I got this from, it's in some book (quite certainly not HP though). I think they say 'so. is pissed' to say that they are really drunk.

'Wasted' is American, so you could try (for the 00s),

Smashed,
gone,
trollied,
plastered,
tanked,
laced,
lush,
boozed,
sloshed,
slashed,
and a personal favourite, zonked!

, That was fun, thank you.

~Nai. x

[Karaley Dargen]

I have another question - I'm looking for a word. In German, it's called Praktikum or Berufspraktikum. It means that a person works somewhere - usually without payment - for a time between a week and six months to get to know the job etc. before they actually decide on eg. going to study a subject at university to later work in the job.
In general, it's something for example students are asked to do during their holidays, to give them some practical, hands-on experience so that they can see what the job is actually about, and don't waste years of training because they imagine it to be something different. It is also good to get to know jobs you might not have thought about yet.

Do you know what I mean? the dictionary suggests different things, like work placement, work experience, placement, internship, or practical (I think practical is something different though). I have never heard anyone use those words before (except for internship in medical context)

So, I would like someone who isn't sure about their future career work at something like an apothecary for a week or so, and the potioneer who works there shows them around, explains the different aspects of the job, they have an insight on every day life on that job...

What's the word?

[Equinox Chick]

I went on 'work experience' for two weeks between exams and end of term when I was at school. That was unpaid.

Work Placement, I think, implies payment rather like an internship. I think you'd get paid a small amount whilst studying perhaps.

Hope that helps.

[inspirations]

Do you mean volunteering, possibly? Work experience is generally something teenagers do in secondary school... I think. Volunteering, is just to help out. Like charity shop work, for example. Volunteering is a type of work experience in itself, though, just a different context to the type teens do.

Hope that helps xx

[apollo13]

I think you mean work experience, which is done during secondary school and/or university, and occasionally in adult life too, to get the "feel" of the job, although that is becoming mroe and more uncommon.

~Evie

[Karaley Dargen]

Thanks a lot, work experience it is

inspirations: I was actually looking for the thing teenagers do in secondary school, because I see teenagers at Hogwarts facing the same problems and decisions as any other teenagers.

[apollo13]

Things? Kinda vague, but I'll try . . .

We do have proms, but I'd advise against writing them unless you're doing a 2nd-gen fic, and even then, avoid if you can. Some schools have discos, which were very popular Marauder-era, and in towns they used to be set up by the council. My mum says that she went to a disco in her town every friday night until she was about sixteen and it became uncool. :P But anyway, finding a date for these type of events was not and is not such a big thing as it is over in the States, but it was certainly a place for people to meet and go out with other people.

Music was very big in the 60's if you're writing Marauder Era, and people liked protesting a lot. It was an age of teenagers trying to change the world, but feeling too doped up to do much about it.

Um . . . I'm really struggling to think of what you're looking for. XD Same sort of things teenagers do around the world, really. XD

~Evie

[Karaley Dargen]

Wah no, you misunderstood me! I wanted to tell inspirations that I had been looking for the word "work experience", because she thought I wasn't looking for the thing (work experience) teenagers do at secondary school... Sorry! But anyway, what you wrote actually just gave me some inspiration, so I guess it's good ^^ Thanks!

[apollo13]

**headdesk**

Please do excuse me, I'm blonde . . .

Well, for my work experience, I was MEANT to be going to the Crown Courts, which deal with big cases, but they mucked it up and said that I had to go to the Magistrates Courts (which deals with small, boring cases) for the first week, and find something else to do for the second week. (I ended up going to a solicitors for the second week, which was fun). When I got to the Magistrates courts, however, they were not expecting me, so they sent me to the Fixed Penalities Office, which deals with speeding and parking tickets. Joy. Oh, and even worse, because I had not had my criminal record checked, I wasn't allowed to actually DO anything, so I had to sit and watch them file speeding tickets. . . -_-

My school pretty much messed everyone's work experience up. One boy went to his work expereince placement, only to find out that the company had gone out of business and closed down.

But there were lots and lots of things you could do, from all aspects of work. There were plenty of retail opportunities, working in shops; catering, restuarants, McDonalds, bakieries; a lot of people helped at local primary schools; vetenairy clinics; riding stables; the nearby zoo; hairdressers; construction; electricians; plumbing . . . .

Basically anything.

But bear in mind, although, for instance, I went to a solicitors, I did not get to stand up in court or anyhting like that. I was more of a secretary, and just watched and learned for most of the time. My friend worked at a health clinic under the impression she would get some really good experience for being a doctor, but all she did was put up wall displays and hand out leaflets about free condoms. XD

~Evie