In article <C1FKpt.G53@unix.amherst.edu>, nwbernst@unix.amherst.edu (Neil Bernstein) writes:
|> Rao Akella (rao@moose.cccs.umn.edu) wrote:
|> :
|> : In article <Jan24.191908.27594@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU>, kannan@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Kannan Subramanian) writes:
|> : >
|> : > You mean Captain Biggar, who habitually looks rhinoceri in their eye, while
|> : > strolling through their backyard as it were, and makes them wilt.
|> :
|> : If you actually mean Capt. Cuthbert Gervase Brabazon-Biggar, then you probably
|> : know the answer to this:
|> : Who's bigger? Mister Biggar or Master Biggar?
|> : Master Biggar, because he's a little Biggar.
|> :
|> : :-)
There are a lot more who's bigger jokes. Eg. who is bigger, Mr Bigger or Mrs Bigger, Mrs Bigger because she became Bigger. These appear in a book in which Jeeves in on loan to someone else. The book features Captain Biggar and such
other delightful characters as Mrs Spottworth, Rory, Moke. Anyone remember the title?
The book is set in a house, described as such. "The river is at the bottom of the garden and when it rains the garden is at the bottom of the river."
|> :
|> : In a similar vein, anyone remember the context of "the Major is a miner and the
|> : minor is a Major?" I seem to remember it's either Galahad or Fred, Lord
|> : Ickenham, trying to put a fast one over somebody...one of the classics.
|>
|> And yet people dare to compare trash like "Who promoted Major Major?" to this
|> fine word-origami of the Master...
|> - Neil Bernstein
|> Struggling Classics Major
The major-miner mix-up appears in Uncle Dynamite when he is trying to convince
Constable Potter (The Rotter) that he is Major Brabazon-Plank. The ploy does not work because Constable Potter has played cricket with Brabazon-Plank. So Lord Ickenham tells Potter that he (Lord Ickenham) is the elder of the two Brabazon-Plank brothers and is a miner by profession and the minor Brabazon-Plank is a major in the army. He then advises the confused Potter to keep it squarely before his eyes that the major is a miner and the minor is a major.
Uncle Dynamite: One of the best books I have ever read.
