[kj] Mr Black seeks clarification

[chaz prior]

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) 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".
 
Am I right?
 


From: mrblack_000 at fsmail.netTo: gathering at misera.netDate: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 00:34:41 +0200Subject: Re: [kj] Mr Black seeks clarification
"Doolally, to use the 'correct' spelling  comes from the forces in India - a illness contracted from the tap water.... in Deolali and it's whereabouts"
  Incorrect Jo .
========================================Message Received: Jun 24 2007, 11:11 PMFrom: "jo" To: mrblack_000 at fsmail.net, "A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)" Cc: Subject: Re: [kj] Mr Black seeks clarification 


 


Mr Black seeks clarification about who has been designated *Official board spelling and grammar checker/Proof reader*? (Mr Black has a horrible feeling that that is incorrect in many ways) .
  Is it Benny Bra ? The N.Z guy with a Paddy name or Jo? Or are you all jostling for the coveted position?
And no one has a Danny about Doolali?

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I don't take positions but I do enjoy the occasional jostle.  I think that you should apply for it though - your enthusiasm is impressive:-))
Doolally, to use the 'correct' spelling  comes from the forces in India - a illness contracted from the tap water.... in Deolali and it's whereabouts.
_________________________________________________________________
100’s of Music vouchers to be won with MSN Music
https://www.musicmashup.co.uk/index.html
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://four.pairlist.net/pipermail/gathering/attachments/20070624/a7fb199c/attachment.html>