Talk:Burleigh & Stronginthearm

I don't know how much info there ought to be in this Wiki! but I can't help asking: the entry on Burleigh & StrongintheArm doesn't note the cryptonym it creates.

To me, the ampersand is significant, because it allows Burleigh & StrongintheArm to be abbreviated to "BSA" - and purely by coincidence, of course, on this world there is an armaments and motorcycle manufacturer called "Birmingham Small Arms" or "BSA"...

Is this a spoiler? or can someone add it as a curiosity note?

Guy

BSA made small arms for the British armed forces for most of the 19th century (the Martini-Henry rifle of "Zulu!" fame was made by BSA, as was the Webley officers' pistol) so this could be a valid reference, given they supply the Watch and the Regiments in Victorian-feeling Ankh-Morpork... of course, Birmingham declined in importance as an arms manufacturing centre in the 20th century, when the British Army adopted the Lee-Enfield rifles, made (as the name suggests)in Enfield, London. --AgProv 12:57, 1 September 2008 (UTC) (definitely mad as a bagful of weasels for bothering to know all this useless stuff)

BSA also made over a million Enfields during WWII. I did a lot of target shooting with their "Super Sporter" .22 some ages ago. As usual, I'm not so convinced of the connection to B&S (Stronginthearm is all one word for a start.) --Old Dickens 14:34, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

There's also a British shotgun maker called Purley, I've often wondered if that's where the Burleigh part of the name came from. (unsigned comment by The Grumpy Iconographer, 25 Jan 2018}

Purdey's has been famous for shotguns for 200 years; I can't find Purley in competition. --Old Dickens (talk) 19:09, 25 January 2018 (UTC)

Relevance?

I'm not sure what Dirty Harry has to do with it. --Old Dickens (talk) 16:39, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

There are plenty of Dirty Harry references, especially in Guards! Guards!, and it seems clear that Harry's Magnum being a Smith & Wesson was an influence on Pratchett coming up with B&S as the name of the crossbow manufacturer (so some of the more direct dialogue references would work). But I agree this specific quote doesn't really add to the annotations. -- Guybrush (talk) 01:22, 8 March 2023 (UTC)