Hair partings

BBC Learning EnglishWeekenderHair partings
Yvonne: Today, men want the right hairstyle just as much aswomen do. And the waymen part their hair can make that look complete – butshould men part their hair on the left or on the right?
　　Hello, I'm Yvonne Archer¹ and you're listening to Weekenderfrom bbclearningenglish.com! Interestingly enough, thecharacter Clark Kent has his hair parted on the right. Butas the superhero, Superman, his hair is parted on the left,which is supposed to be less feminine². So what does LeeStafford, hairdresser to the rich and famous, say to that?
　　His hair is parted on the left! As we hear from Lee, try tofind out how long he's been a hairdresser and what otherjob he does…INSERTActually, I've never thought about it before, you know,whether it should go on the left or the right. I think it'sonly our grandparents that know about that old, you know,thingy-bobby because I've been doing hairdressing for 20years and I've never thought about it. I've won Men'sBritish Hairdresser of the Year, I teach men's hairdressingand I've never thought about putting it on a particularside and no-one's asked what side it should go on.
　　Yvonne: Lee Stafford says he's 'been doing hairdressing' –he's been a hairdresser for 20 years – and he also teachespeople how to be a men's hairdresser. But Lee thinks it'sonly our grandparents, very old people, who know which sidea man should part his hair on. Now did you notice thatlovely informal term that Lee used which Londonerssometimes use when they've forgotten or don't knowthe correct term or noun for something? It's a favourite ofmine – so try tocatch it as we hear from Lee again…Weekender  ? BBC Learning EnglishPage 1 of 4bbclearningenglish.comINSERTI think it's only our grandparents that know about thatold, you know, thingy-bobby…Yvonne: Lee used 'thingy-bobby' to replace a word thatcould be 'tradition' or 'custom' or 'rule' – we have toguess from the context³ of what he's saying. But by usingthe term 'thingy-bobby', Lee makes it seem that he's nottalking about anything particularly important. The oldcustom that men should only part their hair on the left isno longer followed and isn't important.
　　INSERTI think it's only our grandparents that know about thatold, you know, thingy-bobby…Yvonne: Now if I say: "Pass that thingy-bobby, please" –I've momentarily forgotten the name of the thing that I'dlike you to pass to me. Let's say it's a hairbrush - butit's not important for me to remember that it's called ahairbrush because it's clear that you probably know whatI'm referring to anyway. You know what that 'thingy-bobby'
　　is.
　　But if I say, "Thingy-bobby's got a new hairstyle!" – it'squite rude. You know that I've forgotten the person's namebut you also know that the person isn't important to me.
　　It's not worth the effort it takes to try to remember hisor her name - or even the effort it takes to describe theperson so that you can remind me of their name. So do becareful when using that term 'thingy-bobby'!
　　Recently, I heard a news report that the leader ofBritain's Conservative⁴ political party, David Cameron,decided to change the parting in his hair. As we've heard,men who part their hair on the left are sometimes thoughtto be more manly⁵ – or less feminine - but Mr Cameron nowparts his hair on the right.
　　Jennifer Aston, an Image Consultant⁶, helps people find thebest look for their lifestyle and job. And she gives threesimple reasons why someone like David Cameron might changethe parting in his hair. He's trying to hide a place on hishead where the hair isn't as thick as it used to be –where it's 'thinning'… he's trying to look his best – asattractive as possible… and someone's asking himto try something different – to 'experiment' with hishair.
　　INSERTIt doesn't have any meaning beyond, maybe trying todisguise a thinning - little thinning on one side. But Idon't think it's significant beyond him trying to look hisbest, have a little play with things, but somebody's askinghim to experiment with it.
　　Yvonne: As you probably know, Will Kremer is a member ofthe bbclearningenglish.com team – and you'll have noticedfrom his picture on our Meet the Team page, that he's got alot of very thick hair. It's always parted on the right –but Will has no choice in that because of the way his hairgrows at the front:
　　INSERTWell my hair has a kiss-curl on the front - sometimes Ithink it's called a cowlick which means it goes down at thefront and then it goes up.
　　Yvonne: And when Will was younger, his 'kiss-curl' or'cowlick' would cause problems for the cheaper barbers hewent to because they only knew how to create one or twohaircuts.
　　INSERT:
　　They didn't really understand my hair, you know, becausethey would try and make my hair do things that it didn'twant to do – like they would brush it backwards⁷ or try andmake it part on the left. And it just looked ridiculous –I looked like a hedgehog!
　　Yvonne: Luckily, times have changed and it seems that it nolonger matters which side men part their hair on. So, Willnever has to look like a hedgehog any more – after all,who wants to look like a small, prickly animal that'scovered in bristles⁸?!

1 archer   

n.射手，弓箭手

参考例句：

• The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
• The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。

2 feminine   

adj.女性的，女子气的

参考例句：

• He has a very feminine voice.他的声音非常像女人。
• She was a very feminine person.她是个很有女性气质的人。

3 context   

n.背景，环境，上下文，语境

参考例句：

• You can always tell the meaning of a word from its context.你常可以从上下文中猜出词义来。
• This sentence does not seem to connect with the context.这个句子似乎与上下文脱节。

4 conservative   

adj.保守的，守旧的；n.保守的人，保守派

参考例句：

• He is a conservative member of the church.他是一个守旧教会教友。
• The young man is very conservative.这个年轻人很守旧。

5 manly   

adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地

参考例句：

• The boy walked with a confident manly stride.这男孩以自信的男人步伐行走。
• He set himself manly tasks and expected others to follow his example.他给自己定下了男子汉的任务，并希望别人效之。

6 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

7 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

8 bristles   

短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the bristles on his chin 他下巴上的胡楂子
• This job bristles with difficulties. 这项工作困难重重。