Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Travel&Dining > TravelBuzz
Reload this Page >

What's a Kettle?

Community
Wiki Posts
Search

What's a Kettle?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Dec 2, 2010 | 9:39 am
  #46  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Atherton, CA
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP; Owner, Green Bay Packers
Posts: 21,685
Originally Posted by PTravel
Kettle is short for "Ma and Pa Kettle," i.e. a naive and uninformed casual traveler, as in, "I heard a Kettle with an economy ticket tell an FA, 'But I thought we could just sit anywhere. Aren't all the seats the same?'"

Related term: Gomer, short for "Gomer Pyle," meaning a louder and stupider Kettle, as in, "This Gomer boarded and said, 'Well, Golly, I wish I had a seat by the window because I like to keep it rolled down to get me some of that fresh air.'"
Your second definition is a little short. This is a term stolen from the medical community where ignorant people show up at the emergency room with runny noses and other similar life threatening emergencies. It stands for Get Out of My Emergency Room-- GOMER.

Last edited by Doc Savage; Dec 2, 2010 at 9:53 am
Doc Savage is offline  
Old Dec 2, 2010 | 9:52 am
  #47  
Company Representative - Starwood
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Marriott Employee Level
Posts: 31,593
Originally Posted by pinworm
...and then cannot find their seat because they don't realize that row 22 is behind row 21 and that one side of the plane is ABC and the other is DEF...
I am the epitomy of a kettle, but I embrace it.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<See.

Also, I note that on the last flight I took, the 737 I was on had consecutively-numbered seats up to about row 15, then suddenly changed to 21. I have to say that it left me wondering where the other five rows had gone to.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]
Starwood Lurker is offline  
Old Dec 2, 2010 | 9:54 am
  #48  
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,849
Originally Posted by Doc Savage
Your second definition is wrong. This is a term stolen from the medical community where ignorant people show up at the emergency room with runny noses and other similar life threatening emergencies. It stands for Get Out of My Emergency Room-- GOMER.
Funny, too, how this sort shows up in droves during bad weather, but never during the big game or on a particularly pleasant, sunny weekend afternoon.
yyzvoyageur is offline  
Old Dec 2, 2010 | 9:54 am
  #49  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Atherton, CA
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP; Owner, Green Bay Packers
Posts: 21,685
Originally Posted by Starwood Lurker
I am the epitomy of a kettle, but I embrace it.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<See.

Also, I note that on the last flight I took, the 737 I was on had consecutively-numbered seats up to about row 15, then suddenly changed to 21. I have to say that it left me wondering where the other five rows had gone to.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]
So just how comfortable was your seat in row 17?
Doc Savage is offline  
Old Dec 2, 2010 | 9:56 am
  #50  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Atherton, CA
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP; Owner, Green Bay Packers
Posts: 21,685
Originally Posted by yyzvoyageur
Funny, too, how this sort shows up in droves during bad weather, but never during the big game or on a particularly pleasant, sunny weekend afternoon.

But never after WINNING the big game, and particularly after LOSING it.....
Doc Savage is offline  
Old Dec 2, 2010 | 9:59 am
  #51  
Company Representative - Starwood
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Marriott Employee Level
Posts: 31,593
Originally Posted by Doc Savage
So just how comfortable was your seat in row 17?
LOL. Well, the ticket said 21D, but it was definitely 16D in my mind.

It was okay. Thankfully, I had an open middle seat on that flight.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]
Starwood Lurker is offline  
Old Dec 2, 2010 | 10:09 am
  #52  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Atherton, CA
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP; Owner, Green Bay Packers
Posts: 21,685
Originally Posted by Starwood Lurker

Starwood Lurker
FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: SPG E Level; AA Pa Kettle; CO/UA Pa Kettle; PWP Plenipotentiary Ombudsman of
Posts: 20,500
LOL I see what ya' did there....



Doc Savage is offline  
Old Dec 2, 2010 | 10:42 am
  #53  
All eyes on you!
20 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Fort Worth, Texas USA
Programs: AA Executive Platinum 5 million miles
Posts: 1,007
I am going to digress just a tad. If you really want to find out about the real Mr. and Mrs. Kettle, read Betty MacDonald's non-fiction account of her life on a chicken ranch in rural Washington during the 1920s. Her first book was The Egg and I. She was a young bride married to an older insurance salesman; shortly after the wedding, her husband decided to quit his job, move from Seattle, and purchase a chicken farm. The Kettles were just one of the neighboring families that Betty MacDonald encountered.

Her book was used as the basis for a movie called "The Egg and I" starring Claudette Colbert as the young bride. The Kettles were featured in the movie and became so popular that a series of movies was issued about them.

When I was in the 7th grade, I did a book report on The Egg and I. It was not only the funniest book that I had read but also the first that included "swear words." I am sure that my teacher was not aware of the contents of the book or else I would have been silenced; this took place a long time ago - back in the very late 1960s.

One of the more memorable scenes in the book was a discussion between Betty and Mr. Kettle while he was in the outhouse; there was no door to block her view. The Kettles had many children; the most memorable one had the nickname of "T*ts" and it was short for sister. Mrs. Kettle had immigrated from Estonia and married Mr. Kettle as a means of survival.

I read the book before I saw the movie (on television and not at the theater) and was disappointed that the character Kettles did not use the language that the real Kettles used.

Betty MacDonald wrote other books about her life; they are fascinating, hilarious, and extremely down-to-earth. If you ever come across any of her books, take the time to read them. She also wrote a series of books for children.

Last edited by FlyForFun; Dec 2, 2010 at 10:49 am Reason: spelling
FlyForFun is offline  
Old Dec 2, 2010 | 11:57 am
  #54  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Potomac Falls, VA
Programs: AA Plat 2MM, MR Gold, Avis Pref
Posts: 41,109
along similar lines

if I'm describing a Kettle situation, i might use the term "Jethro" for the male and "Ellie Mae" for the female such as

So "Jethro" sits down in First Class because he didn't realize that he and "Ellie Mae" (who were ticketed for seats at 34 B & E) were in coach....
TrojanHorse is offline  
Old Dec 2, 2010 | 12:45 pm
  #55  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 3,096
Originally Posted by Gamecock
Rows 21 and 22?!?

They get on the plane and stop at row 1, expecting row 40 to be at the front of the plane.

I find them benign, but clueless.
Generally benign, yes. Frequently amusing, most definately. But exasperating quite often.

Usually my frustration arises not from one Kettle, but from the cumulitave frustration of Kettle after Kettle after Kettle. I fully expect to see them clog up security and grab my seat back as they walk back to their seat and stand at the airside outlet chatting with their families as dozens of other pax pile up behind them...but to go though it over and over and over several times a week becomes extremely irritating.

The more frequently you fly, the more beligerant to kettles you become.
pinworm is offline  
Old Dec 2, 2010 | 2:39 pm
  #56  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
All eyes on you!
20 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: n.y.c.
Posts: 14,059
Originally Posted by Gamecock
What's a Kettle?

The exact opposite of the DYKWIA type.

You have no doubt seen those, they expect the world to bow down because they have some type of wallet candy issued by an airline/hotel. Or worse they claim they fly a lot, even though they define a lot as 2 domestic midcons a year, usually one business trip and one during amateur week, aka Thanksgiving.
I'm confused. Doesn't the "wallet candy" (e.g. elite status card) describe the DYKWIA?
nerd is offline  
Old Dec 2, 2010 | 2:48 pm
  #57  
Company Representative - Starwood
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Marriott Employee Level
Posts: 31,593
Originally Posted by TrojanHorse
along similar lines

if I'm describing a Kettle situation, i might use the term "Jethro" for the male and "Ellie Mae" for the female such as

So "Jethro" sits down in First Class because he didn't realize that he and "Ellie Mae" (who were ticketed for seats at 34 B & E) were in coach....
Thanks for not using Billy Bob as a pejorative.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]
Starwood Lurker is offline  
Old Dec 2, 2010 | 4:27 pm
  #58  
All eyes on you!
20 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Boulder, CO
Programs: UA, AA, WN; HH, MR, IHG
Posts: 7,055
Originally Posted by Vuelos
You mean Passengers of Tremendous Size?
No, I don't; I meant exactly what I wrote. The idea is that a POTS = a DYKWIA. Their attitudes don't mix well.
cepheid is offline  
Old Dec 2, 2010 | 5:10 pm
  #59  
Original Poster
20 Countries Visited
5M
All eyes on you!
25 Years on Site
 
Join Date: May 2000
Location: IAD/DCA/BWI
Programs: SQ, LH, AMEX, Citi, Cap1
Posts: 4,113
Wow! I didn't know such an innocent post would become a large thread.

- Pat
Wiirachay is offline  
Old Dec 2, 2010 | 5:19 pm
  #60  
10 Countries Visited
20 Countries Visited
30 Countries Visited
15 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Home Airports: CAE/CLT
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, National Executive
Posts: 5,460
Originally Posted by nerd
I'm confused. Doesn't the "wallet candy" (e.g. elite status card) describe the DYKWIA?
No, but DYKWIA types often have wallet candy.
Many of us on FT have some type of wallet candy but don't play that card.
Gamecock is offline  


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.