word of the day: larrikin

The long awaited return of the lower casefiles’ not-particularly-regular feature, the word of the day:

larrikin – Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Ran across this one in the comments to a story about thuggish British children. One of the commenters witnessed a dispute between a pub owner and some 30-somethings. It seems the barkeep dared to ban their 13 year olds from the pub for being drunken, obnoxious larrikins.

The parents were pissed he’d kicked the kiddos out, because every other pub in the neighborhood had already banned the kids for rampaging, three-sheets-to-wind, elsewhere. The parents were TAKING UP FOR JUNIOR for being an obnoxious, violent drunk.

13 years old?!? As a parent, words fail me.

In those parents position, I’d have thanked the pub owner for notifying me, apologized for my kids’ rudeness, then gone home and let a leather belt to the rest of the talking on the little punks’ asses.

But that’s just me. I’d probably be in jail if I was British.

UPDATE: Found this article, too, which details the “larrikin” problem with wonderfully British flair.

For local residents, the protocol on Fore Street is simple: do not confront, do not engage, stay inside. A resident who raised thousands of pounds for a village youth club was repaid with a bag of horse manure, mixed with petrol, set ablaze against his front door.

Feral yobs run wild while adults live in fear of threats, vandalism and intimidation.

~ by mrbitterness on April 1, 2008.