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Gulliano Posted 14 years ago
Essay & Composition Writing
Meaning of dailogue
I couldn't make the head or tail of this excerpt is from right ho, jeeves. Can anyone please explain it.
"Letting 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would', sir."
"That's right. But how about the cats?"
"Like the poor cat i' the adage, sir."
"Exactly. It beats me how you think up these things. And Gussie, you say,
is in the same posish?"
"Letting 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would', sir."
"That's right. But how about the cats?"
"Like the poor cat i' the adage, sir."
"Exactly. It beats me how you think up these things. And Gussie, you say,
is in the same posish?"
Top answer
Oh dear. G. Wodehouse's humour is difficult enough sometimes, even for native readers, unless they are to the manner born.
- Oh dear.
- G.
- Wodehouse's humour is difficult enough sometimes, even for native readers, unless they are to the manner born.
- I will certainly need more context to see what the 'cats' are.
- ” wait upon “I would”, like the poor cat in the adage that wanted to eat fish but hesitated to go into the water because it would get its feet wet!
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2 Answers
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Oh dear. P.G. Wodehouse's humour is difficult enough sometimes, even for native readers, unless they are to the manner born. I will certainly need more context to see what the 'cats' are. However, Jeeves' comment refers to this maxim:
Don’t, as Macbeth’s wife accused her husband of doing, let “I dare not?” wait upon “I would”, like the poor cat in the adage that wanted to eat fish but
Don’t, as Macbeth’s wife accused her husband of doing, let “I dare not?” wait upon “I would”, like the poor cat in the adage that wanted to eat fish but
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Don't understand. If "I dare not" waits upon "I would", does not that suggest that "I would" wins the day?
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