Comments on: Well-crafted scorn is a joy forever

By: David Rubie

David Rubie — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 03:07:08 +0000

Like drinking Malibu, his coconut flavour was appealing at first, but became increasingly a bitter aftertaste as the evening wore on. The hangover, in the harsh light of day, was thundering, thick mouthed and nauseous.

By: tigtog

tigtog — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 02:14:03 +0000

“King Coconut with Eyebrow Frosting”?

By: David Rubie

David Rubie — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 01:45:23 +0000

Even better (from enemy combatant at the Poll Bludger): "King Kirribilli Coconut"

By: Jobby

Jobby — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 01:32:52 +0000

â??Disputes in universities are all the more bitter, because the stakes are so low.â?? – Herbert Hoover (?)

I think that one is actually, “University politics are so intense because the stakes are so low”, and has been attributed to everyone from Kissinger to Laurence Peter. Apparently it was first used by Wallace S. Sayre, in the early 1950s

I always loved the review of Spinal Taps ‘Shark Soup’, which read simply: “Shit Soup.”

By: David Rubie

David Rubie — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 01:21:08 +0000

tigtog wrote:

surely there’s the perfect phrase floating through the ether if we could only perceive it.

It has to be something to do with the eyebrows. Maybe characterise the silly old bugger as the “embodiment of everything that’s wrong with the personal grooming industry, that started with his his eyebrow brazilian and ended up with the PM giving us an anal bleach via his immigration policies.”

By: tigtog

tigtog — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 01:07:33 +0000

On the radio this morning Bob Ellis delivered an oldie but a goodie when Tim Ellison suggested, that Labor should respond to the “fear the union bosses” ads by emphasising how the Coalition front bench is lawyered up the wazoo.

“Now, now, Tim, let’s be fair. We mustn’t forget that it’s only 97% of lawyers that make the other 3% look bad.”

By: Ambigulous

Ambigulous — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:48:04 +0000

Apparently in some quarters, the brief and waspish phrase: “This book fills a much wanted gap in the literature” is used to PRAISE. Begorrah.

Thanks, Nabakov, Mencken & Hazlitt. I imagine the old Vladimir Nabs hisself was a dab hand at scorn.

Anecdote from an American Litt Dept in the 60′s where Vladimir N (Pnin)was teaching. Colleague bustles into staff tea room exclaiming, “Do you know, two of my students were spooning in the tutorial just now!” Vladimir: “These days I’d say you were lucky they weren’t forkng.”

By: Ambigulous

Ambigulous — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:41:45 +0000

“Disputes in universities are all the more bitter, because the stakes are so low.” – Herbert Hoover (?)

By: tigtog

tigtog — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 09:10:48 +0000

Performance critics are in a league of their own when it comes to scorn. I love the (possibly apocryphal) story of the performance of Anne Frank’s Diary that was so diabolical that one wit in the audience yelled out “She’s in the attic!” when the Nazis arrived to search the house. The rest of the audience took up the call as well.

Ouch.

In terms of a really fine spray of invective for our dearly soon to be departed PM, I wish someone could come up with an epigram along the lines of Gore Vidal’s description of Ronnie Raygun as “a triumph of the mortician’s art”. We can’t appropriate it wholesale, as Howard doesn’t have quite the same pink waxiness that Reagan displayed, but surely there’s the perfect phrase floating through the ether if we could only perceive it.

By: j_p_z

j_p_z — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 07:15:40 +0000

My favorite movie review of all time… (NB, this is the entire review as published.)

“Batman Forever” is aptly titled. I thought that it would go on forever.
(Stanley Kauffman, I think)