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Hello, I need your help again, hopefully for the last time.
1) I can not arrive at a logical interpretation of the sentence:Wittgenstein, who saw his aunty only last week!
I am not very good at philosophy, maybe it has absolutely nothing in common with philosophy. Does it really say what is written in words? I think it does not fit in the text around it. I am convinced it means something else but I could not find it anywhere. (It is in the Python sketch International philosophy.)
2) And second is: Double booked-rooms. My interpretation is that it isa room for two people or a pair. Am I right?
Thank you.
Kristina, CZ

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Hello, I need your help again, hopefully for the last time. 1) I can not arrive at a logical interpretation ... convinced it means something else but I could not find it anywhere. (It is in the Python sketch International philosophy.)[/nq]
It's invented and means nothing of any significance. Monty Python was famous for playing with language, and you can't assume that anything they say is a part of Standard English or makes any sort of sense. In the case of "Wittgenstein, who say his aunty only last week," there is indeed no logical interpretation. It is intended to be nonsense.
[nq:1]2) And second is: Double booked-rooms. My interpretation is that it is a room for two people or a pair. Am I right?[/nq]
No. A double-booked room has been reserved by for two different people, each of whom is expecting to use it without interference from the other. If both show up, the proprietor (or hotel staff) has a problem. In hotels where most rooms are similar to one another (which is the usual case), it is common to make more reservations than there are rooms, in the expectation that some of the people with reservations will not arrive. This is called "overbooking." If too many show up, the proprietor or staff again has a problem.

I've had hotels refuse me a room even though I had a confirmed reservation. They tried very hard to find me a good room elsewhere and added some points to my stash, but it was still quite inconvenient. Worst of all was the time that the hotel denied the existence of my reservation even though I had a confirmation number. That was before the Internet became commonm. Now they e-mail the reservation, including confirmation number, so it's hard for them to deny its existence.
Airlines also overbook some flights. They have their ways of coping, one of which is to deny boarding to people who show up very close to flight time. Not the best way to make friends.

Bob Lieblich
Who travels occasionally anyway

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Hello, I need your help again, hopefully for the last ... it anywhere. (It is in the Python sketch International philosophy.)[/nq]
[nq:1]It's invented and means nothing of any significance. Monty Python was famous for playing with language, and you can't assume ... "Wittgenstein, who say his aunty only last week," there is indeed no logical interpretation. It is intended to be nonsense.[/nq]
The word is "saw" in Tina's post (and the script), not "say". "Wittgenstein saw his aunty only last week" is perfectly normal English. Without any additional context, it means that (Ludwig) Wittgenstein saw his aunt last week.
While the sentence makes sense, there is not necessarily any attachable meaning to the sentence because it's part of a Python sketch. Possibly a statement to humanize one of the world's greatest philosophers, but it's equally possible that it means absolutely nothing.

Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Wittgenstein, who saw his aunty only last week! I am not very good at philosophy, maybe it has absolutely nothing in common with philosophy. Does it really say what is written in words?[/nq]
Yes, it means exactly what it says, and the whole point of the joke is that it has nothing to do with philosophy, or football, or the immediate situation. The commentator says it to imply that Wittgenstein is a good boy who doesn't deserve to be pulled out of the game.

¬R http://users.bestweb.net/~notr/cats "Would you like to watch a movie about George Wendt while eating Chinese food with a cat?" Andy Simmons

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]While the sentence makes sense, there is not necessarily any attachable meaning to the sentence because it's part of a Python sketch. Possibly a statement to humanize one of the world's greatest philosophers,[/nq]
cf:
Immanuel Kant was a real pissant
Who was very rarely stable.
Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar
Who could think you under the table.
David Hume could out-consume
Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel,
And Wittgenstein was a beery swine
Who was just as schloshed as Schlegel.
There's nothing Nietzsche couldn't teach ya
'Bout the raising of the wrist.
Socrates, himself, was permanently ***.
John Stuart Mill, of his own free will,
On half a pint of shandy was particularly ill.
Plato, they say, could stick it away
Half a crate of whisky every day.
Aristotle, Aristotle was a ****** for the bottle.
Hobbes was fond of his dram,
And Rene Descartes was a drunken ****.
'I drink, therefore I am.'
Yes, Socrates, himself, is particularly missed,
A lovely little thinker,
But a ****** when he's ***.
DC

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