A while back, Bernard Shaw quipped that the United States and the United Kingdom are “two nations divided by a common language,” which was his witty way of quipping that his countrymen are prone to using really vile-sounding idioms for commonplace pleasantries.

Each week on National Review Online, John Derbyshire narrates an audio segment called “Derb Radio.” Near the very end of his latest 15-minute broadcast (dated July 28), he advises his listeners to, and I’m quoting here, “keep your peckers up.”

Listen for yourself. You can go to the link above if you want to enjoy all 15 minutes, but if you just want to hear the dirty part, I made this handy excerpt:

Derb’s inbox must have been quickly flooded, because it was not long before he felt the need to make this clarification:

This is a Britishism. It means: Keep an optimistic attitude and mien — shoulders back, head up, nose (that’s the pecker) in the air. I hope that is clear.

Well, of course it ain’t clear, Derb. That’s because most Americans have not read my handy “Guide to Innocent Britishisms That Sound Obscene in English.” (In fact, as of this writing, no Americans have read it, not even me, because I’m still writing it.) This guide will serve a dual purpose: to aid in understanding our British cousins when they visit our shores, and to supply the traveling American with a stock of useful phrases if he should find himself on the Sceptred Isle. And I should give fair warning, that I’m making almost all of this up as I go.
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Friends, bloggers, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Gibson, not to praise him.

Like many millions of others, I lost a great deal of respect for Mel Gibson yesterday. If I lost more than most, it’s because I had more than most. Hollywood tells fables of courage and goodness, but offers precious few examples of true goodness, and true courage. Gibson was one of the few.

The world of celebrities is the world of pampered “bad boys”: whoremongering, pill-popping, arrogant scumbags. Their wealth makes their every hedonistic whim attainable, and their chorus of sycophants, groupies, and hangers-on cheers them on whatever they do, insulating them from any principles. If they desire a cachet of “goodness,” they simply say they’re against something bad, like war, or hurricanes. And since they can play the guitar or they have dreamy blue eyes, they are treated like gods.

Early on, Gibson was one of these celebrity bastards, a philandering, boozing no-account airhead. But then, for some reason, ten years ago or more, he decided not to be a “bad boy” anymore. Ever since his last rehab treatment in the early 1990s, he led a life of sobriety. He remained faithful to his wife of 26 years. He built chapels. And most admirably (at least for me), he became an outspoken advocate of unfashionable truths.
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The political world was rocked today, when prominent and influential blogger Sean Gleeson retracted his endorsement of actor Mel Gibson in the 2008 United States presidential election.

The retraction is seen as a setback for Gibson, who never showed any inclination to run for the office anyway, and had garnered no other supporters since landing Gleeson’s endorsement more than a year ago, on April 6, 2005.

Coming on the heels of Gibson’s disgraceful Malibu DUI arrest and alleged profane outbursts, Gleeson’s retraction will doom the actor’s political prospects, say most experts contacted for this story. “Yup, that’s right,” they all said. Gibson could not be reached for comment.

AND MY FOLLOW-UP POST: Bad boy, good guy, antisemite.

Another true thrilling tale of horror snatched from today’s blogs. Meet Mr. Glenn Greenwald, by all appearances an upstanding and respected left-wing blogger… until he becomes “The Puppeteer,” who from his secret Brazilian lair creates virtual armies of “sock puppets,” who invade the comment sections of blogs to do their master’s bidding. Read this spine-chilling tale here, and here, and here, and here…

“Still one of my all-time favorites,” said the e-mail from my pop, with a link to this live Merle Haggard concert video. Mine, too. Enjoy.

P.J. O’Rourke discovered everything that’s wrong with America, conveniently printed on a small tag affixed to his chair. To avoid possible injury, do not read his piece (it’s here at the Weekly Standard) without being seated securely.