Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Question for our British Academia

What is a scout?

We where reading a book and we came across phrase that didn't mean anything to us.

Let's see if I can remember the line.

Nor did the regal appointment end there; we had a meticulous scout, good meals in the dining hall fortified with liberal doses of passable plonk from the college cellarer's legendary cellars...

I think Plonk is some kind of alcohol and a scout is a person, but what kind of person?

A little background. This is a Oxford Post-grad taking an additional degree talking.

James

For as far as I'm aware (being non-British and non-Amarican), a scout in the meaning of person has two meanings. One is a talent searcher. The second one, that probably fits your sentance best, is that of an explorer.

Quoting from this online dictionary :

1 : to explore an area to obtain information (as about an enemy)
2 a : to make a search b : to work as a talent scout
transitive senses
1 : to observe in order to obtain information or evaluate
2 : to explore in order to obtain information
3 : to find by making a search -- often used with up

There are many more online dictionaries, you should give that a try if this isn't clear enough (what I will expect).

Saskia

Hi,

Found several definition:

The American·British British·American Dictionary
http://www.peak.org/~jeremy/dictionary/dict.html

scout = screaming abdabs

screaming abdabs expr n :
screaming meemies, literally a description of a lunatic having a screaming fit, and often of psychologically overwhelmed soldiers coming back from overly intense situations, but used as extreme exasperation, “she gives me the screaming abdabs!”.

Plonk = plonk

plonk n :
cheap table wine.


Word Reference.com
http://www.wordreference.com/index.htm

scout 1 [skaʊt]noun
1 a person, ship, or aircraft sent out to gain information
2 (Military) a person or unit despatched to reconnoitre the position of the enemy
3 (Sport) a person employed by a club to seek new players
4 the act or an instance of scouting
5 (esp. at Oxford University) a college servant
Compare: gyp3
6 (in Britain) a patrolman of a motoring organization
7 (informal) a fellow or companion verb
8 to examine or observe (anything) in order to obtain information
9 [tr; sometimes foll by out or up] to seek
10 [intransitive] to act as a scout for a sports club
11 [intr; foll by about or around] to go in search (for)

[ETYMOLOGY: 14th Century: from Old French ascouter to listen to, from Latin auscultare to auscultate]
'scouter noun


scout 2 [skaʊt] verb (archaic)
to reject (a person or thing) with contempt

[ETYMOLOGY: 17th Century: from Old Norse skuta derision]

http://www.wordreference.com/english/definition.asp?en=scout


plonk 1 [plɒŋk]
verb
1 [often foll by down] to drop or be dropped, esp. heavily or suddenly
example: he plonked the money on the table
noun
2 the act or sound of plonking
interjection
3 an exclamation imitative of this sound


plonk 2 [plɒŋk] noun (Brit., Austral., and N.Z.) (informal)
alcoholic drink, usually wine, esp. of inferior quality

[ETYMOLOGY: 20th Century: perhaps from French blanc white, as in vin blanc white wine]

http://www.wordreference.com/english/definition.asp?en=Plonk+

Good Luck!

MAF

James, it's an Oxford, or possibly Oxbridge, term: a scout is/was a college-employed factotum who would act as servant to a number of students - cleaning their rooms and so on. Perhaps in years gone by the scout was also responsible for the sort of thing a butler and/or valet would have done; the quote appears to suggest this. I think scouts were also exclusively male. However, a quick Google search turned up this page , which offers some further insight:

And then see here , where there is reference to female scouts.

The old universities vary in their terminology; I went to Trinity College Dublin, founded in 1692, and there the women who cleaned student rooms (the very grand rooms within College itself) were called 'skips'. I have no idea why, and it's almost an offensive term... but that's what they were/are called.

Oh, and incidentally, 'plonk' is wine.


Wendy

Thank you all for your input.

Wendy's information, however, makes the most sense in the context of the setting.

But at least I have a few more online information sources to look at. Thanks!

James