RichardB Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 What does "Doolally tap" mean, and why would my Grandfather have been a strong candidate ... cunning huh, give nothing away and wait for the "Big Guns" to swing in with loads of detail and make you look a fool Any pictures appreciated, I don't mean pictures of loonies either, I have a mirror for that ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deejayone Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Near the end of the nineteenth century, the British army had a military sanatorium at Deolali, about 100 miles north-east of Bombay. One of its functions was to act as a transit camp for soldiers who had finished their tours of duty (“time-expired”, in the jargon of the time) and were waiting for a troop ship to take them back to Britain. Ships only left Bombay between November and March, so a soldier ending his tour outside those dates might have a long wait for transport. To say someone was doolally tap meant he was mad, or at least very eccentric. The first bit is obviously the result of the standard British soldier’s way of hacking foreign-sounding names into something that sounded English. The second part is from a Persian or Urdu word tap, a malarial fever (ultimately from Sanskrit tapa, heat or torment). So the whole expression might be loosely translated as “camp fever”. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deejayone Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 In some parts of America, doolally is also known to them as a term for something whose name one couldn’t for the moment remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tsavo Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 What does "Doolally tap" mean, and why would my Grandfather have been a strong candidate ... cunning huh, give nothing away and wait for the "Big Guns" to swing in with loads of detail and make you look a fool Any pictures appreciated, I don't mean pictures of loonies either, I have a mirror for that ! We would never set out to make a fool of you, Richard, just enjoy testing ourselves against your cunningly crafted puzzles! :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardB Posted March 13, 2007 Author Share Posted March 13, 2007 Well done, nicely found ! Not sure about this picture but here goes .... No idea whether that will work or not, it's a .png file, I can open it here. My Grandfather arrived in Deolali 16th April 1919; it must have been a long wait till November. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheffield History Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Good picture - looks like the Wicker lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deejayone Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Good picture - looks like the Wicker A tiny, flooded version... lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardB Posted April 26, 2007 Author Share Posted April 26, 2007 and then ...... Whilst looking for something completely different (which I never did find), I came across this envelope. I remember buying it, and a bunch of others, at a Stamp Fair, I believe it was in the Cutlers Hall in the early 70's. Anyway, it stopped me in my tracks, because one of my relatives used to live at 8 Victoria Villas ! (He's mentioned elsewhere, in "My Relative Used to Visit here" thread, along with a picture of his outdoor toilet facilities), so what's this posting doing on this thread ??? I finally, after approximately 34 years of ownership, decided to read the letter. The poor guy that wrote it is stuck out in India, and he thinks he's coming home by the end of July, boy, has he got a surprise coming to him, when the boats don't sail till November ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardB Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 a reminder of this Topic, for newer Members ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardB Posted November 24, 2012 Author Share Posted November 24, 2012 and again ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tozzin Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 This is something else brought home to blighty by the soldiers. The term for £500 a MONKEY and £25 a PONY suposedly came from the 500 rupee notes which had a Monkey on it and the 25 rupee note had a Pony pictured on it, so when they returned home the names were used for our money amounts of £500 & £25. Useless information No 309 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayleaf Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 The British Army had a long relationship with India, and a lot of words have remained in common usage in English; bungalow, pyjamas, char, tiffin, wallah, and military terms like bundook, dhobi, khaki, all came from India I think. Anyone know any more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lebourg Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Not quite in the same leage but gram would say about our coil oil being as dark as the black hole of Calcutter. From the 1st WW my graddad used to use napoo to say there was none left which I think comes from the French on est pu. ie napoo eggs t'day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardB Posted December 2, 2012 Author Share Posted December 2, 2012 More Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardB Posted December 2, 2012 Author Share Posted December 2, 2012 and Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hilldweller Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 The British Army had a long relationship with India, and a lot of words have remained in common usage in English; bungalow, pyjamas, char, tiffin, wallah, and military terms like bundook, dhobi, khaki, all came from India I think. Anyone know any more? Years ago I came across a small booklet which was apparently published for the British wives of Indian plantation owners. Among other things it contained hints and recipes for catering for the plantation staff. The recipe amounts were staggering in their size (hundredweights of rice and potatoes & stones of curry powder) but the recipes also had translations of the Indian names for the meals. The only one I can remember was for meat balls which was something I can't remember followed by Goolies. So now you know where that term came from. HD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponytail Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 On 12/03/2007 at 21:57, deejayone said: Near the end of the nineteenth century, the British army had a military sanatorium at Deolali, about 100 miles north-east of Bombay. One of its functions was to act as a transit camp for soldiers who had finished their tours of duty (“time-expired”, in the jargon of the time) and were waiting for a troop ship to take them back to Britain. Ships only left Bombay between November and March, so a soldier ending his tour outside those dates might have a long wait for transport. To say someone was doolally tap meant he was mad, or at least very eccentric. The first bit is obviously the result of the standard British soldier’s way of hacking foreign-sounding names into something that sounded English. The second part is from a Persian or Urdu word tap, a malarial fever (ultimately from Sanskrit tapa, heat or torment). So the whole expression might be loosely translated as “camp fever”. Looking through earlier "Posts" came across this post in History Chat. There must be plenty of "sayings" or "words" we use from years ago, origins long forgotten. Often they're from military, naval or job related. For some reason dad used to say "in a reight tackin" when somebody was in a mess. Which I concluded came from a sailing term for struggling but no family member has a sailing background. Unless anybody knows different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tozzin Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 My mother often said " he's been tapped with the doolally stick" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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