"Bog" - I actually had to look that one up; and I study English! Doesn't seem pleasant; perhaps the owner and OPer would enlighten us on the quality or sound of his instrument?

FYO, 'Bog Standard' is an expression that supposedly originated from the Meccano toys of the early 20th century.
Apparently there were two sizes of Meccano kits available, 'Box, Standard' and 'Box, Deluxe'.
These descriptions were adopted into the language as 'Bog Standard', meaning no frills, basic, ordinary, and 'Dog's Bollocks' which is something much more well appointed and luxurious.

Hope that helps

That really dates you guys, doesn't it?

That's why YOU have to study English- we already know it!

I can take a joke. Sorry, but I doubt Noam Chomsky ever uses "Bog" in such a connotation. I'll be sure to forward your concerns about his English to him.

Chomsky isn't British; "bog standard" is.

You're not British either.

Hey, that's a phrase I've used for years without any idea of its origin – even used it in my reply to a question concerning a 4000 bass on another web-site. Thanks for the insight!

I'm well familiar with Meccano, too, not that there was that much left of my older brother's (probably bog standard) set left by the time it had filtered its way down to me!

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"Well, I'll be... the critter went and done it."

I have some fond memories of Meccano, even though it was hard to get here in Victoria when
I was a kid. But there was a family connection, all the way back in Norther Ireland...

When I was quite young- about six, I think- my cousin in Belfast grew too old for his large Meccano collection and so had it shipped to me out here on the West Coast. There must have been over 1,000 pieces, and gawsh-knows how many of those little nuts and bolts used to put it together.

It came to me in an old metal British Army cartridge case, and nowadays I cringe at home much it must have cost someone I have never met to ship it all the way to Western Canada. And it was HEAVY!

Robin, my cousin, was (is) nearly a full decade older than I and felt himself too old play with it. Still in all it was a heckuva gift. I used the hell out of it for about seven or eight years. However, those tiny screws and nuts started drifting away to parts unknown and ultimately it became harder to build the large, multi-tiered structures I saw in my mind's eye, and a sudden fascination with 1/24th scale plastic car models eventually replaced the Meccano set, which found it's way under the stairs until my nephew turned eight and I passed it on to him.

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Cheers,
RicVic
Canada's Wet Coast.

"We are all musician.."

What can of worms did I open...