The Fifth Elephant (expression) - Revision history

Old Dickens: link

2013-11-02T03:53:24Z

link

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:53, 2 November 2013
Line 13:		Line 13:

	This is another of those interestingly multi-level puns where one ''entendre'' does the work of two or three.		This is another of those interestingly multi-level puns where one ''entendre'' does the work of two or three.
	On [[Roundworld]], the phrase ''Scotch Mist'' can denote many things: a mirage, perhaps, a thing seen that isn't physically there. It can be rumour with little or no grounding in fact; it can be something of which the cynical may grunt "I'll believe 'that' when it happens"; or it may be deliberately spread misinformation.		On [[Roundworld]], the phrase {{wp\|Scotch_Mist\|''Scotch Mist''}} can denote many things: a mirage, perhaps, a thing seen that isn't physically there. It can be rumour with little or no grounding in fact; it can be something of which the cynical may grunt "I'll believe 'that' when it happens"; or it may be deliberately spread misinformation.

	German has a similar phrase: ''nacht und nebel'', or "night and fog", to denote something obscured or clandestine. E.g. a "Nacht-und-Nebel-Aktion" is an action taken in secret and without warning (regardless of the actual time or weather). In the Nazi era, people taken away at three in the morning for a cosy chat with the Gestapo were said to have disappeared into night and fog. A military weapon was actually called the ''nebelwerfer'', or ''fog-thrower'': it was a multi-barrelled artillery piece designed, among other things, to put up a very dense smokescreen very quickly. And ''smokescreens'' brings us to yet another layer of meaning: deliberate deception and misinformation to conceal what is true and divert attention to the false. "It's all done with smoke and mirrors", as the stage magician said...		German has a similar phrase: ''nacht und nebel'', or "night and fog", to denote something obscured or clandestine. E.g. a "Nacht-und-Nebel-Aktion" is an action taken in secret and without warning (regardless of the actual time or weather). In the Nazi era, people taken away at three in the morning for a cosy chat with the Gestapo were said to have disappeared into night and fog. A military weapon was actually called the ''nebelwerfer'', or ''fog-thrower'': it was a multi-barrelled artillery piece designed, among other things, to put up a very dense smokescreen very quickly. And ''smokescreens'' brings us to yet another layer of meaning: deliberate deception and misinformation to conceal what is true and divert attention to the false. "It's all done with smoke and mirrors", as the stage magician said...

Osiris: 1 revision: Discworld import 2

2012-09-24T00:13:59Z

1 revision: Discworld import 2

← Older revision	Revision as of 00:13, 24 September 2012
(No difference)

Old Dickens: alphabetise

2010-01-31T00:00:52Z

alphabetise

New page

An [[Überwald|Überwaldian]] expression meaning, depending on context,

* a thing that does not exist, as others would say "[[Klatchian Mist]]"
* a thing that is other than it seems
* a thing that while unseen, controls events (an ''éminence grise'')

The expression comes from the legend of [[The Fifth Elephant (legend)|The Fifth Elephant]].

==Annotation==
The term ''éminence grise'' was coined about François Leclerc du Tremblay, the right hand man of the ''real'' power behind the throne of Louis XVI, [[wikipedia:Cardinal_Richelieu|Cardinal Richelieu]].

This is another of those interestingly multi-level puns where one ''entendre'' does the work of two or three.
On [[Roundworld]], the phrase ''Scotch Mist'' can denote many things: a mirage, perhaps, a thing seen that isn't physically there. It can be rumour with little or no grounding in fact; it can be something of which the cynical may grunt "I'll believe 'that' when it happens"; or it may be deliberately spread misinformation.

German has a similar phrase: ''nacht und nebel'', or "night and fog", to denote something obscured or clandestine. E.g. a "Nacht-und-Nebel-Aktion" is an action taken in secret and without warning (regardless of the actual time or weather). In the Nazi era, people taken away at three in the morning for a cosy chat with the Gestapo were said to have disappeared into night and fog. A military weapon was actually called the ''nebelwerfer'', or ''fog-thrower'': it was a multi-barrelled artillery piece designed, among other things, to put up a very dense smokescreen very quickly. And ''smokescreens'' brings us to yet another layer of meaning: deliberate deception and misinformation to conceal what is true and divert attention to the false. "It's all done with smoke and mirrors", as the stage magician said...

[[Category:Discworld concepts|Fifth Elephant (expression),The]]