Sunday, June 26, 2005

Thank-you, Mr Pratchett

I've been listening to a novel where one of the central characters is a Tourist. That is, he arrives in the city for the sole purpose of Looking At It, he has a book that tells him how to talk and he has no concept that is money is worth as much as people's houses.

His reluctant tour guide learns some new words from this man.

Picturesque means "highly precipitous".

Quaint means "tumbledown and fever-ridden".

This book has given me some giggles whilst driving between our clinics.

But if you or I had a palm-leaf roof to withstand monsoonal rains in an area where malaria, dengue and cholera are endemic, we'd all live in Quaint villages too.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey there Mel,.. just 'back' from Maternity leave,.. & the Discworld novels were one of the few things I mananged to get into in sleep-deprived new baby-hood; I love the Luggage! Terry P is a very clever and amusing writer. We have a "map" of how the books fit together (follow themems and characters in series-es), if you're interested I will chase up the site for you (-: Naomi S (mum to Chloe)..on same email as ever