Saturday 22 April 2017

Slopping About

The word slop has a number of meanings, and can be a noun or a verb. This holiday week has seen a lots of slop and slopping here in Norfolk
 1 - It can mean mud or slush, liquid splashed about
Here we see Bob and Jon slopping mortar on the wall, to repair and replace the flints which have come loose
2- It can mean thin drink or liquid food [often used in the plural, slops] again with the sense of spilling and splashing.
Here we see that Rosie understands this concept very well.
3 - Slopping about is almost synonymous with splashing around
Rosie went with Grandma and Grandad to the Toddler Splash Session at Dereham Leisure Centre. That was enormous fun. She wore her new swimming cozzie too.
But the final definition of slop is peculiar to Norfolk
4 - here they use the term slop to mean a fisherman's smock.
I have always wanted to possess a 'proper' smock**. In my teens [pre-Internet] I even got a book from the library and drew up a pattern to make myself one of these. But I never found the time or money to complete the project. The Norfolk slop has a round neck and two patch pockets and is made of heavy cotton drill [to withstand the wind and weather]
On Tuesday, my sharp eyed husband spotted one in a CS in Dereham. It is clearly old [the label in the neck has faded, and the company that made it is long out of business ] but I am not sure it has ever been worn.
Nowadays the Norfolk slops retail at £50-70. This cost me £4.
And it is so comfortable, and the correct size [i.e. generous enough to fit over another garment] The patch pockets hold a key, a hankie and a mobile phone...
I am extremely happy slopping about in it!
[** I also fancied making and owning an agricultural worker's smock too, but that's another story]


2 comments:

  1. That was a very nice find. They are so comfortable. We call them 'sailing smocks' down in the West!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And of course, Cornwall claims to have started the fashion for these garments becoming the overall of choice for artists, popularised by painters at the Newlyn School. Maybe my artistic endeavours will improve if I am wearing my slop!

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