"Please, Sir, they don't Swear!"
MR. PUNCH'S DICTIONARY OF PHRASES.
Social.
"Just want five minutes' chat with you;"
i.e., "He'll give me a cigar and something to drink, and as I've nothing to do for half an hour, this will occupy me pleasantly."
"Yes; I quite understand;"
i.e., "I don't know what he is talking about, but he's a bore."
"Wouldn't tell it to anyone but you;"
i.e., "This will ensure its circulation."
Platformulars.
"As the Laureate well puts it, in lines that will live for ever;"
i.e., "I'm perfectly dead certain I've forgotten the third line of the verse."
"The clock warns me that I am trespassing too long on your patience;"
i.e., "Haven't said half of what I meant to say. Why the dickens don't they say, 'Go on!'"