The UK School year runs from 1st September and Year 1 admissions are based on the child reaching the age of five before the following 31st August. The School year is divided into three terms: Winter; September to Christmas, Spring or Easter; January to Easter, Summer; Easter to July.
Although nowhere specific is mentioned in the tales, the characters can be said to live in a small-to-medium town in one the undiscovered rural parts of the English Midlands in the area to the North and East of Birmingham, bordering on the Derbyshire Peak District.
A list of the major characters appearing in the stories can be found here.
Avid U.S. readers will have discovered that some words have different or additional meanings in British English compared to American English and vice versa. The following are examples that appear in these stories:
biscuits = cookies
bristols = breasts (slang)
chips = fries
crisps = chips
football (game) = soccer
kecks = trousers or underpants (regional term)
manky = dirty, messy, unpleasant (regional term)
mash = to make tea (regional term)
punter = customer (additional meaning, slang)
revise = review a subject before a test (additional meaning)
show (someone) up = to embarrass, but not necessarily humiliate, someone by saying or doing
something. May well be done unintentionally. Can also be done reflexively.
trump = fart (additional meaning)
HMRC - Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs = UK tax authorities.
The meaning of most terms can usually be inferred from the context.
With thanks to my editor for the sterling work he does to ensure my scribbles are readable and to prod me to clarify the confusing and elucidate when I am presuming too much of my readers.
A thank you also to Awesome Dude and his team for the preparation and hosting of the stories.
And, of course, I need to thank Timmy for setting the original challenges on his site.
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