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| Britain | |
| Are Gongs and K's on the Block? | |
| 2004-07-22 | |
| via NYT - EFL Use BugMeNot for Login, if req'd - wasn't at time of posting. By ALAN COWELL - July 21, 2004 Is Knighthood Ready for the Ax? How Unchivalrous! When it comes to the finer shadings of status, the British could never be called slouches at decoding those telltale clues of vocal inflection and sartorial manner that separate noblesse from nonentity, aristo from arriviste. But some of that may be about to change. Until now, when Queen Elizabeth II summoned some 3,000 of her subjects to Buckingham Palace each year to receive honors known colloquially as gongs (medals) and K's (knighthoods), even the list of the newly anointed notables offered grandeur by grade, respect by ranking. To a cacophony of approving grunts from some and disapproving harrumphs from others, however, a body of legislators called the House of Commons Public Administration Committee recommended this month that the list of available aristocratic honors be trimmed drastically, from 16 to 4, and that the word "empire" be replaced with "excellence" in such medals as the Order of the British Empire. Most radical of all, it urged that knighthoods and their female equivalent, the title of dame, be abolished within five years. You can imagine the fuss. ...more... I have no dog in this fight, but I'd wager this is heavyweight stuff for the cousins...
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| Posted by:.com |
| #7 Excellence! Duuude. |
| Posted by: Bill & Ted 2004-07-22 6:31:18 PM |
| #6 no, these are titles for life only, they give as prizes for lifetime accomplishment. Kinda like being honored at the Kennedy center, except bankers and civil servants get em too. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-07-22 3:28:17 PM |
| #5 I always thought that the purpose of the titles were to serve as warnings to potential suitors that the holders thereof were dangerously inbred. There's a reason the blood is blue instead of bright red. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-07-22 3:26:31 PM |
| #4 "Knight Commander of the British Excellence" Yeah, right. That'll fly... |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-07-22 2:39:27 PM |
| #3 but better an archaic bastion of inequality and elitism with some minimal sense of style than an up-to-date, ungainly edifice of inequality, elitism, and utter, unspeakable lameness. Damn! What Mitch said! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-22 12:54:25 PM |
| #2 "Order of the British Excellence"? Sounds like something out of that Anglican PC bible. Mind you, I'm generally in favor of deep-sixing the aristocracy, but better an archaic bastion of inequality and elitism with some minimal sense of style than an up-to-date, ungainly edifice of inequality, elitism, and utter, unspeakable lameness. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2004-07-22 12:38:24 PM |
| #1 Pardon my ignorance, but I thought all this honors kind of stuff was the perogotive of the crown. |
| Posted by: Spot 2004-07-22 9:31:58 AM |