Verbs of Motion

Subtle pejoration is often conveyed through verbs of motion or location. Outsiders "teem". When someone dares to to tell us what to do and where to go we are marched, herded or shunted.

crawl The streets of Georgetown are crawling with shoppers and gawkers and tourists. daylife.com

herd We were all herded into a seated area with a tv and drinks machine, at 11pm the lights were dimmed and the TV turned off. sleepingatairports.net

march, swathe, plaster, truss The solution is to “march Muslim children into separate institutions where, swathed in Koranic teachings and constrictive dress…” Janice Turner Times Feb 14 09 (She disapproves, doesn’t she?) An extreme Haredi sect… recently plastered yellow stars on their children… Independent January 10, 2012 Cameron's cuties are photographed "trussed up in jeans and heels" April 10 trussed up in a full skirt (Times on fashion, June 3, 2008)

parade Gershwin did not “parade around” conducting Wagner. "Public parading of the burqa is a cultural affront."

shunt When children are shunted off to "children's church," how will they see their parents worship?

skitter From a patronising review of a restaurant in a suburb of Sheffield: Inside the door, a heavily pregnant lady skitters past, her arms full of plates. Independent October 2010

squat, scuttle, tiptoe, perch In a piece about an older man who married a Thai bride, his house “squatted” in a swamp, he “scuttled” back to Barrow in Furness. It makes him look faintly ridiculous. “This auntie’s house squats in a back lane of solid walls and heavy metal gates.” “The Cathedral: 600 years ago, the builders of this Gothic monster, which squats opposite the Alcazar like a giant stickle-backed insect, had high ambitions.” "Delaroche’s portrayal of Oliver Cromwell tiptoeing over to the coffin of Charles I on the night of the king’s execution, lifting the lid and peeping in." Waldemar Januszczak, Sunday Times March 14 10 (Cromwell is just standing there wearing large boots – we don’t know if he tiptoed or stumped across the room.) "Here, high incomes squat next to high-rises in one big urban screech of noise." Johann Hari, Independent May 2010 He’s talking about Fulham and I don’t think he likes it. We subtly sneer at addresses that “perch” across the street.

teem In classic fashion, the city teemed with outsiders, migrants from other parts of Britain and even Europe. wiki Actually, the whole village is teeming with trippers. Web

toddle We don’t need to see a naked Helen toddle across the stage! (Ancient review of play in which Diana Rigg took her clothes off.)

waltz "It's very disturbing that there were two, three, four-hour waits at Heathrow and other places and that there were practically no checks for EU nationals and non-EU nationals. That may well have meant that hundreds if not thousands of people were able just to waltz into this country," Chris Bryant [shadow immigration minister] said. Telegraph, November 7, 2011