Playing Hamlet (and Other Sayings) -- by Susan Price
Wikimedia, by Bhagerathe I was peering into the backyard, trying to work out whether it was worth pegging washing on the line. It probably wasn't because, as I said to my friend, "It's getting very dark over Bill's mother's." The situation over Bill's mother's has been a concern all my life: usually, but not always, when there's a load of washing to be hung out. My mother mentioned the darkness over Bill's mother's at least once a week. She'd heard the phrase used by her mother and, for a while, it had puzzled her a great deal, because one of her older brothers was named Bill. So, surely, her mother was talking about herself? But she'd be nodding towards the dark clouds gathering over the hills, miles away. Who was this other Bill's mother and why was her mother keeping an eye on her? I don't suppose there's anyone in Britain who doesn't know that the phrase means, 'I think it's going to rain soon (because r...