[Ads-l] Media Inquiry (Mike Pence calling his wife "Mother")

[Mark Mandel]

I well remember my astonishment at the last line of that book, and my
mental facepalm (*long* before the word) on finally recognizing the clue
hidden in plain sight.

On Feb 4, 2017 8:15 PM, "James A. Landau" wrote:

Isaac Asimov  _Second Foundation_   published as a book in 1953, as a
magazine serial in Astounding Science Fiction in 1949

There is a character named Preem Palver, who is introduced as a farmer and
the leader of a cooperative of farms (we find out later that he is living a
double life).  He habitually calls his wife "Mamma" and she calls him
"Pappa".

I suspect Asimov was trying to keep the reader from getting suspicious that
Palver was more than a farmer by having him speak as a stereotypical
peasant.  However, at least once Palver throws in a Yiddishicism ("time,
shmime") as if Palver were a Jewish peasant.

- Jim Landau

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