unearths some literary gems.
From "At Sixes and Sevens," by John Maddison Morton:
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Colonel Scrimmage: What a double distilled donkey I was ever to come back to England!
[I see that "double distilled donkey" DOES have a bit of a presence in Google Books.]
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Tedding Locke: You looks as fresh as a two-year old, and as lively as any chicken I ever saw!
Colonel: Chicken! you never did see a chicken in this country--the eggs won't permit it!
[My best guess at the meaning of that strange assertion is that the British habit of eating up the eggs while they're still eggs has meant that, in a paradoxical twist on the "which came first?" dilemma, it is now ALL eggs and NO chickens.]
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