the meanng of "A chaise and four" (Pride and Prejudice)

[Ann1977]

Margaret Sullivan found that Jane Austen's assignment of vehicles to the two men was far from arbitrary.' JA used attitudes to horse-drawn vehicles as (one of many) vehicles for her satire.

We would see the identical non-arbitrary assignment of vehicles today. The author would be careful to match a Bug and a Caddie and a Jag and an SUV to the character he was portraying.

Then he can get some additional mileage out of describing the characters' attitudes toward their rides.

Austen did the same thing with wedding lace. How the two not-very-nice sisters stared (itself Austen's notice of an affectation of facial expression -- to pretend to be frozen in a stare from fake shock) when they heard that Emma chose to marry in a gown that was not dragged down with an overabundance of lace. "How they stared," she wrote.

She wanted to locate these girls in their socioeconomic class, as well as their level of education, taste, judgment, intelligence... blind apers of the worst of what is merely fashionable, and not even rejecting what is outre and bad .... all that in a sentence.

[konungursvia]

Chinese coaches had (have?) two wheels.

[Ann1977]

Chinese coaches had (have?) two wheels.

I think the gist of BobK's post is that there were lots of horse-drawn vehicles with two wheels -- but they are never called "coaches."

We have two-wheeled bicycles, but they are never called "cars."

When you say "coach" or "automobile," you are automatically implying four wheels. (at least for English vehicles, I suppose.)

[BobK]

I think the gist of BobK's post is that there were lots of horse-drawn vehicles with two wheels -- but they are never called "coaches."

We have two-wheeled bicycles, but they are never called "cars."

When you say "coach" or "automobile," you are automatically implying four wheels. (at least for English vehicles, I suppose.)

... except for three-wheelers, more common in the UK than in the US - Morgans, Bonds (now extinct, though my brother had one - which was really a glorifiied motorbike [not with a sidecar, but with a car-like shape, despite its 250 cc engine]), the Reliant Robin made famous by the TV show Only Fools and Horses (http://www.motoring.co.uk/images/new...1ec9bb95bb.jpg ), Messerschmitts, Isettas and other so-called 'bubble' cars... mostly defunct.

I was amused that your reply about wedding lace (Ann) used the image 'mileage', while my post (immediately previous to that) used the image 'vehicle'. This conversation seems to be ... ahem driven by transport-based images.

b

[Ann1977]

I was amused that your reply about wedding lace (Ann) used the image 'mileage', while my post (immediately previous to that) used the image 'vehicle'. This conversation seems to be ... ahem driven by transport-based images.

b

Yes, something does seem to be (ahem) "steering" it in that direction!

[Ann1977]

Yes, something does seem to be (ahem) "steering" it in that direction!

Look! Look! I made a joke!

I am notoriously not witty, and I can never think of any jokes or puns.

But this time I did!! YAY! I made a joke and nobody helped me!

Hahahahaha! What a good joke I made! "Steering" -- Get it? Get it? hahahaha!

It's a pun, do you see? Because you said "vehicles" and I said "mileage" and you said "driven." So then I thought of "steering!" Ahahahaha! What a good joke!


It's a good pun, right? It is, isn't it?



Or isn't it?