[lit-ideas] Re: Sunday Twofer
- From: David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:23:56 -0700
On Apr 26, 2010, at 9:31 AM, Ursula Stange wrote:
These are charming, David. Thank you. And thanks for the reminder
of the many ways to speak of the dead.
Many thanks for your thoughts. While under the weather, I have been
reading two books, Adam Hart-Davis and Emily Troscianko, "Taking the
Piss; A Potted History of Pee," and Tom Standage, "A History of the
World in 6 Glasses." There's profit in both. I found the French
expression, "manger les pissenlits par la racine" in the former,
which also had, "il ne sent plus pisser," (he thinks the sun shines
out of his backside), "ca l'a pris comme une envie de pisser" (he's
got a sudden urge to get on with it) and "c'est comme si on pissait
dans un violon," (it's like tinkling in the wind). More interesting
yet is the economic history of pee. I knew that urine was used by
tanners, but its use as a mordant, and in steel-making, and in the
making of indigo was news to me, as were all the health claims made
world wide by people who advise ingesting it. In passing (!) I
should mention the list of inventive ways English-speaking people
(well, men) have found to describe urination: bleed the lizard,
change the water on the goldfish, drain the main vein, drain the
radiator, freshen one's Snapple, break the seal, pump ship, release
the pressure, shake hands with the unemployed, shake the dew off the
lily, strain the potatoes, discharge my tea, tap a kidney. "Six
glasses" is about beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and coke. If you
can get through it without once once saying, "that's interesting,"
and reading a bit to someone near or dear, I'd be surprised.
David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon
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