No way of titling this at all.
May. 26th, 2016 04:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnny9fingers"So was it Walt Whitman, or A. E . Houseman who wrote 'Seven Types of Ambiguity'?"
"Neither, it was Empson, who was a Wykehamist; and at heart, a Wykehamist."
"Isn't that just a pretty tautology?"
"That's the thing with you scientist chaps: you think that a distinction without a difference doesn't matter: in language it is sometimes called emphasis...old thing."
"Well, you passed the Whitman and Houseman stupidity without blinking, which was impressive. And then proceeded to explain Empson."
"I did wonder if a peculiar form of dementia had settled on the table: I fear I may have been ahead of myself."
And a third voice...
"Ah, the scent of contrition: sometimes it is good to be humble at this table, but never meek. Is that 'a distinction without a difference' enough for you? I can assure you it matters." The Master's gravelly baritone, posh Welsh, never either humble or meek, brought the subject to a close.
It was almost time for the Cherry Pie. What to do with the stones? What to do with the stones?
Answers on a postcard please to the usual address.
"Neither, it was Empson, who was a Wykehamist; and at heart, a Wykehamist."
"Isn't that just a pretty tautology?"
"That's the thing with you scientist chaps: you think that a distinction without a difference doesn't matter: in language it is sometimes called emphasis...old thing."
"Well, you passed the Whitman and Houseman stupidity without blinking, which was impressive. And then proceeded to explain Empson."
"I did wonder if a peculiar form of dementia had settled on the table: I fear I may have been ahead of myself."
And a third voice...
"Ah, the scent of contrition: sometimes it is good to be humble at this table, but never meek. Is that 'a distinction without a difference' enough for you? I can assure you it matters." The Master's gravelly baritone, posh Welsh, never either humble or meek, brought the subject to a close.
It was almost time for the Cherry Pie. What to do with the stones? What to do with the stones?
Answers on a postcard please to the usual address.
