unearths some literary gems.
***
[Who Needs Context? dept.]
But Humpty Dumpty was never suddenly called upon to name a fox-terrier with a black spot on his head!
[AU: How do you know? --JC-E]
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" 'im with the worn-out smile that looks as if 'e's picked it up after somebody else 'as thrown it away"
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"You know, there's been some 'anky-panky somewhere and funny 'anky-panky, at that." [The best kind!]
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"'It was a nasty night for a lady so frail as Mrs. Stevens to be out, wasn't it?' asks the Inspector as sweet as a cooing dove in a little pink velvet waistcoat."
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[re. an "acid little medico"] "There were times when litmus turned hastily red at his approach."
***
When my enemy was just Mr. A, who might turn out to be the milkman, the station-master at Bumbleby Junction or the man in the moon, I felt completely at a loss.
[I'm not sure, but I think the place name* "Bumbleby Junction" was trotted out strictly for the purpose of this conceit--i.e., I don't believe there's any mention of any place called Bumbleby elsewhere in the book.]
[*Nonexistent? One never knows, when it comes to English place names!]
***
[Nonexistent Hats dept.]
Milke tried to touch the hat that he wasn't wearing.
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Just then, the referee's whistle blew and we turned our attention to the game. I don't propose to embark on a detailed description of the play." [THANK YOU!!!!]
***
"Mrs. Flapdoodle..."
"Hendon," I suggested.
[The context here is that the protagonist's landlady, Mrs. Hendon, has suddenly and randomly and gratuitously been referred to as "Mrs. Flapdoodle" by the police inspector.]
***
[Bonus: There's a minor character whose surname is Milke, whom the inspector refers to as "that lactonomial gentleman."]
