# Bakers Dozen **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [August 4, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173 "2010-08-04T17:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 249
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4961 "2011-04-20T04:12:56Z")
Favorite Lines from Obscure Novels 1. “I’ll squck yur thrug till all yu can whupple is geep!” - James Thurber - The Wonderful O 2. “He was in the next room mixing my favourite drink; I call it ‘the top shelf in a pail’.” - Paul Quarrington - The Life of Hope. 3. His dear mother in Boston had given him the middle name of Jellicle, after the Jellicle Cats in T.S. Elliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practcal Cats, which she’d read long before Andrew Lloyd Webber was even a gillmer in an Englishman’s eye. - Ed McBain - Downtown 4. “The water is singing the Hallelujah Chorus.” Sex & Sunsets, Tim Sandlin 5. “It was a malodorous gut wind.” Aztec, Gary Jennings ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4962 "2011-04-20T04:19:05Z")
Favorite Lines from Obscure Novels 1. “I’ll squck yur thrug till all yu can whupple is geep!” - James Thurber - The Wonderful O 2. “He was in the next room mixing my favourite drink; I call it ‘the top shelf in a pail’.” - Paul Quarrington - The Life of Hope. 3. His dear mother in Boston had given him the middle name of Jellicle, after the Jellicle Cats in T.S. Elliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practcal Cats, which she’d read long before Andrew Lloyd Webber was even a gillmer in an Englishman’s eye. - Ed McBain - Downtown 4. “The water is singing the Hallelujah Chorus.” Sex & Sunsets, Tim Sandlin 5. “It was a malodorous gut wind.” Aztec, Gary Jennings 6. “Ecstasy, It’s finally spring down here on the Chattahoochee-- the azaleas are in bloom, and everyone is dying of cancer.” James Halloran, Dancer from the Dance ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4963 "2011-04-20T15:49:03Z")
Favorite Lines from Obscure Novels 1. “I’ll squck yur thrug till all yu can whupple is geep!” - James Thurber - The Wonderful O 2. “He was in the next room mixing my favourite drink; I call it ‘the top shelf in a pail’.” - Paul Quarrington - The Life of Hope. 3. His dear mother in Boston had given him the middle name of Jellicle, after the Jellicle Cats in T.S. Elliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practcal Cats, which she’d read long before Andrew Lloyd Webber was even a gillmer in an Englishman’s eye. - Ed McBain - Downtown 4. “The water is singing the Hallelujah Chorus.” Sex & Sunsets, Tim Sandlin 5. “It was a malodorous gut wind.” Aztec, Gary Jennings 6. “Ecstasy, It’s finally spring down here on the Chattahoochee-- the azaleas are in bloom, and everyone is dying of cancer.” James Halloran, Dancer from the Dance 7. "If Thoreau had been a drinking man, “Walden” would have been a completely different book - “The damn birds woke me up at 4 AM, screeching like banshees!” - Zod Wallop, William Browning Spencer ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4964 "2011-04-20T19:25:56Z")
Favorite Lines from Obscure Novels 1. “I’ll squck yur thrug till all yu can whupple is geep!” - James Thurber - The Wonderful O 2. “He was in the next room mixing my favourite drink; I call it ‘the top shelf in a pail’.” - Paul Quarrington - The Life of Hope. 3. His dear mother in Boston had given him the middle name of Jellicle, after the Jellicle Cats in T.S. Elliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practcal Cats, which she’d read long before Andrew Lloyd Webber was even a gillmer in an Englishman’s eye. - Ed McBain - Downtown 4. “The water is singing the Hallelujah Chorus.” Sex & Sunsets, Tim Sandlin 5. “It was a malodorous gut wind.” Aztec, Gary Jennings 6. “Ecstasy, It’s finally spring down here on the Chattahoochee-- the azaleas are in bloom, and everyone is dying of cancer.” James Halloran, Dancer from the Dance 7. "If Thoreau had been a drinking man, “Walden” would have been a completely different book - “The damn birds woke me up at 4 AM, screeching like banshees!” - Zod Wallop, William Browning Spencer 8. “The shaman came to town near sunset, riding a dead horse.” Devil’s Tower - Mark Sumner ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4965 "2011-04-20T20:24:59Z")
Favorite Lines from Obscure Novels 1. “I’ll squck yur thrug till all yu can whupple is geep!” - James Thurber - The Wonderful O 2. “He was in the next room mixing my favourite drink; I call it ‘the top shelf in a pail’.” - Paul Quarrington - The Life of Hope. 3. His dear mother in Boston had given him the middle name of Jellicle, after the Jellicle Cats in T.S. Elliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practcal Cats, which she’d read long before Andrew Lloyd Webber was even a gillmer in an Englishman’s eye. - Ed McBain - Downtown 4. “The water is singing the Hallelujah Chorus.” Sex & Sunsets, Tim Sandlin 5. “It was a malodorous gut wind.” Aztec, Gary Jennings 6. “Ecstasy, It’s finally spring down here on the Chattahoochee-- the azaleas are in bloom, and everyone is dying of cancer.” James Halloran, Dancer from the Dance 7. "If Thoreau had been a drinking man, “Walden” would have been a completely different book - “The damn birds woke me up at 4 AM, screeching like banshees!” - Zod Wallop, William Browning Spencer 8. “The shaman came to town near sunset, riding a dead horse.” Devil’s Tower - Mark Sumner 9. “I want my two hundred dollars!” - Addie Pray - Joe David Brown The book which inspired _Paper Moon_. The movie’s great, but the book’s fantastic (and has some additional funny scams). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4966 "2011-04-21T01:51:32Z")
Favorite Lines from Obscure Novels 1. “I’ll squck yur thrug till all yu can whupple is geep!” - James Thurber - The Wonderful O 2. “He was in the next room mixing my favourite drink; I call it ‘the top shelf in a pail’.” - Paul Quarrington - The Life of Hope. 3. His dear mother in Boston had given him the middle name of Jellicle, after the Jellicle Cats in T.S. Elliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practcal Cats, which she’d read long before Andrew Lloyd Webber was even a gillmer in an Englishman’s eye. - Ed McBain - Downtown 4. “The water is singing the Hallelujah Chorus.” Sex & Sunsets, Tim Sandlin 5. “It was a malodorous gut wind.” Aztec, Gary Jennings 6. “Ecstasy, It’s finally spring down here on the Chattahoochee-- the azaleas are in bloom, and everyone is dying of cancer.” James Halloran, Dancer from the Dance 7. "If Thoreau had been a drinking man, “Walden” would have been a completely different book - “The damn birds woke me up at 4 AM, screeching like banshees!” - Zod Wallop, William Browning Spencer 8. “The shaman came to town near sunset, riding a dead horse.” Devil’s Tower - Mark Sumner 9. “I want my two hundred dollars!” - Addie Pray - Joe David Brown 10. “As Siva twisted and turned, leapt and whirled, the age of Kali came to its predicted end.” _Kalki_, Gore Vidal ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4967 "2011-04-21T02:36:12Z")
Favorite Lines from Obscure Novels 1. “I’ll squck yur thrug till all yu can whupple is geep!” - James Thurber - The Wonderful O 2. “He was in the next room mixing my favourite drink; I call it ‘the top shelf in a pail’.” - Paul Quarrington - The Life of Hope. 3. His dear mother in Boston had given him the middle name of Jellicle, after the Jellicle Cats in T.S. Elliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practcal Cats, which she’d read long before Andrew Lloyd Webber was even a gillmer in an Englishman’s eye. - Ed McBain - Downtown 4. “The water is singing the Hallelujah Chorus.” Sex & Sunsets, Tim Sandlin 5. “It was a malodorous gut wind.” Aztec, Gary Jennings 6. “Ecstasy, It’s finally spring down here on the Chattahoochee-- the azaleas are in bloom, and everyone is dying of cancer.” James Halloran, Dancer from the Dance 7. "If Thoreau had been a drinking man, “Walden” would have been a completely different book - “The damn birds woke me up at 4 AM, screeching like banshees!” - Zod Wallop, William Browning Spencer 8. “The shaman came to town near sunset, riding a dead horse.” Devil’s Tower - Mark Sumner 9. “I want my two hundred dollars!” - Addie Pray - Joe David Brown 10. “As Siva twisted and turned, leapt and whirled, the age of Kali came to its predicted end.” _Kalki_, Gore Vidal 11. “Once upon a time, there was a wizard named Prospero, and not the one you’re thinking of, either.” _The Face in the Frost_, John Bellairs. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4968 "2011-04-21T02:42:25Z")
Favorite Lines from Obscure Novels 1. “I’ll squck yur thrug till all yu can whupple is geep!” - James Thurber - The Wonderful O 2. “He was in the next room mixing my favourite drink; I call it ‘the top shelf in a pail’.” - Paul Quarrington - The Life of Hope. 3. His dear mother in Boston had given him the middle name of Jellicle, after the Jellicle Cats in T.S. Elliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practcal Cats, which she’d read long before Andrew Lloyd Webber was even a gillmer in an Englishman’s eye. - Ed McBain - Downtown 4. “The water is singing the Hallelujah Chorus.” Sex & Sunsets, Tim Sandlin 5. “It was a malodorous gut wind.” Aztec, Gary Jennings 6. “Ecstasy, It’s finally spring down here on the Chattahoochee-- the azaleas are in bloom, and everyone is dying of cancer.” James Halloran, Dancer from the Dance 7. "If Thoreau had been a drinking man, “Walden” would have been a completely different book - “The damn birds woke me up at 4 AM, screeching like banshees!” - Zod Wallop, William Browning Spencer 8. “The shaman came to town near sunset, riding a dead horse.” Devil’s Tower - Mark Sumner 9. “I want my two hundred dollars!” - Addie Pray - Joe David Brown 10. “As Siva twisted and turned, leapt and whirled, the age of Kali came to its predicted end.” _Kalki_, Gore Vidal 11. “Once upon a time, there was a wizard named Prospero, and not the one you’re thinking of, either.” _The Face in the Frost_, John Bellairs. 12. “It was a dark and stormy night.” _Paul Clifford_, Edward Bulwer-Lytton It’s a very famous line admittedly, but the novel is obscure. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4969 "2011-04-21T03:06:59Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > 1. “It was a dark and stormy night.” _Paul Clifford_, Edward Bulwer-Lytton > > It’s a very famous line admittedly, but the novel is obscure. Of course, that’s not really the line. A lot of people wonder why _“It was a dark and stormy night.”_ is considered such a classic of bad writing when it seems fairly pedestrian. The full opening line of _Paul Clifford_ is _“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4970 "2011-04-21T04:15:45Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Of course, that’s not really the line. A lot of people wonder why _“It was a dark and stormy night.”_ is considered such a classic of bad writing when it seems fairly pedestrian. > > The full opening line of _Paul Clifford_ is _“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.”_ Yeah, but that seemed a bit gust of windy. Should have remembered space isn’t a consideration. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4971 "2011-04-21T05:45:05Z")
Favorite Lines from Obscure Novels 1. “I’ll squck yur thrug till all yu can whupple is geep!” - James Thurber - The Wonderful O 2. “He was in the next room mixing my favourite drink; I call it ‘the top shelf in a pail’.” - Paul Quarrington - The Life of Hope. 3. His dear mother in Boston had given him the middle name of Jellicle, after the Jellicle Cats in T.S. Elliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practcal Cats, which she’d read long before Andrew Lloyd Webber was even a gillmer in an Englishman’s eye. - Ed McBain - Downtown 4. “The water is singing the Hallelujah Chorus.” Sex & Sunsets, Tim Sandlin 5. “It was a malodorous gut wind.” Aztec, Gary Jennings 6. “Ecstasy, It’s finally spring down here on the Chattahoochee-- the azaleas are in bloom, and everyone is dying of cancer.” James Halloran, Dancer from the Dance 7. "If Thoreau had been a drinking man, “Walden” would have been a completely different book - “The damn birds woke me up at 4 AM, screeching like banshees!” - Zod Wallop, William Browning Spencer 8. “The shaman came to town near sunset, riding a dead horse.” Devil’s Tower - Mark Sumner 9. “I want my two hundred dollars!” - Addie Pray - Joe David Brown 10. “As Siva twisted and turned, leapt and whirled, the age of Kali came to its predicted end.” _Kalki_, Gore Vidal 11. “Once upon a time, there was a wizard named Prospero, and not the one you’re thinking of, either.” _The Face in the Frost_, John Bellairs. 12. “It was a dark and stormy night.” _Paul Clifford_, Edward Bulwer-Lytton 13. “Once you get past a certain threshold, everyone’s problems are the same: fortifying your island and hiding the heat signature from your fusion reactor.” Soon I Will Be Invincible - Austin Grossman New category: Roman Emperors 1. Augustus ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4972 "2011-04-21T05:45:52Z")
Roman Emperors 1. Augustus 2. Nero ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4973 "2011-04-21T06:21:39Z")
Roman Emperors 1. Augustus 2. Nero 3. Diocletian Probably the second most important emperor. ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4974 "2011-04-21T06:31:14Z")
Roman Emperors: 1. Augustus 2. Nero 3. Diocletian 4. Titus ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4975 "2011-04-21T11:52:53Z")
Roman Emperors: 1. Augustus 2. Nero 3. Diocletian 4. Titus 5. Valerian I just wanted to throw in that I’m gratified to learn that I’m not the only person in the world who has read ‘The Face in the Frost’. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4976 "2011-04-21T13:18:58Z")
Roman Emperors: 1. Augustus 2. Nero 3. Diocletian 4. Titus 5. Valerian 6. Julius Caesar ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4977 "2011-04-21T14:27:29Z")
Roman Emperors: 1. Augustus 2. Nero 3. Diocletian 4. Titus 5. Valerian 6. Julius Caesar 7. Nerva Julius Caesar was never Emperor. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4978 "2011-04-21T14:33:01Z")
1. Augustus 2. Nero 3. Diocletian 4. Titus 5. Valerian 6. Julius Caesar 7. Nerva > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Roman Emperors: > Julius Caesar was never Emperor. 6a. Hadrian ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4979 "2011-04-21T16:26:40Z")
New Category: Roman Emperors 1. Augustus 2. Nero 3. Diocletian 4. Titus 5. Valerian 6. Nerva 7. Hadrian 8. Marcus Aurelius ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/4980 "2011-04-21T19:42:58Z")
New Category: Roman Emperors 1. Augustus 2. Nero 3. Diocletian 4. Titus 5. Valerian 6. Nerva 7. Hadrian 8. Marcus Aurelius 9. Vespasian [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173.md?page=248) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173.md?page=250)