Jonathan Swift: Parodies, Hoaxes, Mock Treatises by Valerie Rumbold

Author:Valerie Rumbold [Rumbold, Valerie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Humour, Parodies, Satire
ISBN: 9780521843263
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2013-09-15T23:00:00+00:00

395 do me the Favour to do me the Kindness to: a formula of polite request pointlessly redoubled.

396 I wonder…pull the Ropes: affecting to take the question as one of method rather than purpose.

397 a Child…Play-Thing: Miss Notable accuses Neverout of fiddling with his cup in a childish way.

398 hard: sharp.

399 will say any Thing but her Prayers, and those she whistles: though she has a loose tongue, she refuses to say her prayers. ODEP cites two other instances, the first from 1732 (‘say’).

400 catch him at that, and hang him: cf. John Dunton, A Voyage round the World: or, a Pocket-Library (London, 1691): ‘do we use to quarrel for Shrieves, Lord Mayors, and Common-Council-men, and call Thou Rogue, and thou Fool? – No, – catch us at that and hang us’ (p. 51).

401 it will cut Love: cf. Sir John Vanbrugh, The Mistake (London, 1706): ‘There's thy Ivory-hafted Knife again, whet it well; ’tis so blunt ’twill cut nothing but Love’ (IV.i., p. 45).

402 you shall be married first : Lord Sparkish applies the proverb to unmarried persons who might thus spoil their chances of a match.

403 cast a Sheep's Eye out of a Calve's Head: a nonsensical amalgam of two figurative expressions. Mr Spruce is accused of making sheep's eyes at her (ogling), and of being calf-like (immature, stupid). Cf. The Grand Question Debated, in which the Captain taunts the curate that ‘You cast a Sheep's Eye on her Ladyship's Maid’ (Williams, Poems, vol. III, p. 872, line 147).

404 a general Lover: a ladies’ man.

405 blushing is some Sign of Grace: versions attested from the early sixteenth century (ODEP, ‘blushing is virtue's colour’).

406 says nothing…thinking: versions attested from the early fifteenth century (ODEP, ‘say’).

407 as I hope to be saved: an oath on the hope of salvation. Used by Swift in the form ‘as hope saved’, e.g. JSt (1948), p. 385.

408 Love will creep where it can't go: i.e. will crawl in where there is no room to walk upright. Cf. ‘Love will find a way’, versions from the early seventeenth century (ODEP, ‘Love’).

409 touch a gall'd Horse, and he'll wince: said of a horse suffering from galls (swellings or sores). See OED, ‘galled’, ppl. adj.2, sense 1, for versions from the mid fifteenth century onwards.

410 hold: wager.

411 a Finger in the Pye: versions attested from the middle of the sixteenth century (ODEP, ‘finger’).

412 salute: kiss.

413 I had rather give a Knave a Kiss for once, than be troubled with him: versions attested from the early seventeenth century (ODEP, ‘better’).

414 more bold than welcome: cf. various applications of the contrast listed in ODEP (‘bold’).

415 for Shame of the World, and Speech of good People: Miss Notable is urged to forbear for fear of being shamed in the face of the world, and in order to preserve her reputation with respectable people (cf. OED, ‘world’, n., sense III.14b).

416 cooking her Tea and Bread and Butter: Saintsbury suggests ‘putting the bread-and-butter in the tea’ (Polite Conversation, ed. Saintsbury, p. 196).

417 make much of naught, good Folks are scarce: cf.

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