I've been thinking about what it's like to be a king or queen...just in case, as it were. One never knows.
One of the royal tasks is to at least appear interested in what other people are saying. On the daily ermine-wrapped round, folk will come up to you and say things. Your task is to say something back that keeps the conversation going for just long enough. This is an interesting class of comment; possibly J.L.S. knows the descriptive term?
Two examples: George IV, when he couldn't think of anything else to say, said, "That's quite another thing." The current queen asks, "What do you do?" and follows with, "Have you been doing that long?"
In almost the same category is the line from "Father Ted," "That would be an ecumenical matter."
So here's the challenge, something to mull idly while waiting for the ham and chips to be passed. What is the best anodinity--there, I've made up a descriptive--you can come up with?
May your passover seder/ easter feast/ pagan bunny ritual prove 'strawdinry.
David Ritchie, Portland, Oregon ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
