Wodehouse quote of the month
May. 31st, 2004 09:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mollyringleAs promised, a passage from P.G. Wodehouse, quoted by Lynne Truss in Eats, Shoots and Leaves. Apparently this is from Wodehouse's Over Seventy, which I can only find out-of-print on Amazon. Apparently Over Seventy was also released as America, I Like You (with some changes), which I can't find at all on Amazon. Oh, well. My To-Be-Read list is already about 400 books too long.
Without further ado: Wodehouse!
How anybody can compose a story by word of mouth face to face with a bored-looking secretary with a notebook is more than I can imagine. Yet many authors think nothing of saying, "Ready, Miss Spelvin? Take dictation. Quote No comma Sir Jasper Murgatroyd comma close quotes comma said no better make that hissed Evangeline comma quote I would not marry you if you were the last man on earth period close quotes Quote Well comma I'm not comma so the point does not arise comma close quotes replied Sir Jasper twirling his moustache cynically period And so the long day wore on forever period. End of chapter."
If I had to do that sort of thing I should be feeling all the time that the girl was saying to herself as she took it down, "Well comma this beats me period How comma with homes for the feebleminded touting for custom on every side comma has a man like this succeeded in remaining at large mark of interrogation."
Without further ado: Wodehouse!
How anybody can compose a story by word of mouth face to face with a bored-looking secretary with a notebook is more than I can imagine. Yet many authors think nothing of saying, "Ready, Miss Spelvin? Take dictation. Quote No comma Sir Jasper Murgatroyd comma close quotes comma said no better make that hissed Evangeline comma quote I would not marry you if you were the last man on earth period close quotes Quote Well comma I'm not comma so the point does not arise comma close quotes replied Sir Jasper twirling his moustache cynically period And so the long day wore on forever period. End of chapter."
If I had to do that sort of thing I should be feeling all the time that the girl was saying to herself as she took it down, "Well comma this beats me period How comma with homes for the feebleminded touting for custom on every side comma has a man like this succeeded in remaining at large mark of interrogation."
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no subject
Date: 2004-05-31 10:54 am (UTC)Hey....
Date: 2004-05-31 12:14 pm (UTC)Re: Hey....
Date: 2004-05-31 04:07 pm (UTC)Oh, and er, because I'm a tard, you'll have to tell me what the writing says. In case anyone asks me.
Was just out doing some gardening as a matter of fact, and eyeing the passionflower and wondering when those buds are actually going to open into flowers, if ever. I need the Samwise Gamgee touch, clearly.
Re: Hey....
Date: 2004-05-31 04:42 pm (UTC):-)
Re: Hey....
Date: 2004-05-31 06:25 pm (UTC)Phonetic Punctuation
Date: 2004-06-03 06:52 pm (UTC)It reminds me of Victor Borge's Phonetic Punctuation, which he performed on the Electric Company way back when. I just looked for a clip, with no luck; but mysimon.com (http://www.mysimon.com/4004-4182_8-660039379.html?tag=ob_50&orderby=50&sort=0&sesnid=1c9a031&cqdid=11) says that the Live! album is selling for as-low-as $6.65, which is worth it for that alone! (One really must hear what a question mark sounds like.)
If you are interested in a copy of Over Seventy, abebooks (http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=wodehouse&imageField.y=10&imageField.x=53&ph=2&cmid=hp-search-form&tn=Over+Seventy&sts=t) has 11 copies listed.
Sincerely comma
Meredith
Re: Hey....
Date: 2004-06-05 09:35 am (UTC)To make it correct in Elvish, you must put the vowels after the consonants. So the icon actually reads "elomnley" in Tengwar. For it to be correct, you always put the vowels after the consonants.
Well I can't have a visual representation, but you can learn more about Elvish at www.grey-company.org. It's an *awesome* icon, just a few "grammatical" errors ;)
Re: Phonetic Punctuation
Date: 2004-06-06 07:11 pm (UTC)Hmm, thanks for the link to abebooks, too. Those prices aren't cheap, though. Maybe a library edition is the best idea. Heh.
Cheers!
Re: Hey....
Date: 2004-06-06 07:46 pm (UTC)