ffolliott

[Jonathan Lighter]

When I was ten or eleven I saw an old movie on TV that contained the
following bit of dialogue. It always stuck in my mind, which shows that by
that age your kid's fate is sealed.
I'm posting it because I just saw the movie again for the first time since
and it confirmed my recollection. Till now I had no idea what movie it was
because this was the only part I remembered:

Johnny Jones: This is Scott ffolliott, newspaperman same as you....Mr.
Haverstock, Mr. ffolliott.
Scott ffolliott: With a double 'F'.
Johnny Jones: How do you do?
Scott ffolliott: How do you do?
Johnny Jones: I don't get the double 'F'.
Scott ffolliott: They're at the beginning. Both small 'F's
Johnny Jones: They can't be at the beginning.
Scott ffolliott: One of my ancestors was beheaded by Henry VIII. His wife
dropped the capital letter to commemorate it. There it is.
Johnny Jones: How do you say it, like a stutter?
Scott ffolliott: Just a straight 'fuh'.

There was, of course, the noted English historian "Charles ffoulkes" [sic].
His surname derives from the same source as that of Guy Fawkes, so perhaps
Mr. ffolliott's practice reflects that of Mr. ffoulkes's ffamily.

JL

--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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