Psmith
Sutherlin
Sutherlin
JMG Joe
Pstephen.
A Young Man In Spats
c/o The Drones Club
16 Dover Street
London, W1
Michael Lounsbery
> How do you pronounce Psmith?
Having just read this passage last night, I recall it as...
"The 'P' is silent, as in 'pthisis', 'ptarmigan', and 'psychosis.'"
Glad to be of help...
Archibald Mulliner
Ken Miner
"Ian" <ian_...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:858mna$cq2$1...@news7.svr.pol.co.uk...
> How do you pronounce Psmith?
I suppose we are supposed to pronounce it "Smith" and no doubt that is how
the rest of this illustrious newsgroup pronounce it. However I must confess
that at one time I fully pronounced the 'p' and even now I tend to silently
produce the bilabial closure for the 'p' just for a microsecond before going
on with the 'smith.'
You have to do _something_, don't you know; because in the stories Psmith
says things like "My name is Psmith. The 'p' is silent." Well, how are we
to imagine _him_ pronouncing it? Or, what amounts to the same thing, how
are we supposed to read such lines aloud?
Wish I could find an actual line to cite, but all my Wodehouse books are
inaccessible at the moment.
* C * O * N * A * N *
The Grammarian.
Ian
Ian
Sutherlin wrote in message <38729D82...@fastband.com>...
>What is Psmith's full name? Thank you for your time, Judy.
>
Alan Follett
> I suppose we are supposed to pronounce
> it "Smith" and no doubt that is how the rest
> of this illustrious newsgroup pronounce it.
> However I must confess that at one time
> I fully pronounced the 'p' and even now I
> tend to silently produce the bilabial closure
> for the 'p' just for a microsecond before
> going on with the 'smith.'
> You have to do _something_, don't you know;
> because in the stories Psmith says things like
> "My name is Psmith. The 'p' is silent." Well,
> how are we to imagine _him_ pronouncing it?
> Or, what amounts to the same thing, how are
> we supposed to read such lines aloud?
> Wish I could find an actual line to cite, but
> all my Wodehouse books are inaccessible
> at the moment.
> * C * O * N * A * N *
> The Grammarian.
What ho, mon vieux Hyperborean philologist;
In considering pronunciation, we must bear in mind that Psmith's surname
was originally spelled in the most conventional rosbif manner, with the
initial P being a sort of orthographic flourish adopted by the languidly
elegant one himself. As evidence of this, in _Psmith in the City,_ his
father is consistently referred to by the narrator as Mr. Smith.
Ta!
Le Pvicomte de Pblissac
JMG Joe
<<How do you pronounce Psmith?>>
With great feeling.
Kurt & Nancy Harris
appropriate here. The only Psmith story I have read was the book "Psmith in
the City" (I think) and I didn't care much for it. Yet I hear others speak
highly of this character and his stories. Can someone recommend a book that
will help rehabilitate this misconceived notion that Psmith stories are not
worth the time it takes to read them?
Thanks ever so much.
the pink chap
--
It was one of those jolly, happy, bread-crumbling parties where you
cough twice before you speak, and then decide not to say it after all.
-- P. G. Wodehouse
*remove
>Since we've already got a thread about Psmith, I have a question that may be
>appropriate here. The only Psmith story I have read was the book "Psmith in
>the City" (I think) and I didn't care much for it. Yet I hear others speak
>highly of this character and his stories. Can someone recommend a book that
>will help rehabilitate this misconceived notion that Psmith stories are not
>worth the time it takes to read them?
>
>Thanks ever so much.
>the pink chap
You simply must try Leave It To Psmith. It is the fourth (and last) in the
Psmith saga and the second one at Blandings. It is a corker and the
novel that a good percentage of Wodehouseans claim to have been
their first Plum. You will yet grow to love Psmith. The thing about the
preceeding Psmith novels (City and Journalist) is that they're a bit
thin in the plot department. Read them after you grow to love Psmith
and your opinions may well change.
pip-pip,
Gussie
Michael Lounsbery
> You simply must try Leave It To Psmith. It is the fourth (and last) in the
> Psmith saga and the second one at Blandings. It is a corker and the
> novel that a good percentage of Wodehouseans claim to have been
> their first Plum. You will yet grow to love Psmith. The thing about the
> preceeding Psmith novels (City and Journalist) is that they're a bit
> thin in the plot department. Read them after you grow to love Psmith
> and your opinions may well change.
Absolutely, Gussie. You're spot on. "Leave it to Psmith" is the stuff to give the
troops. "Psmith in the City," like many of Wodehouse's works set in the U.S.,
loses a little something from the romping-around-English-country-estates stories,
to my view.
The charm of Psmith is his abundant verbal gifts. In whatever preposterous
situation he finds himself, whatever unreasonable person he finds himself
confronting, he is able to say exactly the right phrase that makes himself look
perfectly charming and gracious, and his bizarre circumstances perfectly natural.
(A bit like Uncle Fred in this respect.) As others in this group have noted in
the past, his is a very strongly sketched character, and after reading him,
otherwise sane and upstanding folk have found themselves wanting to imitate his
speech and manners in daily life.
Archibald Mulliner
Lorrill Buyens
Guinness Book of World Records, "Kurt & Nancy Harris"
<har...@singnet.com.sg> ate seventeen helpings of lutefisk, then
belched:
>Since we've already got a thread about Psmith, I have a question that may be
>appropriate here. The only Psmith story I have read was the book "Psmith in
>the City" (I think) and I didn't care much for it. Yet I hear others speak
>highly of this character and his stories. Can someone recommend a book that
>will help rehabilitate this misconceived notion that Psmith stories are not
>worth the time it takes to read them?
Run, not walk, toward the closest copy of _Leave it to Psmith_. I,
too, found _Psmith in the City_ rather dry, and that was *after*
reading the aforementioned b. _Psmith, Journalist_, however, I
thought somewhat nearer to the Genuine Goods.
>the pink chap
Cordially yours,
Rosie M. Banks
--
| Rosie M. Banks |
|Author of _Mervyn Keene, Clubman_; _Only a |
|Factory Girl_; and other fine literary works|
Support the Jayne Hitchcock HELP Fund
http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/6172/helpjane.htm
Keith Ingram
same. The charm of Psmith stems from the vastness and kindness of the heart
beating beneath his expensive vest. Look beyond the flowery rhetoric,
outrageous behavior, and profligate spending, and you invariably see Psmith
doing someone a good turn.
Psmith in the City and Psmith, Journalist amply demonstrate this quality to
all discerning readers.
Billie Dore
Mulliner mulled:
charles stone-tolcher
I have read all the Psmith books and thought that Psmith in the City was by
far the best. It has been ten years since I read it but I have a distinct
feeling that the story is set in London, not the US as you seem to imply.
Perhaps it is time for me to enjoy the book once again with a reread.
Pillingshot
"Michael Lounsbery" <lo...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:388004CB...@worldnet.att.net...
> Spink-Bottle writes:
>
> > You simply must try Leave It To Psmith. It is the fourth (and last) in
the
> > Psmith saga and the second one at Blandings. It is a corker and the
> > novel that a good percentage of Wodehouseans claim to have been
> > their first Plum. You will yet grow to love Psmith. The thing about the
> > preceeding Psmith novels (City and Journalist) is that they're a bit
> > thin in the plot department. Read them after you grow to love Psmith
> > and your opinions may well change.
>
> Absolutely, Gussie. You're spot on. "Leave it to Psmith" is the stuff to
give the
> troops. "Psmith in the City," like many of Wodehouse's works set in the
U.S.,
> loses a little something from the romping-around-English-country-estates
stories,
> to my view.
>
> The charm of Psmith is his abundant verbal gifts. In whatever preposterous
> situation he finds himself, whatever unreasonable person he finds himself
> confronting, he is able to say exactly the right phrase that makes himself
look
> perfectly charming and gracious, and his bizarre circumstances perfectly
natural.
> (A bit like Uncle Fred in this respect.) As others in this group have
noted in
> the past, his is a very strongly sketched character, and after reading
him,
> otherwise sane and upstanding folk have found themselves wanting to
imitate his
> speech and manners in daily life.
>
> Archibald Mulliner
>
>
Reynaldo
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Ryan Darby
on the lake he confesses to whatshername, whom he marries, that he, like so
many of us, are *not* Ralston McTodd, and who would want to be?
The Little Nugget
Reynaldo
Unfortunately, my copy of 'Leave It To Psmith' has been nicked and I
don't remember the specifics of their conversation on the lake. I got
my information from chapter III of 'Mike and Psmith' in which Psmith
tells Mike, "In conversation you may address me as Rupert (though I
hope you won't)...
Regards,
Reynaldo