- John Adams
“I read my eyes out and can’t read half enough... The more one reads the more one sees we have to read.”
- John Adams
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This image is from one of my favourite classic movies, You Can't Take It With You. In it, Tony Kirby (played by James Stewart) has asked Alice Sycamore (Jean Arthur) to marry him. The problem is, he comes from a wealthy family of bankers while Alice's family is a lot humbler and... er... eccentric. Alice plans a dinner party so that the two families can meet, striving to show her relations in the most favorable light possible, hoping to convince Tony's parents that her family is, if not wealthy, at least respectable. Tony, who is charmed by Alice's unusual family, dislikes the idea of putting them on display for his parents and so deliberately brings Mr and Mrs Kirby to dinner on the wrong night so that they will see the Sycamores/Vanderhoffs as they really are. The evening is not a success. The harder Alice and her family try to make the Kirby's comfortable, the more mishaps occur. The disastrous visit comes to a premature- and shocking- end when the house is swarmed by FBI agents, the illegal fireworks cache in the basement explodes, and everyone present- including the Kirbys- are arrested and taken to jail. This is where the above image is from; unable to contact his lawyers, Mr. Kirby is in a rage, berating everyone including Tony over the situation until finally the usually good humored Grandpa Vanderhoff loses his temper and tells him a few home truths about his character. Where Did It Come From? A skinflint is a person who is extremely reluctant to spend money and will hold onto it as tightly as possible for as long as possible. Some synonyms to the word are: tightwad, cheapskate, miser, and penny-pincher. Another synonym is derived from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol- "Scrooge" the ultimate skinflint: The word "skinflint" has been around since the 1600's, and it's most likely origin is from the flintlock firearm which came into existence at about that time. A flint is a piece of chert (hard rock) which is struck with iron or steel to produce a spark. A flintlock held a piece of flint and, when the trigger was pulled, the spring-loaded hammer would hit the flint against a steel plate. This would cause sparks which would light the powder in the flash pan which in turn ignited the charge in the bore and fired the gun. Eventually, after the gun was fired many times, the flint would wear down. When this happened, the gun owner was supposed to replace the flint. Some, however, would attempt to save money by trying to extend the life of their flint by sharpening- skinning- it with a knife. This seems to me to be the most likely explanation for the word, though there are a couple of other suggestions, including that it is derived from the French expression "tondre un oeuf" (to shave an egg). Which is, I suppose, possible. Oddly, the first literary use of the term "skinflint" doesn't really seem to line up with either of these possibilities. It's found in the 1656 satire The Legend of Captain Jones: "This were but petty hardship, Jones was one/Would Skinne a Flint, and eat him when h’had done." The earliest dictionary entry of "skinflint" is in a 1699 volume of slang terms and their meanings: A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew: "Skin-flint, a griping, sharping, close-fisted Fellow " Related Posts: One of the nephews is turning two today, and he's completely obsessed with trains so I've sewn a train pillowcase and picked up a wooden building block train. Below is the opening scene from The Music Man (1962) in which the tempo of speech of the salesmen increases and decreases with the speed of the train: Birthday Boy: Related Posts:The truth I do not stretch or shove When I state the dog is full of love. I've also proved, by actual test, A wet dog is the lovingest. -Ogden Nash Related Posts: Jules Verne, who is sometimes referred to as "the father of science fiction," wrote Journey To The Center of the Earth in 1864. It is certainly fiction, but as for science... yes, well... ahem. But this is essentially an adventure story and shouldn't be read with any expectation of realism or accuracy. This first part of the novel introduces us to most of the main characters, one of these being Professor Otto Lidenbrock. He is the driving force behind the expedition to Iceland to find the volcanic tunnel to the earth's center. Lidenbrock is portrayed as being a brilliant scientist and researcher but also an extraordinarily unpleasant person. Really, he's almost sociopathic in his complete disregard for the feelings, comfort, or even safety of those around him. Case in point: his denial of food to his nephew and housekeeper- and himself- until the runic code is cracked. The story is narrated by Lidenbrock's nephew/assistant Axel for whom we would expect to feel sympathy, considering how badly he's treated by his uncle. The fact is though, he's such a whiny stick-in-the-mud that it's difficult to like him either. The professor may be too driven and ambitious but Axel seems to have little to no motivation or enthusiasm. He's intelligent enough- he is actually the one who figures out the key to the code- and one can hardly blame him for not wanting to travel to Iceland and hop into a volcano. But all Axel seems to do is inwardly complain; he never stands up to his uncle, whether it's about the trip, his relationship with Grauben, or even- what the heck- being denied food. Even when he brings himself to voice some concerns about the science- or sanity- of descending into the depths of a possibly active volcano, Axel knuckles under immediately when the professor impatiently brushes aside his concerns. He spends a good deal of the book being reluctantly dragged along in his uncle's wake, gloomily predicting their demise at regular intervals, like some sort of Cassandra/Eeyore. We only meet Grauben briefly, and only have Axel's infatuated description of her, but she seems to be less sentimental and more practical than her suitor. Axel is shocked and a little hurt when she encourages him to go on the Icelandic expedition. She points out that, if it is successful, he will have fame and fortune which will allow them to wed. She obviously has Axel's measure and realizes that unless he is encouraged (pushed) he will remain under his uncle's thumb and never become independent. Between Grauben's urging and Lidenbrock's tyrannical demands, Axel finds himself unhappily on a ship bound for Iceland, convinced he's going to die. So that's where we'll pick up the story next time. By the way, while code maker Arne Saknussemm is entirely fictional, the author of the book the runes fell out of- Snorri Sturluson is not. Sturlrson, an Icelander, lived from 1179 to 1241. He was a lawyer who served in the Althing (parliament) and wrote books of poetry, Norse mythology, and Scandinavian history.
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