Wednesday, 24 April 2019
The Lion on the Cheesegrater
Reading James Davidson's splendid book, "Courtesans and Fishcakes: the consuming passions of classical Athens", I discover that the Athenian brothels offered a service called, "The lion on the cheesegrater". What on earth might this have been? Nobody seems to know. Imagination boggles!
Friday, 5 April 2019
Conjugations
My father used to enjoy conjugating certain ideas in the manner of the Latin verbs we had to learn at school (Amo - amas - amat: I love, you (singular) love, he loves, etc). This one sounds particularly apposite to the current disputes about Brexit:-
I am firm
You are obstinate
He (or she!) is a pig-headed idiot
We stick to our principles
You are doctrinaire
They are utterly blind to the true state of affairs
Here's one about going on holiday:-
I am a traveller
You are a tourist
He goes on coach trips
We have discovered a marvellous Greek island
You have pushed the prices up alarmingly
They have ruined the place completely
This one, about racist feelings, is best done back to front:-
They are Nazis
You are bigots
We only want to stay with the sort of society we're used to
He is a racist
You are prejudiced
I have plenty of black friends, but ....
No doubt readers can think of other examples
Postscript: Matthew Parris produced a new one the other day in the "Times", concerning freedom of speech:-
I am fearlessly outspoken
You had better watch what you say
He should be no-platformed
he didn't suggest a plural.
I am firm
You are obstinate
He (or she!) is a pig-headed idiot
We stick to our principles
You are doctrinaire
They are utterly blind to the true state of affairs
Here's one about going on holiday:-
I am a traveller
You are a tourist
He goes on coach trips
We have discovered a marvellous Greek island
You have pushed the prices up alarmingly
They have ruined the place completely
This one, about racist feelings, is best done back to front:-
They are Nazis
You are bigots
We only want to stay with the sort of society we're used to
He is a racist
You are prejudiced
I have plenty of black friends, but ....
No doubt readers can think of other examples
Postscript: Matthew Parris produced a new one the other day in the "Times", concerning freedom of speech:-
I am fearlessly outspoken
You had better watch what you say
He should be no-platformed
he didn't suggest a plural.
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