A Conversation in Flash

[Jonathon Green]

Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: A Conversation in Flash
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Jon,
>
>   Here's how I read it:
>
>   ..."Have they robbed a victim ?"
>      "Yes."
>      "Then tell them to give back the loot. The police have been watching the place for the last half hour."
>
>   Unless the thieves surreptitiously return the loot, the police may recognize them and catch them with it when they leave.
>
>   On the other hand, if the point of the story is simply to show how stupid thieves are, the humor wold lie in the non sequitur advice to "hurry up," in spite of the fact that the police are watching and may seize the thieves as soon as they emerge.
>
>   Jon
>
> J
JL

Fairy snuff, as they say. But... I envisage the bloke downstairs sending
the boy to tell his accomplices to get on with the job before the traps
raid the inn. But as is too often the case in non-contemporary
slang/cant where the language defeats us and no hard-and-fast clues are
on offer, I fear it comes down to educated guesswork and we may be
educated, but we're still guessing. I see Fagin (I know we're in NYC,
but homour me) sending the boy up to the Dodger and Charley Bates with
instructions to get on with it, you see him sending a warning to stop. I
think we have to leave it there, though in all honesty, I do find it
hard to imagine our pickpockets _giving_ or even _putting back_ their
loot; after all that could lead to arrest - the traps are outside - and
thence Botany Bay or even the gallows. Hey ho. Little did the writer
know how much analysis his penny-a-lining (if that) would incur 150
years late

JG

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org