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Meretricious

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Dingbat

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Oct 2, 2019, 12:09:44 AM10/2/19
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I got this haha by email:

I just heard it said that a critic told an author that his work was
meretricious and he responded by saying "A Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year to you too".

Athel Cornish-Bowden

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Oct 2, 2019, 3:57:01 AM10/2/19
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That's supposed to make us laugh? Why would it?


--
athel

RH Draney

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Oct 2, 2019, 4:10:44 AM10/2/19
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It's a very old gag, and not presented correctly...it's supposed to have
one character ask the other to use the word "meretricious" in a sentence
and the other to offer "Meretricious to you, and a Happy New Year"....

Not as good, even if done right, as the suggestion that engineers
building the Panama Canal used to sing "I'm dreaming of a wide isthmus"....r

Athel Cornish-Bowden

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Oct 2, 2019, 4:44:58 AM10/2/19
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OK, I suppose that might raise a watery smile, but it wouldn't have me
rolling on the floor.


--
athel

Peter T. Daniels

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Oct 2, 2019, 9:19:22 AM10/2/19
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On Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at 4:10:44 AM UTC-4, RH Draney wrote:
> On 10/2/2019 12:56 AM, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
> > On 2019-10-02 04:09:40 +0000, Dingbat said:

> >> I got this haha by email:

a rise-plus-moat meant to safeguard the estate but not be visible from
the gardens?

> >> I just heard it said that a critic told an author that his work was
> >>  meretricious and he responded by saying  "A Merry Christmas and a
> >>  Happy New Year to you too".
> > That's supposed to make us laugh? Why would it?
>
> It's a very old gag, and not presented correctly...it's supposed to have
> one character ask the other to use the word "meretricious" in a sentence
> and the other to offer "Meretricious to you, and a Happy New Year"....
>
> Not as good, even if done right, as the suggestion that engineers
> building the Panama Canal used to sing "I'm dreaming of a wide isthmus"....r

Neither remotely approaches the horticulture example, which is or isn't
by Dorothy Parker or Anita Loos.

CDB

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Oct 2, 2019, 9:58:22 AM10/2/19
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On 10/2/2019 9:19 AM, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> RH Draney wrote:
>> Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
>>> Dingbat said:

>>>> I got this haha by email:

> a rise-plus-moat meant to safeguard the estate but not be visible
> from the gardens?

>>>> I just heard it said that a critic told an author that his work
>>>> was meretricious and he responded by saying "A Merry Christmas
>>>> and a Happy New Year to you too".
>>> That's supposed to make us laugh? Why would it?

>> It's a very old gag, and not presented correctly...it's supposed to
>> have one character ask the other to use the word "meretricious" in
>> a sentence and the other to offer "Meretricious to you, and a Happy
>> New Year"....
>>
>> Not as good, even if done right, as the suggestion that engineers
>> building the Panama Canal used to sing "I'm dreaming of a wide
>> isthmus"....r

> Neither remotely approaches the horticulture example, which is or
> isn't by Dorothy Parker or Anita Loos.

Just fine, Lady, and how gauche with you?


Ken Blake

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Oct 2, 2019, 10:25:48 AM10/2/19
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On Wed, 2 Oct 2019 01:10:34 -0700, RH Draney <dado...@cox.net> wrote:

>On 10/2/2019 12:56 AM, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
>> On 2019-10-02 04:09:40 +0000, Dingbat said:
>>
>>> I got this haha by email:
>>>
>>> I just heard it said that a critic told an author that his work was
>>>  meretricious and he responded by saying  "A Merry Christmas and a
>>>  Happy New Year to you too".
>>
>> That's supposed to make us laugh? Why would it?
>
>It's a very old gag, and not presented correctly...it's supposed to have
>one character ask the other to use the word "meretricious" in a sentence
>and the other to offer "Meretricious to you, and a Happy New Year"....



Supposedly by F.P.A., but who knows whether to believe it.


GordonD

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Oct 22, 2019, 5:48:52 AM10/22/19
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Was it Dorothy Parker who supposedly said, "The T is silent as in Harlow"?
--
Gordon Davie
Edinburgh, Scotland

musika

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Oct 22, 2019, 6:32:14 AM10/22/19
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On 22/10/2019 10:48, GordonD wrote:
> Was it Dorothy Parker who supposedly said, "The T is silent as in Harlow"?

Margot Asquith.

--
Ray
UK

Peter T. Daniels

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Oct 22, 2019, 11:19:06 AM10/22/19
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I think it's in *Dinner at Eight* that Harlow says "I was reading a book
the other day" and Marie Dressler does a magnificent double-take after
the fifth word.

*Dinner at Eight* is one of the greatest comedies of the 1930s.

Peter T. Daniels

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Oct 22, 2019, 11:20:31 AM10/22/19
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Is that the one to whom Shaw said, "Ah, but what if they had my beauty
and your brains?"

Or maybe, "Yes. Now we're merely haggling over the price."

GordonD

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Oct 23, 2019, 6:49:17 AM10/23/19
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Thanks.
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