F – Flash in the pan, Full of Beans – False Flag –  Historical anachronisms and who might be a Friend of Dorothy…

Flash in the Pan is another phrase with two possible meanings both of which are plausible and might even have, like branches of evolution, have come about independently – or perhaps one was in use and was adapted to fit the other…

Firstly – the meaning that we have today and which is indisputable – something which begins promisingly but disappointingly, comes to nothing.

The probable, earliest origin of flash in the pan, is from the days of flintlock pistols when both pistols as well as cannons, had a small hollow called the “pan” which was primed with a little gunpowder after the pistol (or cannon) have been loaded. Later cannons had flintlock mechanisms similar to pistols which did away with slow matches in the case of cannons. In the centre of the pan was a tiny hole connecting to the main charge of gunpowder within the weapon. When the gunpowder in the pan ignited successfully, the fire would be forced down through the hole to ignite the main charge and fire the weapon but, necessarily, the hole was tiny or else the main charge could blow up through the hole and fail to expel the ball or cannonball not to mention the risk of injuring the person firing the weapon! So unfortunately, sometimes, the gunpowder might ignite (the flash) but fail to drive the flame down into the weapon to ignite the main charge which might not just be disappointing, but also fatal if you were facing an enemy who was more successfully armed…

So if this expression had already survived the passing of the flintlock, and was a byword for disappointment, then it was perfect to describe the feelings of the gold miner who, upon seeing a flash in his gold pan, was disappointed not to find a piece of gold after all. Perhaps this usage is what tided the expression over from the days of flintlocks through to the present day…

Full of Beans is from the days when horses were to transport, what motor vehicles are today. And like motor vehicles, there were a variety of fuels that offered various levels of performance. At the bottom there were grass or straw-fed horses, at the next level a horse fed on oats could perform better and at the top level a horse that was full of beans would be positively frisky and ready to go!

False Flag or False Flag Actions are usually associated with the days of wooden ship warfare and a rule of combat that said it was permissible to fly a false flag identifying yourself as a ship of another nation provided – as long as you ran up your own flag (showed your true colours) before the action started. Imagine, how vital it was to correctly identify whether an approaching ship was friend or foe and yet this curious, mannered rule of combat, offered a means of legitimate deception.

The phrase continued beyond the days of wooden ships right up to the present day when radar, radio and transponders have rendered identification by flag obsolete. So the meaning in today’s world is that one side in a dispute makes it appear that the other side has done something against the rules of war – of course, both historically and currently, the whole idea of false flag actions depends on the idea of both sides obeying, or appearing to obey, the rules of war. In the current war in Ukraine, Russia has claimed that some destruction of civilian targets in Ukraine was actually performed by Ukrainian troops in an effort to smear Russia’s reputation. It has become more and more apparent that Russia has no regard for the rules of war and their false flag actions are part of their propaganda and disinformation campaigns to try and persuade Western countries not to support Ukraine and to bamboozle the Russian people to keep on supporting their leader.

However, the concept of False Flags goes back as far as the bible! The Bible speaks of false flags, or deceptions, by false prophets that will be used against believers in the days before Christ’s second coming (see Matt. 24:11) so perhaps the concept of false flag actions as being a moral part of the rules of war has biblical precedent.

Are you a Friend of Dorothy?

Here we are in the realm of secret signs – to ask someone “Are you a friend of Dorothy?” you are enquiring about someone’s sexual orientation in a way that will not cause offence if you are completely mistaken, and will mean nothing to others who might overhear – False Flag action if you like… Where does it come from?

It is probably a reference to Dorothy Gale – she of The Wizard of Oz fame and who was played by Judy Garland, one of the archetypal gay icons. There was a series of Oz books and it is the second one into which many queer themes have been read. I am still getting accustomed to the rehabilitation of, and reclaiming by gay people, of the word queer, because when I was growing up, it was a very pejorative term but I am beginning to see that it is difficult to find a better word for many aspects of the LGBTQ world and in particular, the references in “The Road to Oz – book two in the Oz series. There is the character Polychrome, who says “You have some queer friends, Dorothy”, and she replies, “The queerness doesn’t matter, so long as they’re friends.”. When Dorothy asks Scarecrow which way to go on the yellow-brick road he says, “Of course, some people go both ways” which is presumably a reference to bi-sexuality. You can find a fuller account here on Wikipedia and for a good exploration of what constitutes a gay icon here. To summarize though, a gay icon does not necessarily have to be gay themselves, or even of the same sex as their gay fan base – Judy Garland had a devoted fan base of homosexual men and she illustrates one of the oft-defining aspects of a gay icon – she had an unhappy life, constantly married the wrong men, struggles with drugs and alcohol, and difficulties as a woman in a male-run business – all struggles with which many gay men and women identify with. Additionally, gay icons may have a camp aspect, intentionally or not, and are often supportive of the LGBTQ community – Judy Garland’s love for her gay fan base was reciprocal.

The ”N” word has been reclaimed by some people of colour, but I would not, nor should anyone else use it, however “queer” is not only an eponymous self-identifying term, as in LGBTQ, but has a long history as a word to describe people and behaviours, so I guess I will use it with its newly rehabilitated status

“Are you a friend of Dorothy” is not exactly a secret language – we will come to that later in the month, but it is a code – a secret communication – one which has become less used in those countries lucky enough to have legalised homosexuality and LGBTQ rights have generally liberalised. I wonder whether in less fortunate countries, they have the same phrase or one less predicated on Western and in particular, Hollywood culture…

I read an article that is very challenging regarding the language around and including LGBTQ in The Weekly Dish by Andrew Sullivan – you may agree or disagree with him but he is thought-provoking… [P.S. 21st May. In a further and excellent article by Andrew Sullivan, he delineates clearly the division between Queer and Homosexual and how the former have captured the narrative and what the consequences of that are – I may have to post about it…]

Finally, another couple of examples of Cant languages from Wikipedia,

• Fala dos arxinas, from Galicia, Spain
• Fenya from Russia