Can't Sydenham Spell??

Nickerbockers · Post by **Nickerbockers** » 6 Dec 2007 10:09

We have the 'Two Half's' and near to that the 'Naborhood Office' (???), and I'm wondering what 'Payless' actually means up at Cobbs Corner - You have no pay??

I'm sure there are other gems, but there do seem to be more in Sydenham in a small area than anywhere else I've seen.

leenewham · Post by **leenewham** » 6 Dec 2007 11:09

If only we had a chip shop called Syd's Plaice.

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » 6 Dec 2007 12:44

Caf'e Jasmine in Kirkdal'e brings me out in a rash every time I see their sign

Nickerbockers · Post by **Nickerbockers** » 6 Dec 2007 13:34

Oh God, yes I saw that the other day for the first time - what on earth makes people think it's right, and good enough to put in big letters outside their business???

That wine shop called 'Nicolas' is good as well (though not in Sydenham). It would make sense as 'Nicola's' or even 'Nicholas', but not 'Nicolas' - as it is, it means lots of Nicola's!??

Any more in Sydenham??

user100 · Post by **user100** » 6 Dec 2007 15:11

Actually, the wine shop sign is correct - the shop is owned by a french man - Nicolas Bêtise.

leenewham · Post by **leenewham** » 6 Dec 2007 15:39

Surely Nickerbocker was jesting!

Businessess change the spelling of a word so that it becomes ownable. Do you question ipod? Dyson is now a noun.

When someone changes the spelling of something descriptive for the sake of it, then it's bloody annoying. When it's a brand name then anything goes.

mosy · Post by **mosy** » 6 Dec 2007 20:56

I've no problem with trading names, but one amused me which I think was in Sydenham some time ago - or was somewhere anyway...

... being a hairdresser "Nuthatch". It took me a minute to realise they meant "New Thatch", except they'd answer the phone "Nut Hatch". Recall spluttering my coffee at the irony and it still makes me grin

sydeman · Post by **sydeman** » 11 Dec 2007 21:49

I have an idea that the Naborhood Office is in fact the name of someone or something it replaced, rather than an incorrect spelling of Neighbourhood. I read this in a publication a year or so ago and it maybe a councillor or something. Maybe someone can spread some more light on who this was?

Steve Grindlay · Post by **Steve Grindlay** » 12 Dec 2007 10:08

"Naborhood" was the name of a cinema, opened in 1910 as the Queen's Hall. It was re-named several times, finally to the Naborhood Cinema in 1939. It closed in 1943 after bomb damage and was demolished in 1953 to make way for the present building. Nobody, as far as I am aware, has any idea why it was called the Naborhood or even how it should be pronounced - "naar-borhood" or "nay-borhood".

Muddy Waters · Post by **Muddy Waters** » 12 Dec 2007 15:24

Thanks, Steve, for the info and the photo.

Just look at those lovely old shop fronts and compare with the current modern ones that grace the high street. I know which ones I prefer!

castiron73 · Post by **castiron73** » 12 Dec 2007 18:13

Beautiful.

Is that a private garden where The Two Half's now squats? On another thread I said how I wished we could have a small town square in this spot. Your postcard shows how easily it might have become reality.

I think we need another blitz and to get it right this time.

Come friendly bombs and rain on Sydenham
No more shops where you spend a quid in 'em

kennyb2 · Post by **kennyb2** » 12 Dec 2007 19:20

Back in the late 50`s there was a shop in Sydenham Rd selling secondhand furniture, on the right, just past Trewsbury road, next to the church called...

Ibizit and Izellit.

it caused great mirth among my pals how long it took for the penny to drop with me.

user100 · Post by **user100** » 12 Dec 2007 19:45

heheheh nice one KennyB

I wonder was it anything like the furniture shop I once saw which had the sign:

"Junk bought, antiques sold"

Nickerbockers · Post by **Nickerbockers** » 14 Dec 2007 10:43

Well, whatever the reason it's done, I don't get it! I wasn't jesting, but I understand the 'Nicolas' thing (spose it's coz my name is Nicola, it always makes me wonder what it means, now I know).

Not sure about Naborhood, I must admit I thought it must have a reason behind it, I couldn't believe anyone really thought 'neighbourhood' was spelt that way???

stuart · Post by **stuart** » 14 Dec 2007 11:22

A Google search shows Narborhood to be a family name. I'm guessing one must have passed through Sydenham. But then I would have thought Steve would have spotted it on the electoral rolls ...

Steve ... any ideas?

fishcox · Post by **fishcox** » 14 Dec 2007 14:34

Somebody sent a picture of the 'Naborhood' Centre sign to Private Eye, and it was used in one of their issues, not so long ago.

The following week, a letter was published explaining the reason for it being spelt that way, as per this thread.

For a true idea of whether Sydenham can spell or not, you only have to read some of the other threads on this forum, where the spelling is atroch...atrosh....artroc......terrible - even on everyday common spellings.

user100 · Post by **user100** » 14 Dec 2007 15:21

user100 wrote:Actually, the wine shop sign is correct - the shop is owned by a french man - Nicolas Bêtise.

Ok, got to come clean, I made that bit up.

Probably is owned by someone called Nicola who can't punctuate.

Steve Grindlay · Post by **Steve Grindlay** » 15 Dec 2007 22:27

I've spoken to a friend who knows about Lewisham cinemas, and it seems that "Naborhood Cinema" was actually a generic name given by a small company (Monk's Circuit Cinemas) to a group of cinemas that they acquired, probably in the late 1930s. The Naborhood Cinema, Queens Road, Peckham (demolished 1941) was part of this group.

The choice of spelling was probably because the parent company felt, given Hollywood's influence on film at the time, it sounded more 'modern'.

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Can't Sydenham Spell??

Can't Sydenham Spell??