"Oh? Breakfast I think. No need to let standards drop"
September 23, 2013 9:55 AM Subscribe
This is a greeting, that needs to be resurrected. Please use it today.
Did you try the medicine drug, old bean?
posted by Countess Elena at 10:02 AM on September 23, 2013 [16 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 10:02 AM on September 23, 2013 [16 favorites]
I say "What-ho, Stiffy" most mornings.
posted by cosmac at 10:03 AM on September 23, 2013 [25 favorites]
posted by cosmac at 10:03 AM on September 23, 2013 [25 favorites]
Oh man between this and answering the phone with "ahoy ahoy" and saying "ciao" instead of "goodbye" I can finally get people to stop speaking to me for good.
posted by griphus at 10:03 AM on September 23, 2013 [63 favorites]
posted by griphus at 10:03 AM on September 23, 2013 [63 favorites]
My favorite usage: "What ho, Gods of the Abyss!" (from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier).
posted by ubiquity at 10:05 AM on September 23, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by ubiquity at 10:05 AM on September 23, 2013 [5 favorites]
Hugh Laurie will always be Bertie Wooster to me. Love this :)
posted by wemayfreeze at 10:06 AM on September 23, 2013 [10 favorites]
posted by wemayfreeze at 10:06 AM on September 23, 2013 [10 favorites]
Amazing: this is dangerous stuff! This video makes time slow down!
I thought I'd watched three or four minutes of WHAT HOs, only to notice that I was at just 0:38 in the video.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:09 AM on September 23, 2013 [15 favorites]
I thought I'd watched three or four minutes of WHAT HOs, only to notice that I was at just 0:38 in the video.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:09 AM on September 23, 2013 [15 favorites]
"Aunt of my bosom", omg, Wodehouse I <3 u
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 10:09 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 10:09 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
Also nobody says "dash it' any more, wtf.
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 10:11 AM on September 23, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 10:11 AM on September 23, 2013 [5 favorites]
They really need to start next month's Best Of podcast by shouting WHAT HO?! at each other.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:12 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 10:12 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
I'm afraid my docket of English affectations is well full-up. What ho! can wait until we've resurrected Steady on!, which fills a rhetorical niche not quite covered by any other interjection in its class.
posted by Iridic at 10:14 AM on September 23, 2013 [11 favorites]
posted by Iridic at 10:14 AM on September 23, 2013 [11 favorites]
and saying "ciao" instead of "goodbye"
It's the European Dream.
posted by like_a_friend at 10:14 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
It's the European Dream.
posted by like_a_friend at 10:14 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
Just a few days ago I was listening to Minnie the Moocher and trying to get the wife to chime in on the ho-dee-ho-dee-ho-dee-hos, which she dutifully but unenthusiastically did, so this is fairly timely.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 10:15 AM on September 23, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 10:15 AM on September 23, 2013 [9 favorites]
Laurie's English accent is so good! He's amazing.
;).
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 10:18 AM on September 23, 2013 [14 favorites]
;).
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 10:18 AM on September 23, 2013 [14 favorites]
Ahoy, ahoy?
posted by Strange Interlude at 10:18 AM on September 23, 2013
posted by Strange Interlude at 10:18 AM on September 23, 2013
I am agnostic on the value of the greeting (although I would like to hear "Ahoy" used more as a telephone greeting). I do want to draw attention to a quick clip -- "What ho, Stiffy," in fact -- at about 0:23 in the video: the 6'3" Laurie and the 6'5" Fry are both perched atop furniture when a presumably regular-sized actress walks between them, she manages to look remarkably like a munchkin. I actually had to go back a couple of times to see if she was in fact a little person.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:19 AM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:19 AM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
I tried saying "What ho!" as a greeting one time.
They heard it as, "What? Ho...".
It was a difficult moment.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 10:21 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
They heard it as, "What? Ho...".
It was a difficult moment.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 10:21 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
Oh Bertie, when will you ever learn.
I don't know if the show is great despite the fact that every episode involves a stolen silver creamer and some girl who wants to marry Bertie or because of it. It is like some Sisyphus type shit, silver creamer turns up missing, girl wants to marry Bertie, and Gussie is obsessed with newts. I just wonder why nobody ever realized the same shit happens over and over. Actually, maybe Jeeves did realize it.
posted by Ad hominem at 10:22 AM on September 23, 2013 [7 favorites]
I don't know if the show is great despite the fact that every episode involves a stolen silver creamer and some girl who wants to marry Bertie or because of it. It is like some Sisyphus type shit, silver creamer turns up missing, girl wants to marry Bertie, and Gussie is obsessed with newts. I just wonder why nobody ever realized the same shit happens over and over. Actually, maybe Jeeves did realize it.
posted by Ad hominem at 10:22 AM on September 23, 2013 [7 favorites]
It's best followed by a spot of breezy RAF banter I reckon.
Probably half of Wodehouse by weight avoirdupois involves someone either wanting to marry someone or not wanting to. It's the default McGuffin and it's almost completely unimportant to why you read him. You read him less for the story than for each and every one of the glorious sentences it contains.
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:25 AM on September 23, 2013 [8 favorites]
Probably half of Wodehouse by weight avoirdupois involves someone either wanting to marry someone or not wanting to. It's the default McGuffin and it's almost completely unimportant to why you read him. You read him less for the story than for each and every one of the glorious sentences it contains.
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:25 AM on September 23, 2013 [8 favorites]
"Tea, tea, tea--what? What?" I said.
It wasn't what I had meant to say. My idea had been to be a good deal more formal, and so on. Still, it covered the situation. I poured her out a cup. She sipped it and put the cup down with a shudder.
"Do you mean to say, young man," she said frostily, "that you expect me to drink this stuff?"
"Rather! Bucks you up, you know."
"What do you mean by the expression 'Bucks you up'?"
"Well, makes you full of beans, you know. Makes you fizz."
"I don't understand a word you say. You're English, aren't you?"
posted by Wolfdog at 10:28 AM on September 23, 2013 [15 favorites]
It wasn't what I had meant to say. My idea had been to be a good deal more formal, and so on. Still, it covered the situation. I poured her out a cup. She sipped it and put the cup down with a shudder.
"Do you mean to say, young man," she said frostily, "that you expect me to drink this stuff?"
"Rather! Bucks you up, you know."
"What do you mean by the expression 'Bucks you up'?"
"Well, makes you full of beans, you know. Makes you fizz."
"I don't understand a word you say. You're English, aren't you?"
posted by Wolfdog at 10:28 AM on September 23, 2013 [15 favorites]
The whole series is worth watching for the wonderful songs.
posted by jabo at 10:30 AM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by jabo at 10:30 AM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
True story?
I gave an old friend of mine a paperback copy of Wodehouse (he's a PhD English Prof). He took it on vacation with him.
One night he was reading this, and started laughing so hard he fell out of bed, and his hosts came running thinking he was having some heart attack or medical emergency.
posted by timsteil at 10:31 AM on September 23, 2013 [4 favorites]
I gave an old friend of mine a paperback copy of Wodehouse (he's a PhD English Prof). He took it on vacation with him.
One night he was reading this, and started laughing so hard he fell out of bed, and his hosts came running thinking he was having some heart attack or medical emergency.
posted by timsteil at 10:31 AM on September 23, 2013 [4 favorites]
I couldn't possibly take breakfast today Jeeves, you drink it.
posted by The Whelk at 10:31 AM on September 23, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 10:31 AM on September 23, 2013 [4 favorites]
I love the series, but isn't J&W slightly anachronistic (the world PG Wodehouse is lampooning with some nostalgia went out of existence by the end of WWI) so it's reasonable to expect that Wooster's verbal tics are more exaggerated caricature than anything else.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:32 AM on September 23, 2013
posted by KokuRyu at 10:32 AM on September 23, 2013
I absolutely use "Ahoy-hoy" when answering the phone and I still have several friends!
posted by Navelgazer at 10:32 AM on September 23, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by Navelgazer at 10:32 AM on September 23, 2013 [6 favorites]
timsteil: "One night he was reading this, "
With Wodehouse, it almost doesn't matter what that link takes you to. It's all like that. Able to knock a man out of bed laughing.
posted by chavenet at 10:33 AM on September 23, 2013 [5 favorites]
With Wodehouse, it almost doesn't matter what that link takes you to. It's all like that. Able to knock a man out of bed laughing.
posted by chavenet at 10:33 AM on September 23, 2013 [5 favorites]
The 18 year old kid I work with is growing weary of being called old sock, I find his consternation a tonic, however. Negotiations proceed, outcome uncertain.
posted by Divine_Wino at 10:37 AM on September 23, 2013 [11 favorites]
posted by Divine_Wino at 10:37 AM on September 23, 2013 [11 favorites]
> The whole series is worth watching for the wonderful songs
I think you meant to link to here.
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:37 AM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
I think you meant to link to here.
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:37 AM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
I love the series, but isn't J&W slightly anachronistic
Not entirely, but in a sort of adoptive, repatriated way: I suspect a good deal of interwar fashionable speech originated as a conscious imitation of Wodehouse's fictionalized and amplified representation of an earlier era.
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:45 AM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
Not entirely, but in a sort of adoptive, repatriated way: I suspect a good deal of interwar fashionable speech originated as a conscious imitation of Wodehouse's fictionalized and amplified representation of an earlier era.
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:45 AM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
Bally Jerry, pranged his kite right in the how's-your-father; hairy blighter, dicky-birded, feathered back on his sammy, took a waspy, flipped over on his Betty Harpers and caught his can in the Bertie.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:46 AM on September 23, 2013 [13 favorites]
posted by Rock Steady at 10:46 AM on September 23, 2013 [13 favorites]
I absolutely use "Ahoy-hoy" when answering the phone and I still have several friends!
I have a friend who opens many texting sessions with "Ahoy Ahoy," and I find her delightful. So there is that.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:46 AM on September 23, 2013 [4 favorites]
I have a friend who opens many texting sessions with "Ahoy Ahoy," and I find her delightful. So there is that.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:46 AM on September 23, 2013 [4 favorites]
I do find "Cheerio" a kind of annoying affectation, however.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:48 AM on September 23, 2013
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:48 AM on September 23, 2013
I think I'd rather say "What cheer with you?" The syllables "what" and "ho" have lost all meaning, and I, like wenestvedt, thought I was much further along in the clip than I was when that happened.
posted by jennaratrix at 10:52 AM on September 23, 2013
posted by jennaratrix at 10:52 AM on September 23, 2013
As long as it doesn't lead to more Americans rampantly using "whilst" to sound educated/British whilst having no idea how to properly use it, I'm okay with it.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 10:54 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 10:54 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
Also nobody says "dash it' any more, wtf.
Though people do, these days, sometimes speak of da shit.
Bally Jerry, pranged his kite right in the how's-your-father; hairy blighter, dicky-birded, feathered back on his sammy, took a waspy, flipped over on his Betty Harpers and caught his can in the Bertie.
Five by one, say again.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:54 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
Though people do, these days, sometimes speak of da shit.
Bally Jerry, pranged his kite right in the how's-your-father; hairy blighter, dicky-birded, feathered back on his sammy, took a waspy, flipped over on his Betty Harpers and caught his can in the Bertie.
Five by one, say again.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:54 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's the default McGuffin
If I were to need a Wodehouse name, I could do worse than DeFault McGuffin.
(Pronounced Defoe)
posted by Grangousier at 10:56 AM on September 23, 2013 [21 favorites]
If I were to need a Wodehouse name, I could do worse than DeFault McGuffin.
(Pronounced Defoe)
posted by Grangousier at 10:56 AM on September 23, 2013 [21 favorites]
I was enticed to read Wodehouse after many years of avoiding him for a bad reason* by a Metafilter comment which read "I am seething with envy for those who have not yet discovered Wodehouse, and are about to." So if there's anyone reading this who has not yet read Wodehouse, by God, go out and start.
*I had somehow generated a sort of quantum entanglement between P.G. Wodehouse and P.J. O'Rourke, and my distaste for the latter therefore unfairly contaminated my impression of the former.
posted by KathrynT at 10:58 AM on September 23, 2013 [7 favorites]
*I had somehow generated a sort of quantum entanglement between P.G. Wodehouse and P.J. O'Rourke, and my distaste for the latter therefore unfairly contaminated my impression of the former.
posted by KathrynT at 10:58 AM on September 23, 2013 [7 favorites]
I would give a lot to have a manservant or gentleman's gentleman who would greet my most idiotic utterances with an "Indeed, sir," followed by a suggestion of a course of action framed in the form "One might [...]".
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:59 AM on September 23, 2013 [11 favorites]
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:59 AM on September 23, 2013 [11 favorites]
Bally Jerry, pranged his kite right in the how's-your-father; hairy blighter, dicky-birded, feathered back on his sammy, took a waspy, flipped over on his Betty Harpers and caught his can in the Bertie.
Are you saying he went base over apex?
posted by MtDewd at 11:01 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
Are you saying he went base over apex?
posted by MtDewd at 11:01 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
My late uncle, a proper RAF type and later a 747 pilot, was an habitual what-hoer. Can't carry it off, myself, although I do have a tendency to say 'cheerio'.
posted by pipeski at 11:05 AM on September 23, 2013
posted by pipeski at 11:05 AM on September 23, 2013
I think anyone that uses it should be shot on sight as a twit.
posted by eggtooth at 11:05 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by eggtooth at 11:05 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
needs to be resurrected.
I say old bean, it's a dashed cheek to imply a chap isn't already speaking the lingo, wot wot?
posted by MartinWisse at 11:05 AM on September 23, 2013 [5 favorites]
I say old bean, it's a dashed cheek to imply a chap isn't already speaking the lingo, wot wot?
posted by MartinWisse at 11:05 AM on September 23, 2013 [5 favorites]
The most fantastic thing about Jeeves is the utter equanimity with which he accepts Bertie's most lunatic undertakings, with the sole exception of his sartorial choices, which seem to be the only thing which can elicit from him something which suggests the faintest whiff of opprobrium.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:06 AM on September 23, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:06 AM on September 23, 2013 [4 favorites]
TIL: Jeeves and Wooster and Downton Abbey were both filmed at Highclere Castle.
Dear Julian Fellowes,
I noticed your lack of Emmy statuates last night. Perhaps the introduction of two new characters to your period piece would help improve your chances next year?
yrs
rib, President of the Edith and Bertie One True Pairing Society.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:08 AM on September 23, 2013 [13 favorites]
Dear Julian Fellowes,
I noticed your lack of Emmy statuates last night. Perhaps the introduction of two new characters to your period piece would help improve your chances next year?
yrs
rib, President of the Edith and Bertie One True Pairing Society.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:08 AM on September 23, 2013 [13 favorites]
I absolutely use "Ahoy-hoy" when answering the phone and I still have several friends!
Considering how texting has almost completely supplanted phone calls in certain circles, I feel like there should be more of a resurgence of telegram shorthand STOP
posted by backseatpilot at 11:08 AM on September 23, 2013 [9 favorites]
Considering how texting has almost completely supplanted phone calls in certain circles, I feel like there should be more of a resurgence of telegram shorthand STOP
posted by backseatpilot at 11:08 AM on September 23, 2013 [9 favorites]
I now realize that where it is not Jeeves' place to tell Bertie what to attempt in life, it is conversely not Bertie's place to deck himself out as he sees fit.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:09 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:09 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
MtDewd: Are you saying he went base over apex?
It's perfectly ordinary banter, MtDewd. Bally Jerry, pranged his kite right in the how's-your-father; hairy blighter, dicky-birded, feathered back on his sammy, took a waspy, flipped over on his Betty Harpers and caught his can in the Bertie.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:10 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's perfectly ordinary banter, MtDewd. Bally Jerry, pranged his kite right in the how's-your-father; hairy blighter, dicky-birded, feathered back on his sammy, took a waspy, flipped over on his Betty Harpers and caught his can in the Bertie.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:10 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
I prefer what ho in every particular to the standard greeting that permeated my experiences of high school in East Central Scotland. A notional 'Awright.', shortening by degrees to 'orri', to 'ri' to the most clipped and fdefensive microheave of grunt from the back of the throat. Friendly mornings keeping alive ancient sectarian nonsense whilst feigning interest in football. Ah, the old school.
Anyway, I sneak in the odd what ho now, when i'm not ey-ooping.
posted by aesop at 11:11 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
Anyway, I sneak in the odd what ho now, when i'm not ey-ooping.
posted by aesop at 11:11 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
"It was Lord Kitchener that came to mind Sir." - Jeeves -- with the best put-down of a mustache ever.
posted by timsteil at 11:13 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by timsteil at 11:13 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
aesop, do Scousers do that as well? That greeting ("All right?") puzzled me when a certain popular beat combo used it in A Hard Day's Night.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:14 AM on September 23, 2013
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:14 AM on September 23, 2013
I checked my email output today. Two What Ho!s, one wotcha, one Attention, Earthling, and one A-HA! Also, three ttfns, one toodle-pip, one toodles...
This makes me a charmingly eccentric Englishman, and I have absolutely no idea why one ex said to me, after we'd seen The Madness of King George, "If you start saying What What, I'll thump you".
posted by Devonian at 11:18 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
This makes me a charmingly eccentric Englishman, and I have absolutely no idea why one ex said to me, after we'd seen The Madness of King George, "If you start saying What What, I'll thump you".
posted by Devonian at 11:18 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
The most fantastic thing about Jeeves is the utter equanimity with which he accepts Bertie's most lunatic undertakings, with the sole exception of his sartorial choices, which seem to be the only thing which can elicit from him something which suggests the faintest whiff of opprobrium.
What I have discovered in my professional career, and what Jeeves surely knew, is you can try and fight/talk people out of their lunatic undertakings, in which case they do it anyway and may even do it just to spite you, and then you both wind up having to clean up their mess and deal with them resenting you for being right (possibly even blaming you for the failure) or you can swoop in and tidy up at the end--as you would've had to do anyway--while making sympathetic cooing noises as they complain, which makes things much simpler and makes them like you more.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 11:18 AM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
What I have discovered in my professional career, and what Jeeves surely knew, is you can try and fight/talk people out of their lunatic undertakings, in which case they do it anyway and may even do it just to spite you, and then you both wind up having to clean up their mess and deal with them resenting you for being right (possibly even blaming you for the failure) or you can swoop in and tidy up at the end--as you would've had to do anyway--while making sympathetic cooing noises as they complain, which makes things much simpler and makes them like you more.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 11:18 AM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
I'm currently in the process of watching all these; that video was like a breathless recap. But I didn't watch the last 15 seconds or so as I do have 3 episodes left in the show. Dash it, they should've made more.
The silver creamer disappeared, as did, eventually, Bertie's matronly aunt, in favor of a more plotting and conniving aunt who owned a women's publication and needed Bertie to engage in petty crime in order to secure writers or, ultimately, the sale of the publication.
Jeeves and Wooster also came to American throughout the 3rd and some of the 4th series, until Wooster's very legitimate hire of an escort (to pretend to be his fiancee) turned into a blackmail scheme. Another episode involved costumed members at a fancy dress party climbing the tower of the Empire State Building during a lightning storm in order that one of them demonstrate some heroics for a reluctant romantic prospect.
posted by Sunburnt at 11:21 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
The silver creamer disappeared, as did, eventually, Bertie's matronly aunt, in favor of a more plotting and conniving aunt who owned a women's publication and needed Bertie to engage in petty crime in order to secure writers or, ultimately, the sale of the publication.
Jeeves and Wooster also came to American throughout the 3rd and some of the 4th series, until Wooster's very legitimate hire of an escort (to pretend to be his fiancee) turned into a blackmail scheme. Another episode involved costumed members at a fancy dress party climbing the tower of the Empire State Building during a lightning storm in order that one of them demonstrate some heroics for a reluctant romantic prospect.
posted by Sunburnt at 11:21 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
timsteil, I can't be certain you didn't intend to bring this to mind.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:24 AM on September 23, 2013
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:24 AM on September 23, 2013
I think anyone that uses it should be shot on sight as a twit.
OH WELL THEN
I shall now use it twice as often with a corresponding increase in enthusiasm.
posted by elizardbits at 11:29 AM on September 23, 2013 [7 favorites]
OH WELL THEN
I shall now use it twice as often with a corresponding increase in enthusiasm.
posted by elizardbits at 11:29 AM on September 23, 2013 [7 favorites]
As long as it doesn't lead to more Americans rampantly using "whilst" to sound educated/British whilst having no idea how to properly use it, I'm okay with it.
What in the world are you talking about? During the long winter nights here in Maine, we think nothing of passing the hours with a nice game of whilst. And I wager we could knock more than a few of you card-playing toffs flat off your candy apples as well!
by which I mean some of us take our whilst very seriously around here
posted by Naberius at 11:30 AM on September 23, 2013 [4 favorites]
What in the world are you talking about? During the long winter nights here in Maine, we think nothing of passing the hours with a nice game of whilst. And I wager we could knock more than a few of you card-playing toffs flat off your candy apples as well!
by which I mean some of us take our whilst very seriously around here
posted by Naberius at 11:30 AM on September 23, 2013 [4 favorites]
Can you play whist whilst whistling?
posted by The Whelk at 11:32 AM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 11:32 AM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
Yes, I'd like to send this letter to the Prussian consulate in Siam by aeromail. Am I too late for the 4:30 autogyro?
posted by entropicamericana at 11:35 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 11:35 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
timsteil, I can't be certain you didn't intend to bring this to mind.
posted by George_Spiggott
Tcha! I say. And I mean it to sting.
posted by timsteil at 11:35 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by George_Spiggott
Tcha! I say. And I mean it to sting.
posted by timsteil at 11:35 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Whelk: Can you play whist whilst whistling?
No, but it's on my wishlist.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:36 AM on September 23, 2013 [5 favorites]
No, but it's on my wishlist.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:36 AM on September 23, 2013 [5 favorites]
I checked my email output today. Two What Ho!s, one wotcha, one Attention, Earthling, and one A-HA! Also, three ttfns, one toodle-pip, one toodles...
I wonder how much faster, "Attention, Earthlings, come down and consume your hot protein pods before they cool to a degree measurable on the Kelvin scale" will bring the little grubs slithering down the stairs than my usual waking call does ...
posted by tilde at 11:40 AM on September 23, 2013
I wonder how much faster, "Attention, Earthlings, come down and consume your hot protein pods before they cool to a degree measurable on the Kelvin scale" will bring the little grubs slithering down the stairs than my usual waking call does ...
posted by tilde at 11:40 AM on September 23, 2013
For some reason, I tended to hear a lot more toodle pips than what hos.
posted by HonoriaGlossop at 11:48 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by HonoriaGlossop at 11:48 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
"It's best followed by a spot of breezy RAF banter I reckon."
—George_Spiggott
WHAT HO, SQUIFFY!
posted by not_on_display at 11:49 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
—George_Spiggott
WHAT HO, SQUIFFY!
posted by not_on_display at 11:49 AM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
Metafilter: posted by HonoriaGlossop at 1:48 PM
posted by timsteil at 11:51 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by timsteil at 11:51 AM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
So much support for Mr. Burns' "Ahoy hoy" and nothing for Flanders' "Hi-de-ho"? This place IS getting taken over by the 1% wannabes. Still, the Simpsons has been a great source for all kinds of catchphrases (another thing the show has not kept up with in recent years).
My all-time favorite greeting was old time radio comedian Henry Morgan (NOT M*A*S*H's Harry Morgan) saying "Good evening, anybody," which I use only because I could never personally get away with "eh... what's up, doc?" Still, when greeted first with an annoying "How ya doin'?" I like to respond with a full-Joey-Tribbiani "How YOU doin'?" If we can safely forget everything else from "Freinds", I hope the Tribbiani greeting can live on as a warning to us all.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:03 PM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
My all-time favorite greeting was old time radio comedian Henry Morgan (NOT M*A*S*H's Harry Morgan) saying "Good evening, anybody," which I use only because I could never personally get away with "eh... what's up, doc?" Still, when greeted first with an annoying "How ya doin'?" I like to respond with a full-Joey-Tribbiani "How YOU doin'?" If we can safely forget everything else from "Freinds", I hope the Tribbiani greeting can live on as a warning to us all.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:03 PM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
Metafilter: posted by HonoriaGlossop at 1:48 PM
That's so unfair, blood. That's like, disrespecting his human rights and shit. It's like the law and could get you fined or some such shit?
Isn't it though?
Standard.
posted by MartinWisse at 12:12 PM on September 23, 2013 [4 favorites]
That's so unfair, blood. That's like, disrespecting his human rights and shit. It's like the law and could get you fined or some such shit?
Isn't it though?
Standard.
posted by MartinWisse at 12:12 PM on September 23, 2013 [4 favorites]
We hasn't got given no medals, and we is better at war and flying and shit than they is.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:21 PM on September 23, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:21 PM on September 23, 2013 [5 favorites]
I use the occasional "what ho," though I'm more pleased that I've been able to apply "Old Bean" as a nickname to someone and make it stick. My tweed-encrusted antiques dealer ex turned curmudgeonly riding buddy on an R69S determined he quite enjoyed our little indulgence of British pretension and embraced it.
As a consequence, back when we were the most badly mismatched riding buddies anywhere, what with me on an old school two stroke Vespa-via-India and him on one of his airheads, I could call on a sunny weekend and say "What ho, Old Bean, fancy a Roman holiday?" which meant "let's ride to Frederick in a modest Italo-Indian-German mechanical phalanx."
Sadly, I ruined our riding dynamic by repairing my father's unspeakable Triumph, which turned our Roman holidays into a backroads rendition of the Battle of Britain, complete with me singing my usual outro theme over espresso at the end of the ride.
Oh! England, my Lionheart,
I'm in your garden, fading fast in your arms.
The soldiers soften, the war is over.
The air raid shelters are blooming clover.
Flapping umbrellas fill the lanes—
My London Bridge in rain again.
"Ugh, always that damn song," Old Bean would huff, in his teutonic way.
"Need to cap it off over a cuppa, O.B.," I'd say, and smirk as Jeevishly as I could manage.
Mind you, nothing will cure Anglophilia faster than trying to kickstart an unspeakable Triumph.
posted by sonascope at 12:36 PM on September 23, 2013 [10 favorites]
As a consequence, back when we were the most badly mismatched riding buddies anywhere, what with me on an old school two stroke Vespa-via-India and him on one of his airheads, I could call on a sunny weekend and say "What ho, Old Bean, fancy a Roman holiday?" which meant "let's ride to Frederick in a modest Italo-Indian-German mechanical phalanx."
Sadly, I ruined our riding dynamic by repairing my father's unspeakable Triumph, which turned our Roman holidays into a backroads rendition of the Battle of Britain, complete with me singing my usual outro theme over espresso at the end of the ride.
Oh! England, my Lionheart,
I'm in your garden, fading fast in your arms.
The soldiers soften, the war is over.
The air raid shelters are blooming clover.
Flapping umbrellas fill the lanes—
My London Bridge in rain again.
"Ugh, always that damn song," Old Bean would huff, in his teutonic way.
"Need to cap it off over a cuppa, O.B.," I'd say, and smirk as Jeevishly as I could manage.
Mind you, nothing will cure Anglophilia faster than trying to kickstart an unspeakable Triumph.
posted by sonascope at 12:36 PM on September 23, 2013 [10 favorites]
Those Armstrong, Miller, Mitchell and Webb bits are so odd; it's like Peter Cushing performing Ali G.
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 12:36 PM on September 23, 2013
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 12:36 PM on September 23, 2013
I'm rather prone to the use of "I say, chaps!" So use of the "what ho" is not beyond belief.
posted by arcticseal at 12:50 PM on September 23, 2013
posted by arcticseal at 12:50 PM on September 23, 2013
"WHAT HO, {$surname}S ALL?"
dying here
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 12:51 PM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
dying here
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 12:51 PM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
"with the sole exception of his sartorial choices, which seem to be the only thing which can elicit from him something which suggests the faintest whiff of opprobrium.
posted by George_Spiggott
"Presumably, they thought you were a waiter Sir."
posted by timsteil at 12:53 PM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by George_Spiggott
"Presumably, they thought you were a waiter Sir."
posted by timsteil at 12:53 PM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
Me, I tend to "what what"s, "wotchers" and the occasional "I says".
posted by Samizdata at 1:13 PM on September 23, 2013
posted by Samizdata at 1:13 PM on September 23, 2013
(And, for anyone who's corresponded with me, I am a huge fan of "Cheers" as well as slipping the occasional "Brill"/"Brilliant" into everyday speech.)
posted by Samizdata at 1:16 PM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Samizdata at 1:16 PM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
We have now achieved maximum dapper.
posted by jiawen at 1:30 PM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by jiawen at 1:30 PM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
We've been through the entire Jeeves and Wooster program several times. It's glorious.
posted by JHarris at 1:43 PM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 1:43 PM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
Another one I happily employ is bellowing "Wot's all this, then?!" when entering a crowd, but I have to use a gruff bobbie voice for that - can't do that one in an American accent, no sir.
posted by Navelgazer at 1:49 PM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Navelgazer at 1:49 PM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
Probably half of Wodehouse by weight avoirdupois involves someone either wanting to marry someone or not wanting to. . .
The intended couple is often a pair of first cousins. When I first read Wodehouse, I was unaware that this was not only permissible but classy in the 1920s, and was quite taken aback.
I prefer what ho in every particular to the standard greeting that permeated my experiences of high school in East Central Scotland. A notional 'Awright.', shortening by degrees to 'orri', to 'ri' to the most clipped and fdefensive microheave of grunt from the back of the throat. Friendly mornings keeping alive ancient sectarian nonsense whilst feigning interest in football.
Funny thing -- this is also true about young guys in most of the American South, which was largely settled by Scots. Just switch out the pronunciation of "awright", the definition of football, and the particular ancient sectarian nonsense, and there you have it.
posted by Countess Elena at 3:16 PM on September 23, 2013
The intended couple is often a pair of first cousins. When I first read Wodehouse, I was unaware that this was not only permissible but classy in the 1920s, and was quite taken aback.
I prefer what ho in every particular to the standard greeting that permeated my experiences of high school in East Central Scotland. A notional 'Awright.', shortening by degrees to 'orri', to 'ri' to the most clipped and fdefensive microheave of grunt from the back of the throat. Friendly mornings keeping alive ancient sectarian nonsense whilst feigning interest in football.
Funny thing -- this is also true about young guys in most of the American South, which was largely settled by Scots. Just switch out the pronunciation of "awright", the definition of football, and the particular ancient sectarian nonsense, and there you have it.
posted by Countess Elena at 3:16 PM on September 23, 2013
I am trying to resurrect saying ''I do say'' before all of my proclamations.
posted by 4ster at 3:24 PM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by 4ster at 3:24 PM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
The intended couple is often a pair of first cousins. When I first read Wodehouse, I was unaware that this was not only permissible but classy in the 1920s, and was quite taken aback.
Watching this video, I thought, "Man, the Twenties looked weird." And now I'm reminded that the Twenties were weird.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 4:00 PM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
Watching this video, I thought, "Man, the Twenties looked weird." And now I'm reminded that the Twenties were weird.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 4:00 PM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
What ho! can wait until we've resurrected Steady on!, which fills a rhetorical niche not quite covered by any other interjection in its class.
I absolutely agree with this - the only equivalent I can think of is 'excuse you' which doesn't cover all the possible situations and is also somewhat more hostile in tone than might be warranted.
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 4:04 PM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
I absolutely agree with this - the only equivalent I can think of is 'excuse you' which doesn't cover all the possible situations and is also somewhat more hostile in tone than might be warranted.
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 4:04 PM on September 23, 2013 [3 favorites]
I have a bad habit (so other people assure me, I'm rather nonplussed by my usage) of ending boring/unpleasant coversations with a "Ta", usually tossed over one shoulder as departing. It's usually not caught by the person (USian) addressed to as anything but friendly but I know better...and that smug little smile on my face as I walk away makes me a complete bastard, according to one of my English cousins who observed me doing just that to one of the most insufferable members of a cadet branch of the family. Ah well, I can live with that.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 4:35 PM on September 23, 2013
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 4:35 PM on September 23, 2013
I am once again reminded of a half formed idea for a zippy novella where Bertie Wooster, Auntie Mame, and Nick and Nora solve a murder at one of Jay Garsby's parties....
posted by The Whelk at 4:46 PM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 4:46 PM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
If you want to separate the proverbial wheat from the chaff amongst acquaintances, try phoning someone and when they answer the phone (preferably with an "Ahoy hoy" but "Hello" is just fine), begin the conversation "Hello it is I [insert your name]." e.g.,:
"Hello, it is I, Dr. Zira."
Anyone who responds: "Hello I [insert your name]" is a keeper.
posted by Dr. Zira at 5:07 PM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
"Hello, it is I, Dr. Zira."
Anyone who responds: "Hello I [insert your name]" is a keeper.
posted by Dr. Zira at 5:07 PM on September 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
I read the Jeeves stories at the end of fifth grade and wanted desperately to see Edward Duke's one-man show. Looks like I won't be able to see that one, dash it.
posted by pxe2000 at 5:51 PM on September 23, 2013
posted by pxe2000 at 5:51 PM on September 23, 2013
My Aussie colleague invariably greets me in the morning with a "Hi, ho". Is this common in Australia? Or is it just him? (He is a bit odd, but that's another story for another time).
posted by zardoz at 8:00 PM on September 23, 2013
posted by zardoz at 8:00 PM on September 23, 2013
zardoz: My Aussie colleague invariably greets me in the morning with a "Hi, ho".
I wouldn't call it common, but I know a few people who say it - myself (a Sydneysider) included.
posted by not the fingers, not the fingers at 9:19 PM on September 23, 2013
I wouldn't call it common, but I know a few people who say it - myself (a Sydneysider) included.
posted by not the fingers, not the fingers at 9:19 PM on September 23, 2013
I say there, did any of you know there is a role-playing game for this sort of thing?
posted by JHarris at 9:37 PM on September 23, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 9:37 PM on September 23, 2013 [5 favorites]
If you like Jeeves, check out Wake Up, Sir! by Jonathan Ames.
posted by wmoskowi at 10:36 PM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by wmoskowi at 10:36 PM on September 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
What's a good place to start on Jeeves and Wooster, if you haven't read any previously?
posted by Chrysostom at 2:37 PM on September 24, 2013
posted by Chrysostom at 2:37 PM on September 24, 2013
I started with "My Man Jeeves," the Kindle edition of which is available FOR FREE on amazon. And laughed so hard I nearly peed.
posted by KathrynT at 2:55 PM on September 24, 2013
posted by KathrynT at 2:55 PM on September 24, 2013
What's a good place to start on Jeeves and Wooster, if you haven't read any previously?
If you mean the books, the answer is The Code of the Woosters.
If you mean the television show, the answer is the books.
posted by Wolfdog at 4:06 PM on September 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
If you mean the books, the answer is The Code of the Woosters.
If you mean the television show, the answer is the books.
posted by Wolfdog at 4:06 PM on September 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
(True fact: When I applied for tenure, the first section heading in one of my key supporting documents was "RIGHT HO!". I feel this may be unique in the history of university mathematics, but that would be hard to establish definitively.)
posted by Wolfdog at 5:37 PM on September 24, 2013
posted by Wolfdog at 5:37 PM on September 24, 2013
The TV show is great, but the books were, according to Douglas Adams, the funniest things written in the English language. And he may be right.
posted by JHarris at 6:15 PM on September 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 6:15 PM on September 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
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