I was at the county fair last night (working as a volunteer mostly, but also spending some time with my oldest three children). I'm dragging today, so blogging will drag, too.
In the meantime, I offer this gem from recent reading:
Alexander Pope, one of the best [put-down artists] in the business, clearly reveled in his own high reputation as a verbal killer:
Yes, I am proud; and must be proud, to see
Men, not afraid of God afraid of me.
Such a boast set up its own natural rejoinder, and in a bit of put-down Ping-Pong, Lord Hervey . . . picked up a paddle and shot back:
The great honour of that boast is such
That hornets and mad dogs may boast as much.
From Joseph Epstein, A Line Out for a Walk.
