A buffoon: a ridiculous but amusing person. From the buffone or court jester. The most serious courts of Europe required a buffoon to alleviate the tedious pedanticism of mundane life. Said the Earl of Rochester to the King:
- Poor Prince
- Thy prick, like thy buffoons at Court
- Will govern thee because it makes thee sport
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the canon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes,sans taste, sans everything.
(As You Like It, 2. 7. 139-167)
A is for Ape
And X is for.... ximjotta. To copy. To mimic (most times in jest). A typical, slapstick way of causing merriment. Remember the times as a kid when you all walked behind the old man imitating his way of walking? Aping can be like caricaturising - it will thus bring out the ugliest, most prominent traits or ticks of the victim.
Never, ever call the discworld librarian (picture) an Ape or Monkey. He tends to get violent and could let loose a few punches. In case of trouble just give him a banana and he'll stay quiet for a while.
Right no more of this monkey business. Next up we will talk about the letter B like Buffu, Buffone, Buffon (ouch not very nice yesterday).
Ook!
Listening to: The Monkees
Eating: A Banana
