NationStates Jolt Archive

Is it just me, or are the British the only people who are into this sort of thing?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/4322534.stm

I remember conker fights in primary school, back in the days before "Save the Nubs" health and safety legislation. Accusations of cheating, LOL, I say it's not a scandal, but a long-accepted part of the sport. Part of the hilarity of the fights was discovering that your opponent used a cement core.

Anyway, that's just me. Ah, nostalgia.

Am I the only one who found this line from the report funny:
Organisers fear child competitors using their own nuts may cheat
The images this brings up!

Is it just me, or are the British the only people who are into this sort of thing?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/4322534.stm

I remember conker fights in primary school, back in the days before "Save the Nubs" health and safety legislation. Accusations of cheating, LOL, I say it's not a scandal, but a long-accepted part of the sport. Part of the hilarity of the fights was discovering that your opponent used a cement core.

Anyway, that's just me. Ah, nostalgia.I have no idea what you're talking about.

Forgive my Americanism, but WTF is conker?

Forgive my Americanism, but WTF is conker?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conker

Sounds like a mix between tetherball and fencing. At least that's what I gather...

You Brits have wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to much time on your hands! :p

Say, they banned them in schools just because a few kids have allergies to nuts?

You Brits have wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to much time on your hands! :p


True that. And I thought people from West Virginia were weird.

they look like horse chestnuts, but i profoundly don't get the sport... dop you throw them at people?

You Brits have wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to much time on your hands! :p
I have to agree with you... and I thought some of the games I played as a kid were nuts.

they look like horse chestnuts, but i profoundly don't get the sport... dop you throw them at people?

I think it's like fencing- you are supposed to hit the other conker, with the object of getting rid of your opponent's conker. Or at least that's what I'm gathering- all I know is from Wikipedia, since I've never heard of the game before I read this thread.

*sigh* Philistines...

The conker is the horse chestnut, stripped of its fleshy, spiky green coating. It has a hole poked through it with something sharp, is tied on the end of a string, and dangled from one person's hand. Then, the competitor holds his up and swings it as hard as he can at the first conker in an attempt to break it (this is done only with a flick of the hand, not by flailing the entire arm at it). After three attempts, or in the case of a miss[1], the roles reverse.

When one conker is destroyed the other "inherits" its victories. A brand-new conker defeating another brand new conker becomes a "One-ey". The next conker it defeats makes it a "Two-ey". Let us say it defeats five, becoming a "Five-ey"; if it is then defeated by a brand new conker that then becomes a "Six-ey", inheriting the five from the conker it has defeated. These accumulate.

This is how I remember the game; the exact rules ([1]) I am unsure of.

*sigh* Philistines...

The conker is the horse chestnut, stripped of its fleshy, spiky green coating. It has a hole poked through it with something sharp, is tied on the end of a string, and dangled from one person's hand. Then, the competitor holds his up and swings it as hard as he can at the first conker in an attempt to break it (this is done only with a flick of the hand, not by flailing the entire arm at it). After three attempts, or in the case of a miss[1], the roles reverse.

When one conker is destroyed the other "inherits" its victories. A brand-new conker defeating another brand new conker becomes a "One-ey". The next conker it defeats makes it a "Two-ey". Let us say it defeats five, becoming a "Five-ey"; if it is then defeated by a brand new conker that then becomes a "Six-ey", inheriting the five from the conker it has defeated. These accumulate.

This is how I remember the game; the exact rules ([1]) I am unsure of.

Well, I was kind of right- the object is to hit the other conker instead of the person.

Do they have timed events (as well as battle-royales)? Because that's the only justification I can see for having a score.

I have to agree with you... and I thought some of the games I played as a kid were nuts.
Pun intended?