“Ian's 'cannot bear' was on a direct par with Son Andrew's statement, during his summer holidays, that he was 'desperate to get a job.'  'Desperate' was used interestingly here.  'Desperate to get a job' comprised lying in bed until about 11.30 and then stumbling about for a bit before embarking on a fruitless amble around the immediate locale with several of his mates, calling into shops on the off-chance and no doubt frightening the proprietors rigid with their gangling six foot clumsiness, their menacing inarticulacy, and their shuffling gait of the young homeless.  'Give us ten pounds Mum, there are no jobs to be had anywhere.' 'Anywhere' in this situation was also an interesting variation on received meaning.  Anywhere, apparently, could also mean 'this small bit of London in which we live'.  Just to be fair, and not to imply that the sororiety was hanging back in the matter of the changing shape of the English language, Daughter Claire's linguistics were also interesting.  To pick one at random - 'it's doing my head in' - could be said of anything from the introduction to the household of cheaper shampoos, to the imposition of a five minute rule for the telephone - both of which were quite likely, in Daughter Claire's head-done-in state, to contrive the failure of all three of her A levels and a permanent place under a blanket outside Woolworths .”