MR. PUNCH'S DICTIONARY OF PHRASES.
Social.
"How sweetly that simple costume becomes your style of beauty, dear!"
i.e., "Cheap dress suits a silly dowdy."
"Ah! Here we are again! Thought I should come across you presently;"
i.e., "How he must tout for it! And what a relief it would be to go somewhere where he does not turn up!"
"Yes, capital story I know,—but pardon me just a minute, old chap. I think I see Mrs. Mountcashel beckoning me;"
i.e., "What an escape! Doesn't buttonhole me again to-night if I know it."
Military.
"The Mess rather prides itself upon its cellar;"
i.e., The host is a little doubtful about what the Wine Committee have in hand for the benefit of the guest he has asked to dinner.
"The Regiment at the Inspection, although a trifle rusty, never did better;"
i.e., The Senior Major clubbed the Battalion, and the Commanding Officer was told by the General, with an unnecessary strong expression, to "Take 'em home, Sir!"
Legal.
"The Will of the late Mr. Dash is so complicated that it is not unlikely to give employment to Gentlemen of the long robe;"
i.e., Administration suit, with six sets of solicitors, ten years of chamber practice, three further considerations, and the complete exhaustion of the estate in costs.
"Mr. Nemo, as a Solicitor in his office, is a very able man;"
i.e., That although Mr. Nemo, away from his profession, would shrink from doing anything calculated to get himself turned out of the West-End Club to which he belongs; in his sanctum he would cheerfully sell the bones of his grandmother by auction, and prosecute his own father and mother for petty larceny, arson, or murder, always supposing he saw his way to his costs.
Epistolatory.
"A thousand thanks for your nice long, sympathetic letter;"
i.e., "Great bore to have to reply to six pages of insincere gush."
"Please excuse this hurried scrawl;"
i.e., "That'll cover any mistakes in spelling, &c."
"Only too delighted;"
i.e., "Can't refuse, confound it!"
