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/lit/ - Literature

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2945444 No.2945444 [Reply] [Original]

Hi, I'm looking for a quote by an English king whose name I cannot remember. It was a rather simple one, basically just something he said about a thing he found great. He used adjectives like "awful" that nowadays are seen as negative to describe it. Basically the point of it was to demonstrate how languages change over time.

I hope that made sense.

>> No.2945473

Awful is still used as an adjective to describe something in a positive light. My grandad often says 'awfully' or 'frightfully'.

"I had an awfully good time at the theatre last night"

Read Burmese days by George Orwell, It's set in the British Colonial era and is full of things like that:

"Did you have a good time last night, old sport?"
"Yes, I had an awfully good time at the theatre, what."

Here 'what' is used as a carry on for a possible question, like 'what did you do?'. I have no idea why it is said but it was very common, what.

>> No.2945506

>>2945473
I know, that's why I'm looking for the quote. It had other similar words in it but unfortunately I can't remember any of them.

>> No.2946120

Awful = full of awe

>> No.2946166

>>2945473
> Here 'what' is used as a carry on for a possible question, like 'what did you do?'. I have no idea why it is said but it was very common, what.

Probably from the French. The French say 'quoi' all the time, quoi.

>> No.2946176

>>2946166
Pourquoi?

>> No.2946206

>>2946176
desu

>> No.2946242

"Oim 'Enery dee eighf oi am,
'Enery dee eighf oi am oi am"
- Henry VIII

>> No.2946337

>>2946242
"I were fackin' awfuw, I were fackin' grayt
I cut my wife's 'ed off and shagged her fackin' mayt" ~ Henry VIII

>> No.2946391
File: 99 KB, 425x282, hygb.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2946391

>>2946242
oh my god thank you

>> No.2946394

>>2946242
How would you write the silent t's? Like "yoov got dee ang ov it" the t's are missed off, but yoov go' dee ang ov i' looks wrong.

>> No.2946422

>>2946394
yoov go'dee'angovi'

>> No.2946594

>>2946394
Your cokney is awful

>> No.2946604
File: 11 KB, 200x150, 200px-Crying-girl.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2946604

>>2946594
>mfw I am a cockney.

>> No.2946613

>>2946242
I can't stop laughing

>> No.2946638

>>2946604
Who let you onto the internet?

>> No.2946644

>>2946638
Oi, I may live in bow, but I am house-trained and civilized.

>> No.2946647

>>2946644
I believe you. Bow is such a Cockney syllable. I assume you pronounce it 'Baaaaw'

>> No.2946659

awesome = great
awful = bad
why english why

>> No.2946667

The way he smiles is bizarre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GisCRxREDkY

>> No.2946672

>>2946667
magnificent

>> No.2946725

>>2946667
Fuck you. That song has crawled inside my skull and is playing on a loop.

>> No.2946730

An apocryphal story relates how Charles II (or sometimes Queen Anne) described St Paul's Cathedral as "awful, pompous, and artificial", meaning in modern English "awe-inspiring, majestic, and ingeniously designed."

>> No.2946741

>>2946725
This one's subtler but just as annoying
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Reqc38YW81w

>> No.2947840 [DELETED] 

>>2946730
Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for.

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