Lee: river-boat manners
Marius Hancu
"river-boat manners"
are these manners to have while traveling on river boat?
----
[...] Aunt Alexandra was one of the last of her kind: she had river-
boat, boarding-school manners; let any moral come along and she would
uphold it; she was born in the objective case ; she was an incurable
gossip.
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
---
--
Thanks.
Marius Hancu
Roland Hutchinson
I'd guess the manners of the class of people that travel (in the best
accomodations on) a riverboat -- or used to. (The heyday of the
riverboat had long been past at the time of the novel.) Genteel manners,
combined with a feeling of superiority and perhaps entitlement, seems to
be the general thrust of the passage.
I really like the word-play of "she was born in the objective case".
--
Roland Hutchinson
He calls himself "the Garden State's leading violist da gamba,"
... comparable to being ruler of an exceptionally small duchy.
--Newark (NJ) Star Ledger ( http://tinyurl.com/RolandIsNJ )
Jeffrey Turner
> On Thu, 14 Oct 2010 23:53:26 -0700, Marius Hancu wrote:
>
>> Hello:
>>
>> "river-boat manners"
>> are these manners to have while traveling on river boat?
>>
>> ----
>> [...] Aunt Alexandra was one of the last of her kind: she had river-
>> boat, boarding-school manners; let any moral come along and she would
>> uphold it; she was born in the objective case ; she was an incurable
>> gossip.
>>
>> Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
>> ---
>
> I'd guess the manners of the class of people that travel (in the best
> accomodations on) a riverboat -- or used to. (The heyday of the
> riverboat had long been past at the time of the novel.) Genteel manners,
> combined with a feeling of superiority and perhaps entitlement, seems to
> be the general thrust of the passage.
>
> I really like the word-play of "she was born in the objective case".
We were born in the plural.
--Jeff
--
Love consists of overestimating
the differences between one woman
and another. --George Bernard Shaw
Roland Hutchinson
> On 10/15/2010 8:49 AM, Roland Hutchinson wrote:
>> On Thu, 14 Oct 2010 23:53:26 -0700, Marius Hancu wrote:
>>
>>> Hello:
>>>
>>> "river-boat manners"
>>> are these manners to have while traveling on river boat?
>>>
>>> ----
>>> [...] Aunt Alexandra was one of the last of her kind: she had river-
>>> boat, boarding-school manners; let any moral come along and she would
>>> uphold it; she was born in the objective case ; she was an incurable
>>> gossip.
>>>
>>> Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
>>> ---
>>
>> I'd guess the manners of the class of people that travel (in the best
>> accomodations on) a riverboat -- or used to. (The heyday of the
>> riverboat had long been past at the time of the novel.) Genteel
>> manners, combined with a feeling of superiority and perhaps
>> entitlement, seems to be the general thrust of the passage.
>>
>> I really like the word-play of "she was born in the objective case".
>
> We were born in the plural.
How singular! I was born alone.
Mike Lyle
> On Fri, 15 Oct 2010 11:52:33 -0400, Jeffrey Turner wrote:
>
>> On 10/15/2010 8:49 AM, Roland Hutchinson wrote:
>>> On Thu, 14 Oct 2010 23:53:26 -0700, Marius Hancu wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hello:
>>>>
>>>> "river-boat manners"
>>>> are these manners to have while traveling on river boat?
>>>>
>>>> ----
>>>> [...] Aunt Alexandra was one of the last of her kind: she had
>>>> river- boat, boarding-school manners; let any moral come along and
>>>> she would uphold it; she was born in the objective case ; she was
>>>> an incurable gossip.
>>>>
>>>> Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
>>>> ---
>>>
>>> I'd guess the manners of the class of people that travel (in the
>>> best accomodations on) a riverboat -- or used to. (The heyday of
>>> the riverboat had long been past at the time of the novel.) Genteel
>>> manners, combined with a feeling of superiority and perhaps
>>> entitlement, seems to be the general thrust of the passage.
>>>
>>> I really like the word-play of "she was born in the objective case".
>>
>> We were born in the plural.
>
> How singular! I was born alone.
I've got river-boat manners (among other kinds). I learned them
travelling first-class in the Sudan, where stern-wheelers were still the
usual way up and down the Nile. Sandbags and Bren guns were standard
equipment, but the sandbags did have grass growing out of them. On one
boat I couldn't help noticing the rifle bullet lodged in the wooden seat
of the first-class loo. I think I've told AUE about the classic British
public-school food served on these wonderful vessels.
--
Mike.