Thing Not To Do Today: be surly.

I've always enjoyed my trips to Scotland, despite the fact that when I'm in Lanarkshire everyone calls me Surly. It's not that I snarl at people, it's just the local accent.

It makes me sound like the eighth dwarf, but, hey, you get used to it .


You wouldn't have thought that being surly was a way to attract people, but in the USA there's a firm which makes Surly bikes (do they make a point of running through puddles to spash pedestrians, I wonder, or do they just ride slowly in the middle of the road, making overtaking impossible?)

There's a make of Surly beer, too. The beer company has as its motto It's never too early to get surly.

Really? Apart from being deeply unattractive, being surly is a lot of effort.  In fact all that grumpiness makes me feel tired just thinking about it.

Ah well. It takes all sorts, doesn't it.

Thing Not To Be Today: surly. This word comes from the Middle English word serreli, which means lordly or haughty. It's probably connected with the word sir.