I have a new favorite phrase. “Sod off, Swampy”
from the OpinionJournal.com
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‘Sod Off, Swampy,’ Says Cockney Barrow Boy Spiv
“When 35 Greenpeace protesters stormed the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) yesterday they had planned the operation in great detail,” reports the Times of London:
What they were not prepared for was the post-prandial aggression of oil traders who kicked and punched them back on to the pavement.
“We bit off more than we could chew. They were just Cockney barrow boy spivs. Total thugs,” one protester said, rubbing his bruised skull. “I’ve never seen anyone less amenable to listening to our point of view.”
Another said: “I took on a Texan Swat team at Esso last year and they were angels compared with this lot.” Behind him, on the balcony of the pub opposite the IPE, a bleary-eyed trader, pint in hand, yelled: “Sod off, Swampy.”
“Greenpeace had hoped to paralyse oil trading at the exchange,” the Times notes. It’s pretty clear who the thugs are here, and it’s not the Cockney barrow boy spivs.