During a recent reread of The Seven Dials Mystery, I became very aware of the word “old,” as it is used in the slang of the young people staying at Chimneys, and I started wondering about it. Naturally, I had to do some research.

Remember the James Bond movie From Russia with Love? Bond’s fellow traveler punctuates his conversation frequently with the phrase “old man.” By the 1960s, this was an over-used cliché and alerted Bond to the undercover assassin, but in the 1920s, it was quite trendy.

Most of the main characters in The Seven Dials Mystery use “old” as an affectionate adjective among themselves. “Old man” is used as well as “old boy,” “old Jimmy,” “old Bill,” and even “old Bundle.” I did some brief research on the use of “old” as an adjective and was reminded of facts I knew, but never really thought much about before.

Fact #1:

“Old man” can refer to one’s boyfriend, one’s husband, or one’s father. It can also refer to one’s boss or military commander, although not to his face. Usually, it’s meant to be a good-natured ribbing among people with a strong familiarity. “Old lady” works the same way.

Fact #2:

“Old boy” is a bit more specific. When most boys during a certain time in England were sent to boarding schools for most of their youth, they naturally formed strong relationships with each other and with their schools. Headmasters referred to alumni as “old boys,” regardless of how many years since their school days. And a man’s career was often built on those school-day relationships, counting on nepotism from other “old boys.”

As you would expect, girls’ schools also referred to alumni as “old girls,” and grown-up women shared a similar “old girl” network after their school years.

Fact #3

The United States has “good old boys,” which are not quite the same as England’s “old boys.” “Good old boys” in the U.S. prefer to socialize with and support each other like English “old boys,” but the network is usually based on shared ideology rather than a shared education.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines “good old boy” as

a man from the southern US who enjoys spending time with his friends, and disapproves of ideas or ways of behaving that are different from his own

It’s not as common, but “good old girl” is also used occasionally. The Urban Dictionary definition for “good old girl” is “Chick who will do anything for a good old boy.”

One edition of The Seven Dials Mystery has an introduction by Val McDermid, a very successful multi-hyphenate that includes crime writer. In her intro, McDermid points out the similarities in this novel to those of P.G. Wodehouse, particularly, as she says, the “ineffectual Oxbridge Foreign Office young men being rescued by their women.”

(I’m embarrassed to say it never occurred to me before that “Oxbridge” is a mash-up of “Oxford” and “Cambridge,” but now I know, so please forgive my previous ignorance!)

One assumes these young men found Foreign Office jobs through their “old boy” networks rather than because of their abilities. Christie herself writes that they were “employed in a purely ornamental capacity.”

Not every “old” reference in The Seven Dials Mystery is good-natured, however. When Bill learns that his boss, George Lomax, is proposing to Bundle he splutters: “And George—a disgusting windbag, an unscrupulous hypocritical old hot air merchant—” That is definitely not a friendly ribbing.  

Below is a list of “old” quotes in The Seven Dials Mystery, along with who said each one. I just hope that the next time you read this novel, you won’t be too distracted by the “olds” jumping out at you, too!

Spoken by Jimmy Thesiger:

• “Ronny, old boy,” he murmured, “I’m going to be up against it. And you’re not here to join in the game.”
• “Oh, that’s all right. I’m the cat that had nine lives. Bye-bye, old thing.”
• “He’s done extremely well for himself so far—dug himself in with old Coote and looks like being a permanency in the job.”
• “Naturally, I want to get value out of old Leopold now I’ve bought him,”
• “I’m wondering,” he ended, “what was in old Battle’s mind when he got Coote to throw the pistol.”
• “I didn’t see it at the time—but I do now. I was a fool, but dash it all, old Bill—”
• The Countess is an extraordinarily beautiful woman—not my type of course,” put in Mr. Thesiger hastily—“and old Bill has always had a heart like an hotel.”
• “I mean it would have been awfully jolly if it hadn’t been for poor old Gerry kicking the bucket.”
• “Ah! That’s where the staff work has gone wrong, old boy.”
• “I’m sorry, Bundle. Possibly the jolly old brain isn’t functioning as well as usual,
• “Look here,” he said. “Pull yourself together, old man.”

Spoken by Bill Eversleigh:

• “Oh, yes—exciting. But they may be damnably dangerous. Look at poor old Ronny.”
• Bill looked at Jimmy. “Good old Bundle,” he said.
• “It’s all very well ragging but when I think of poor Gerry—and then poor old Ronny—”
• “Pretty awkward if you shot old Digby walking in his sleep.”
• Bill Eversleigh said; “My God! Old Jimmy!”
• “Poor old Bundle. Been laying it on a bit thick, haven’t you?”
• “And George—a disgusting windbag, an unscrupulous hypocritical old hot air merchant—
• “Pongo?” said Bill. “Not old Pongo?”

Spoken by Superinendent Battle:

• “Yes, Mr. Eversleigh, old Pongo as you call him.”

Spoken by Bundle Brent:

• “You poor old man,” said Bundle. “You’ll never be a golfer—but at any rate it keeps you out of mischief.”

Spoken by Terence O’Rourke:

• “Old Pongo’s a cautious player—and takes no risks.”

Spoken by Babe St. Maur:

• “Poor old Bill,” said Miss St. Maur. “That poor baby had to be vamped against his will."

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood