Why have jockeys over the last couple of years begun a very strange habit of beginning sentances with the word listen ? It is an odd thing. They get asked a question and then immediately rather than just answer the question they instruct the questioner in what they need them to do i.e listen. Its as if they fear the questioners attention span is so ludicrously short that he will drift off rather than remain attentive for the answer to his very own question. Most of us would i feel naturally presume that someone asking us something is sufficiantly interested in the answer to remain attentive long enough to at least hear the answer but it appears Jockeys are of a type that will take nothing for granted, not even that. Maybe being small they were used to being looked over quite a lot and have now developed a habit of reminding people that they are about to speak please pay attention. It is a strange one that i am sure never happened a while back. I did think to begin with it was an Irish thing as noticed it was mostly happening with Irish Jocks but am noticing everyone doing it now. It is now spreading to trainers as Aiden O'Brian loves a bit of it. Q: That was a great ride Johnny did you feel there was much left in the tank J : Listen he was always going well for me..... Q : Did you always feel the gap would come J : Listen i was worried a little but i knew if it did he would go through it
Read....AOB has been doing this for a long time I think maybe the jockeys have caught it off him. I've noticed a lot more are saying it lately. It's almost as annoying as the other habit that's spreading; the a commentator who a keeps saying "a" after "the" and increasingly after anything.
It's an Irish thing for the most part. I find myself saying it unconsciously sometimes when I'm in conversation with somebody. The Aussies seem to say "Look" quite a lot, eg. Q: That was a great ride Damien, did you feel there was much left in the tank? Jockey : Look, he was always going well for me..... Just a figure of speech I suppose.
"The Aussies seem to say "Look" quite a lot, eg. " I find they do it more than the irish do with listen. Went over there once and it was getting to the stage where i couldn't hold a conversation without laughing or doing it myself. I did think Jamie spencer was funny afetr the Asdcot Gold Cup though - Aidan was doing it more than usual and then Spencer started and i thought he was taking the piss.
its a irish thing i always start a sentance with listen.Like you will find a lot of irish jocks and trainers will always say the last day as in the last race he ran in oh and they don't say at leopardsstown they will say in leopardstown ie he ran well the last day in leopardstown.
Great article bluesky, made me chuckle. Famous is right though it's an Irish thing. The Irish way of speaking can be very strange, they add words and phrases that dont need to be added into a sentence, that's why they speak so fast. For example "Listen, Paddy went down the pub last night and necked 15 pints of Guiness in an hour, so he did" Were as in England they would say "Paddy went down the pub last night and necked 15 pints of Guiness in an Hour" So the English would say 4 words less, just to say the same thing
Shergar - I'm half Irish so half of me should be offended by your comments. But they certainly made me chuckle at work today. Nice one! We used to joke that my dad spoke "fluent b*****ks.
My parents are Irish also Fulkes, that's the only reason I know the lingo. It was only said in good fun, glad you seen the funny side
If Aidan was using the word 'listen' more than normal you should have contacted the guiness book of world records people as I'm sure a world record must have been broken Has anyone else noticed his second favourite word is 'obviously'. He must have used it a dozen times talking to Rishi at Royal Ascot after a race.
Listen- and no disrespect to Aidan O'Brien- but diction is not his strong point; and you learn absolutely nothing from what he says. In fact the only horse he's absolutely raved about in his interviews this year (So You Think- implying he's the best he's ever had) was subsequently turned over. Sporting wise, I think he's the most uninformative person I 've ever heard.
I'd agree 100% Tam. Furthermore I wouldn't believe much of his hyperbole but unfortunately some seem to lap it up when he fires the superlatives around like confetti. Just my opinion.
Ye he doesnt hold back with his praise if he likes a horse, we had Starspangledbanner and his 9 second furlongs and Murtagh needing a parachute to slow him down
The sad thing is I don't think AOB is deliberately uninformative! He is very privileged to be where he is and imo does not hold a candle to the likes of Stoute and Hannon.
Just imagine one possible scenario after Saturday's Eclipse Stakes- after Derek Thompson walks out with his mike to greet the winning trainer.... "How about that, Aidan, didn't he do it well; but in all honesty, did you think he could possibly beat your odds on favourite, So You Think?" Aidan replies... "Listen, Derek, we've always known what a good horse Cape Blanco was. After all, he did win The Dante and The Irish Champion last year, yer know." Derek responds... " But he just tore off in front, and your two pacemakers, Jan Vermeer and Alexander Pope just couldn't get to the front and do their job." "Of course not, Derek, except they weren't pacemakers; listen, they're top horses in their own right and deserved to take their chance," retorts Aidan. "So what plans have you got for Cape Blanco now? Will he go to Leopardstown again and try and do the double?" queries Derek. Aidan frowns a little and replies.. " Look, Derek, we'll see how they all come out of the race, and then we'll make plans for the future. Who knows what will be going where at this stage." "Just a final quick question...here comes your winner now...were you disappointed with So You Think?" says Derek. " Not at all Derek. He's a magnificent animal and I'm sure you'll see that someday." says Aidan demurely. "So you think that still, Aidan, " says Derek, half smiling. Aidan says nothing, smiles wanly and walks off.
Tamerlo....Your cracking me up! I do genuinely believe that if Cape Blanco is in the same form as his Irish Champion win he will win, ive always been of the opinion he was the best 3yo from last season, and his performance in the Arc was purely down to the wide draw and soft ground. When I did my Eclipse article I wasn't aware he was a runner but at 20/1 he is a huge price
Shergar, just a bit of late night humour! Having said that, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Cape Blanco led them a merry ta ta !
Nice one. I think you have been very generous with your reserved use of "Listen" and no mention of "obviously". I think I'm looking forward more to the interview than the race now.
When Stoute or Hannon become champion jumps trainer for every year they hold a license they can be put on the same Pedestal As Aiden.
