Horseradish

[B***@npole.com]

Hello all,
I was just reading Mr. Mulliner telling the story of "Best Seller".
There is a line in which Egbert bemoans the words he spoke when
proposing marriage. The sentence concludes with "Egbert shuddered to
think he could have polluted the air with such frightful horseradish".
Was horseradish a scornful term to use back then, or is he hinting at
the more robust word, "horsesh*t?

[Ian Michaud, TWS]

Post by B***@npole.com
Hello all,
I was just reading Mr. Mulliner telling the story of "Best Seller".
There is a line in which Egbert bemoans the words he spoke when
proposing marriage. The sentence concludes with "Egbert shuddered to
think he could have polluted the air with such frightful horseradish".
Was horseradish a scornful term to use back then, or is he hinting at
the more robust word, "horsesh*t?

He may have been. I think "horseradish" falls more or less into the same
category as "horse feathers" as a euphemism. But I think it also falls
into the same category as "mashed potatoes" as used by the Rev. Augustine
Mulliner when, blotto on Buck-U-Uppo, he crossed out his diary entry
reproaching himself for losing his temper with his landlady on the subject
of missing hot-water bottles, and scribbled in the margin "Mashed potatoes!
Served the old idiot right!"

The story was published in 1926 and Wodehouse also had Bertie Wooster says
"pure mashed potatoes" to Jeeves in "Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit",
published in 1927. The expression also popped up in 1928's "Money For
Nothing."

Possibly when he wrote "Best Seller" in 1930 Wodehouse was simply looking
for an alternative to mashed potatoes.

The Mixer

[Charles stone-Tolcher]

Bertie Wooster also says 'pure apple sauce' in the same context.

Pillingshot
He may have been. I think "horseradish" falls more or less into the same
category as "horse feathers" as a euphemism. But I think it also falls
into the same category as "mashed potatoes" as used by the Rev. Augustine
Mulliner when, blotto on Buck-U-Uppo, he crossed out his diary entry
reproaching himself for losing his temper with his landlady on the subject
of missing hot-water bottles, and scribbled in the margin "Mashed
potatoes! Served the old idiot right!"
The story was published in 1926 and Wodehouse also had Bertie Wooster says
"pure mashed potatoes" to Jeeves in "Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit",
published in 1927. The expression also popped up in 1928's "Money For
Nothing."
Possibly when he wrote "Best Seller" in 1930 Wodehouse was simply looking
for an alternative to mashed potatoes.
The Mixer