Apparently 'the creative ire of our national treasure Mr. S. Fry has been piqued'. Like many others, I just love his use of language. To call someone 'a shiny-faced arse-witted weasel' must bring a feeling of immense satisfaction. Certainly it's one of the joys of the English language, to be able to fling an insult with such linguistic flamboyance.
Whereas Mr. S. Fry has the creative flair and talent to come up with his own insults, I find it more effective to use the Shakespeare Insult Kit. I've been looking on the internet to see if there is a French equivalent - perhaps a Molière Insult Kit or the Voltaire Insult Kit. But no luck so far.
Perhaps this use of language is a particularly British trait. Whether it is or it isn't, every now and again up pops a quotation that presses all the buttons. It gets locked away just in case the perfect situation arises, so it can be rolled out as if it were you're own sublime genius. Trouble is if I attempted to call someone ' a shiny-faced arse-witted weasel', I'd start laughing just at the thought of it and all that would emerge would be 'a shiny-faced arse-witted weasel squeak'.
I have issued an insult with considerable flair - only the once. Tootsie is a great film. I've just checked when it was made. 1982! Thirty-two years ago! That's a 'mammering piece of earth-vexing mumble-news'. My goodness. I am 'plume-plucked' at the thought. There were loads of great one-liners in Tootsie, including '. . . that means you dear, you matcho-shithead', which I was able to blast out one morning at a particularly nasty piece of work - a truly 'vilainous, sheep-biting, tardy-gaited, foot-licker''. Gave me a huge amount of pleasure and for once stunned the 'paunchy, fen-sucked, measle' into complete silence. It was worth the effort.
No comments:
Post a Comment