Where did the name “Iocane” (sp?) come from? It’s the colorless, odorless, tasteless poison that the disguised Wesley used in the contest against Vizzini in the Rob Reiner/William Goldman movie the Princess Bride
I never really wondered about it. But the other day I picked up a bottle of wine, and on my way out I saw a display of this:
http://www.10cane.com/
You can easily see the numerals “10” as the letters “Io”. Is Goldman a rum fan?
Oo, yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was it. I wonder what other names Goldman nicked? The ones I know of are:
Humberdinck - either the German opera writer, or the modern singer
Florin and Guilder - names of Dutch currency (like cents and dollars) until they adopted the Euro
I’m sure there most be plenty others. Can anyone add to the list?
“I’m called Little Buttercup — dear Little Buttercup,
Though I could never tell why,
But still I’m called Buttercup — poor little Buttercup,
Sweet Little Buttercup I!” – HMS Pinafore.
If iocane is odorless, why does Humberdinck smell the bottle, and say “Iocane, I bet my life on it.” Or does he think, “I smell nothing, it must be Iocane.”
The other option is that, since he’s the one who hired the kidnappers, he also provided the poison, and sniffing the vial was an act to cover for knowledge he already had.
Iocane, as we all know, comes from Australia. And Australia is entirely populated by criminals. And criminals are used to people not trusting them, just as YOU are not trusted by ME…
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!