BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Not so different?

**Posted by gently69** July 14, 2014 9:59 am

besleybean wrote:
And Mark is from my part of England.

So Mark has to be like you?

Seriously ... what is so difficult to accept opinions of others?

Last edited by gently69 (July 14, 2014 10:19 am)

**Posted by besleybean** July 14, 2014 10:03 am

No, but we may well have been brought up with the same expressions.
He very obviously isn't like me as he's male, gay,redhead, an actor and a bit younger than me...just for starters.
And incidentally, it's absolutely nothing to do with accepting opinions.
It's a discusssion on the common usage of language.

Last edited by besleybean (July 14, 2014 10:14 am)

**Posted by gently69** July 14, 2014 10:23 am

But in his mind he should be like you? Is he still living in the part where you live? Couldn't he learn other expressions somewhere else in the meantime?

Sorry to say that but sometimes it seems to me that you want to be always right and all the others are talking nonsense.

**Posted by besleybean** July 14, 2014 10:37 am

Taking your last statement: yes to the 1st part. Don't we all?
But there are times I have been very wrong and have been the 1st to admit it.
No doubt this will continue in the future..
To the last part of your statement, not at all. I have learned so much from other people.
But we can all be wrong, from time to time.

**Posted by SusiGo** July 14, 2014 10:51 am

Is it probable that Mark uses the shelf idiom as sexual innuendo or not? I am really interested as I amnot a native speaker. His novels are full of sexual allusions, most of them far more blatant than this one. This is not about geography but about a writer's style.

**Posted by gently69** July 14, 2014 10:52 am

You mentioned it ... from time to time, besley

I read the posts of the others in this thread, a few underpinned with plausible explanations or links , but you don't say "I think" or "IMO" you always state it as a fact ... you know and the others are wrong.

But maybe ... I don't understand it because I am not a native speaker.

Last edited by gently69 (July 14, 2014 10:53 am)

**Posted by SolarSystem** July 14, 2014 10:54 am

SusiGo wrote:
This is not about geography but about a writer's style.

Yep, Susi. If geography played any role in all that, Mark would most likely not do what he does for a living. His background certainly is made up of so much more than just his geographical roots.

Last edited by SolarSystem (July 14, 2014 10:56 am)

**Posted by gently69** July 14, 2014 11:01 am

Now I really need to read Mark's biography.
Don't know much about his background.

**Posted by besleybean** July 14, 2014 12:50 pm

It's also about tyring to stay true to Canon.
Ok, so I had a chat with my daughter about the sayings...in case it was a young persons thing(and also, she's not English and has never lived in England!)
She completely agrees with me, on the ' seeing a man about a dog' one.
She had vaguely heard of the ' putting up a shelf' one, but had no idea what it meant. She wondered if it was similar to ' furniture moving'...which I have also never heard of.
I said the only one I was aware of was ' having the decorators in', which means you have your period.

EDIT: Mark is from Darlington, County Duham and was state school educated.

Last edited by besleybean (July 14, 2014 12:52 pm)

**Posted by maryagrawatson** July 14, 2014 1:34 pm

I'm Canadian and if you're seeing a man about a dog, you're going to the bathroom. Absolutely no nuance on that one.

I still think the most plausible explanation for the shelves joke is the first one I mentioned, that it's an injoke from the writer (Mark) and a purely innocent comment by Sherlock, but I don't think it's a stretch that Sherlock could make that sort of joke himself.

Mary

**Posted by besleybean** July 14, 2014 1:55 pm

He does make 'cheeky' jokes. e.g with Sally...or at her expense!
But maybe not with Molly.

Last edited by besleybean (July 14, 2014 1:56 pm)

**Posted by KeepersPrice** July 14, 2014 6:06 pm

In the US the idiom I've seen and heard is, "I have to see a man about a horse" - definitely refering to heading to the bathroom.