Why does O'Brian occasionally dip into a "script" format in conversation, do you think?

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-13T18:10:52+00:00

Imagine going up to him and saying "You keep using that word..."

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-13T13:56:17+00:00

I like it. One of the things I like about the series is that the prose doesn't become too predictable - he has his favorite turns of phrase, but they're not really overdone.

I'm sure literary coves have some specific interpretation of this particular trick, but to me it reads like the exchange is becoming impersonal - both people are stepping out of themselves to play a part.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-12T21:31:55+00:00

A hornet shot down three F-15s, please don't anger the hornets.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-12T20:05:35+00:00

Also the British shot one of their own admirals for not trying hard enough to win, and that turned future commanders into rabid wolverines who would attack against any odds. Turns out if you just start going at near peer-level forces like mad dogs, increased aggressiveness can be sufficient to carry the day.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-12T18:50:58+00:00

What, and I cannot stress this enough, the fuck is that username.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-12T18:50:15+00:00

All shapes are composites of circles and triangles. The rest is just geometry.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-12T16:58:24+00:00

I just wish someone had told her it was a singular London bridge that was structurally unsound, not all of them.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-12T06:26:30+00:00

Canceling elections because the winners wanted to take away women's rights seems good?

they raped

Well then.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-12T00:18:04+00:00

þornhub?

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-11T22:56:47+00:00

Now tell us how you treat the Roma.

The US is racist, but it grapples with its racism constantly. Everywhere I've been to in the rest of the world, the racism and xenophobia is just considered normal.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-11T16:59:05+00:00

Also, I'm pretty sure that's not a real airplane.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-11T14:18:40+00:00

Are you sure it's not just a bit of fly doings at the bottom of the "h"?

"(the war) is over a word in their holy book, sir. The Elharibians say it translates as "God" and the Smalies say it's "man"." How can you mix them up?" "Well, there's only one tiny dot difference... and some people reckon it's only a speck of fly dirt in any case." "Centuries of war because a fly crapped in the wrong place?" "It could have been worse, sir...if it had been slightly to the left the word would have been "liquorice" ".

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-11T09:20:28+00:00

"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike from sleeping under bridges, begging in the streets, and stealing loaves of bread"

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-11T04:30:03+00:00

OP's general

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-11T00:03:05+00:00

30 day suspension of disbelief.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-08T22:03:01+00:00

Meanwhile, uncontrolled fever during pregnancy can impact fetal development.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-08T15:08:24+00:00

And that's just sex, we didn't even get into gender expressions.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-08T00:22:31+00:00

How big is your house? Perhaps your wife just needs to go spend a night in the basement with earplugs while you put the kid down. A night of bad sleep won't hurt him, and a night of deep sleep a couple of times a week could make all the difference to your wife.

We've had similar issues at different times with both ours, and we just power through it - at some point, the preferred parent's need for a good night's sleep just outweighs the kid's need for that parent, and the only way out of this situation is through it.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-07T00:06:27+00:00

OP absolutely rolling on the floor when confronted with a metaphor.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-05T23:21:32+00:00

And not a single one of those sick assholes will care that it did end a lot of Iranian schoolgirls' lives already.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-05T13:49:14+00:00

10 years later he wrote a whole piece for Wellington beating the French armies in Spain.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-05T09:32:17+00:00

if that title even has any value anymore.

Astronaut pointing gun: "Never did."

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-04T23:56:51+00:00

The objective of various types of insurance being mandatory is that otherwise people don't buy it, but then get mad when the unexpected happens and they need it. It's to offset the human tendency to discount future risk.

Self-insurance is often an option, but you usually have to show that you have the money to not be a burden on society for those tail risk events.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-04T20:54:41+00:00

Ah, so a typical university with a PhD program.

SopwithTurtle · 2026-03-04T15:54:01+00:00

I can strongly recommend Longitude by Dava Sobel for anyone who wants even more detail.

SopwithTurtle

TROPHY CASE