In the new Harry Potter by by JK Rowling----HP and the Order of the Phoenix–there is a phrase that people on HP discussion lists keep asking, so I turn to the collective wisdom of this group regarding English language usage to clarify.
I’ll be careful not to spoil the book for anyone who hasn’t read it. In one of the early chapters a character named Petunia is in the midst of a highly charged family argument and suddenly receives an ominous message that tells her, “Remember my last, Petunia.” She immediately changes her mind regarding what she thinks the family ought to do. Obviously a persuasive reminder, then, of a previous message to Petunia from the same person. Yet people are writing, “no, it couldn’t possibly refer to an earlier letter,” and they are searching for the last WHATEVER it could be.
Isn’t it a rather formal, maybe archaic, construction to use the phrase “my last” in referring to a previous message?
Exactly. “Remember my last” = “Remember my last letter.” The precise meaning of this is described later in the book, which makes it clear it was in reference to a letter.
However, fans being fans, some people are not happy with this explanation, and thus spend their days looking for Deeper Meanings. (No doubt what it really means is that Snape is a vampire … sorry, ignore that, in-joke about a Cafe Society thread.)
Speculation: the usage probably derived from the days of telegrams, where you had to pay per word. This in turn led people to use highly compressed phrasing. (“How old Cary Grant?”) You could save a few cents if you wrote “Did you receive my last?” instead of “Did you receive my last message?”
Dug into the Oxford English Dictionary, and it turns out that the usage “my last” meaning “my last letter” goes back well before telegrams. The first citation in the OED for this usage is from 1638. There’s also a citation from Fielding’s 1749 novel Tom Jones (XVIII.iv).
Thanks! That clears things up nicely. I almost checked OED but tried about 7 other sites first and got tired of it. Lesson learned. I’ve already quoted you all at one fanfic list, and will be able to continue doing so if this question doesn’t die the death it’s due.
Calmnla
I’ll try to explain the progression, Calmnla, though it may not be worth your time. We started with “Remember my last, Petunia.” A last is a foot-shaped jig upon which a shoemaker (cobbler) makes shoes. Samclem made the leap to “cobbler’s bench,” a phrase from Pop Goes The Weasel, a folk song which was dissected in a Staff Report and a lively thread about the report.
cobbler’s bench=bar
pop the weasel=pawn the overcoat
I quickly cobbled together the cadence of the song, Harry Potter, and some musicians’ names. Dweezil Zappa neatly rhymed with weasel, and Benmont Tench with bench, and I dragged dear Petunia in to pawn the venerable overcoat.
Maybe somebody can give us a link to the column. Last time I tried that, I sprained my mouse. The poor thing still has a kink in its tail.
That’s the first doggerel I’ve written in about 20 years. It was fun, but it’s “signifying nothing.”
Didn’t Dumbledore explain it in the last (or next to last) chapter?
And is it just me, or can the last (or next to last) chapters of all the books be titled “Dumbledore Explains” or even “Dumbeldore Explains Why Harry Wasn’t Told”?
Ah, the doggerel was fun. Thanks for the explanation! And Dweezil rocks (so to speak).
Dumbledore does explain that he sent the Howler, but for some reason, due perhaps to the old-fashioned language of “remember my last” and other folks’ lack of exposure to the phrasing, it didn’t clear up the initial confusion for everyone. Interpreting the old-style language and British culture can be just as challenging as understanding the magic in the HP books. Sometimes it’s hard to know which category of misunderstanding applies to a particular bit in the book (e.g., I’m still put off by all the “sir” and “madame” stuff in there and not sure which category that falls into). And then there are the class differences between characters, and regional differences in where the characters come from–it can all be eye-opening. I’m sure an annotated version of HP will be published following the completion of series itself, and there will be a market.
Since you mention it, I agree, Dumbledore talked too much. I’ve read critiques questioning why JKR dropped the “show, don’t tell” approach, which is apparent elsewhere in her writing. I guess all that final exposition is just what happens when an author is rushed. “Fine,” I can imagine JKR saying, “since you’re all bugging me for Book 5 I’ll just slap the words on the paper and you can have the !@#$ book! Save subtlety for the next one…(mumble mumble grumble).”
