lost communication (face of shame)

[Jonathan Lighter]

Trust me, Charlie. You're safe.

  Except for that one student....

  JL

Charles Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Charles Doyle
Subject: Re: lost communication (face of shame)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ron, I'm sorry I missed your joke; that's embarrassing. (But, hey, it WAS a really bad joke!)

Also embarrassing was my walking into my Shakespeare class last week, having just been reminded (by a posting on this list) of Dr. Bowdler and the notorious trumpet-playing in Othello's bed. I shared the information with the class, and the students were appropriately amused. Only later did it occur to me that the Bowdlerized line appears in _Cymbeline_, not _Othello_ (though I believe the misascription is fairly common in recountings of Bowdler-lore). Now: Do I confess the error to my class or keep quiet, secure in the knowledge that my students never remember anything I say anyhow?

--Charlie




---- Original message ----
>Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 22:18:07 EDT
>From: RonButters at aol.com
>Subject: lost communication (face of shame)
>To: cdoyle at UGA.EDU, ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
> In a message dated 10/20/06 9:34:49 AM,
> cdoyle at UGA.EDU writes:
>
> It's "Th' expense of spirit in a WASTE of shame,"
> Ron! Some scholars have suggested an anatomical
> pun on "waist"--but none (as far as I know) have
> amended the word to "face."
>
> --Charlie
>
> I know what the sonnet says, and the pun is
> something that I've pointed out to students for 35
> years or more. In the original message (apparently
> lost) I said I was "paraphrasing" Shakespeare. (I'm
> not sure that my lame joke is worth all this
> attention!)

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



---------------------------------
Get your email and more, right on the  new Yahoo.com

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