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 Archer 1 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 feminine 2. 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 context 3 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 Conservative 4 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 manly 5 – or less feminine - but Mr Cameron nowparts his hair on the right.
　　Jennifer Aston, an Image Consultant 6, 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 backwards 7 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 bristles 8?!