I can remember reading those old favourites, the Jennings books and the Billy Bunter books, back in my childhood during the late 50’s and early 60’s. In one of the Jennings books, a prospective caning from the headmaster was referred to as a “swishing”, which I always thought was a very evocative term. And the Bunter stories always referred to a caning as a “whopping”. Those two terms have stayed in my memory ever since.
Can anyone remember either of those terms being used at their school? Or were there any other unusual terms that were used to refer to a caning?