Cosy crimes and gritty sagas by Corrie Blog editor Glenda, published by Headline. Click pic below!

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Betty to be buried in London? Perish the thought!


So, as we bid goodbye to Betty, it seems that Gordon will relent and permit her to be 'with my Cyril' right there in Weatherfield. As her friends mourn her passing, we are reminded of how integral Betty was to life in the Street.

Rita, in her tangles with men over the years, was always grateful to Betty for 'her sympathy, her outrage and a tissue.' Betty was a friend to young and old as Tina referred to her as 'my mate' and bought some drinks in her honour.

The word 'apath' doesn't feature much nowadays, and certainly doesn't appear in young people's vocabulary, so it was good to hear Gordon using it when speaking about his mother. Gordon gave a poignant description of the fact that Betty was reading 'Five Children and It' in hardback that Gordon himself had bought her, when she died. Betty had read it to him when he was a child.

Betty's death causes Norris to contemplate his own mortality. In an example of terrific writing, Norris talks of how it's as if he's on one of those 'shove machines' and that he is 'edging towards the drop.' Norris was gifted another brilliant line when he, notably the only one to project any negativity concerning Betty's passing, said that once she had referred to him as an 'interfering weasel' - no surprise that nobody defended him!

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9 comments:

corrierules said...

What does "apath" mean? I have never heard that word, Thanks

Frosty the Snowman said...

I enjoyed the little get together in T'Rovers for Betty and nice to see Gordon Clegg again. But what was Lewis doing hanging around the group like a bad smell? He has nothng to do with Betty, Nigel Haves is not a long standing character. His nasty little face seems to be everywhere lately. Please tell Frosty he is going soon?

Glenda Young said...

Frosty? Is that really you? Surely not... you've said you "enjoy" something. I think we might have an imposter on the board. ;-)

Tvor said...

corrierules, "apath" is actually a slang very-short version of "halfpenny worth", aka 'apenny worth' aka 'ap'orth. Usually spoken on the show as a "daft 'ap'orth'" or "daft ape" which Vera called Jack quite often.

corrierules said...

Thank you Tvor!

Anna in nz said...

My parents used to call me a daft apath.

I made the veganised version of Betty's hotpot today, which granted is nothing like the meat eating version, but was yummy.

Glenda Young said...

Anna, I've also made that vegan hotpot too, more than once as I enjoyed it so much and it was delicious. I added more vegetables than the recipe suggested as it's one of those recipes where you can add in what you like and miss out what you don't. I highly recommend that PETA vegan hotpot recipe for anyone, it's gorgeous.

Anna in nz said...

Yes I recommend it too. I'll be making it regularly I think. Thanks for linking to it. It's not often I find a recipe I really like.

Anonymous said...

I loved the analogy of the twopenny shove machine too! You often have to listen very carefully so that you don't miss these nuggets of dialogue.
Thanks for the explanation of ap'orth, Tvor! Interesting.

GRITTY SAGAS BY CORRIE BLOG EDITOR GLENDA YOUNG, PUBLISHED BY HEADLINE. CLICK PIC BELOW!

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