WE’RE getting on a bit now, those of us who had children born in the early 70s who watched the real, live bright green Incredible Hulk, played by Lou Ferrigno in the long-running TV series. Boris Johnson, our Hulk wannabe, seems more yellow than green following his no-show at the Luxembourg press conference on Monday.
When the TV series aired, Glasgow kids quickly nicknamed the superhero “The Incredible Wulk”’, “wulk” being their pronunciation of whelk (edible sea snail) and frequently used to describe and denigrate individuals who, literally or figuratively, ran away from conflict. In the Hulk’s case, this was of course classic understatement, though sadly for our pathetic PM, the implication of cowardice rings much truer.
I don’t think there is any link between ‘wulk’ and ‘tumblin’ yer wulkies’ which describes a fairly unathletic (though probably safer) Glasgow version of a summersault, but maybe some other correspondent can throw some light on that.
David Crines
Hamilton
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