That reminds me–I had never heard of “agony aunt” in the context of an advice columnist.
That’s the only context I’ve heard it in.
Lobsang Dibbler the moving picture producer might have been the same guy as Grand Master Lobsang Dibbler the dubious martial arts instructor, but I doubt that either was the same guy as Lobsang Ludd the clockmaker.
Lobsang Ludd wasn’t the clockmaker - that was Jeremy Clockson. Except that he also was. It was a tad complicated. But neither of them were Dibbler.
I rather liked the “Imp y Celyn” (“bud of holly”) joke in Soul Music (who looked a bit “Elvish”). Also noteworthy - his troll bandmate who went by Cliff.
Jeremy was the clockmaker. Lobsang was the thief turned acolyte monk, and it wasn’t his original name.
I mean that I had never heard the term at all other than the name given the two characters in Discworld. I later learned that it is a term used in some places to describe an advice columnist (but not in the place where I live.)
I was about to snark that he also wasn’t the Lobsang from the Long Earth series, but then I remembered that pTerry was a writer in that, too–maybe one of those parallel Earths is on the back of a turtle…
In Sherlock Holmes stories, classified ads in newspapers (which some people used then as a means of secure communication) are called “the agony columns” Dan Andriacco's Baker Street Beat: Sherlock Holmes and the Agony Columns
OK, I want to make sure I’m not missing anything.
When I first read ‘A wizard’s staff has a knob on the end’, my first thought was that wizards are the People Of Influence in Discworld, Nobility, if you will. From my experience watching Monty Python and The Young Ones, I’ve always thought that a ‘nob’ was an ‘upper-class twit’, or else a derogatory term for posh people.
Immediately after my first thought, I thought it could also be a penis joke.
Then I thought, ‘Well, upper-class people are often portrayed as dicks, and a “knob” is a penis, so maybe it’s a nob/knob joke.’ IOW, a ‘two-fer’.
And then there’s the obvious ‘dumb as a doorknob’.
One version of the lyrics is clearly penis-centric. A wiki Ispace page says:
So from this American’s initial interpretation, the title is first, a jab at the ‘nobility’, and next, a penis joke. And the references I’ve found back up the latter. Aside from the nob/knob/doorknob things that came to my mind, what do you think the song, or at least its title, is primarily about?
I do that with Doper names (e.g. enipla) and people’s handles at other online hangouts, when the name doesn’t make much sense read left to right.
Did you get the reference at the end of the book when Susan says something like “They have a new guy at the chips shop. I think he’s Elvish.”
Also, there’s foreshadowing in “Guards! Guards!?” when Errol the dragon is referred to as a “whittle”.
I’m proud of myself for actually getting both of those the first time around.
Soul Music is absolutely rife with puns, some of which take some working out. I didn’t get Asphalt until it was pointed out to me.
Thank you! That’s brilliant.
Er, yes - that’s why I mentioned it.
I’d forgotten about Asphalt. He was the “roadie”, yes?
That one I missed. Ta!
You mentioned the Elvis/ Elvish connection. You didn’t mention the specific reference in the final line. I’m, not sure if you got it or not.
Just to be clear, it’s a song by Kirsty MacColl, *There’s a guy works down the chip shop, swears he’s Elvis *. I wasn’t aware of this song until someone explained the reference to me.
Fair point - I thought that was all swept up together in the wider pun but the clarification is helpful.
I’ve been re-reading some of the books and a few more popped up.
In Jingo at the party at the Unseen University at the beginning, 71-Hour Ahmed chats to Vimes, leaves, and briefly reappears saying “I go, I come back”. That always niggled at me as a missed reference…and then one day I found it: it’s the catchphrase of Middle Eastern stereotype Ali Oop, from 1940’s BBC radio show It’s That Man Again.
In Snuff, the Gordon sisters start a business called Gordon Bonnets.
Every time I see a reference to the mysterious country of Muntab, I’m convinced it’s something spelled backwards - but I can’t make it fit.
Ok, I’ll ask - am I missing a joke here?
Apparently?
You can also keep an eye on weird fonts.
Really? So what is batnum, then?