I just spent a pleasant lunch hour reading P.G. Wodehouse. He writes with all this great 1920s English Oxford chap slang. Dialogue from the book I'm reading, Very Good, Jeeves:
"I found a difficulty in boosting along the chit-chat. He was not a responsive cove.
'Nice day,' I said.
'Quite.'
'But they say the crops need rain.'
He had buried himself in his paper once more, and seemed peeved this time on being lugged to the surface.
'What?'
'The crops.'
'The crops?'
'Crops.'
'What crops?'
'Oh, just crops.'
He laid down his paper.
'You appear to be desirous of giving me some information about crops. What is it?'
'I hear they need rain.'
'Indeed?'"
1 comment:
As an Englishman, I find I appreciate the accent best after months abroad, returning on an overnight plane to some souless hanger, hearing the tannoy announcers and passers by; I think its the way we seem to be speaking whilst keeping our lips in the smallest, tiniest 'o' shape. I'm sure there must be some link there to our famed anal retentiveness as a race. Nonetheless it brings a warm flush to my face because it all sounds so polite. With regards to Wodehouse, well, thats another kettle of fish entirely. English gentlemen and their butlers; it reminds me of the story of Prince Charles having his butler hold the specimen jar whilst he pissed into it at a hospital. He probably pronounced 'What ho!' upon cheerful completion.
Regards
Post a Comment