Oh my God, I'm chortling like a madwoman and trying to type this post. It amazes me that so many people have never heard the euphemism "looking at something interesting on your lapel," for embarrassment. "How about a nice stick pin he can examine?" The Australian notion of big print, all of that really, is fascinating biz speak. I've never heard it either (and of course, "crickets chirp" is classic and actually used by Joss long ago in a famous post I remember at The Bronze).

Have to edit this to say, I love Jane and love reading her blog.

[ edited by Tonya J on 2007-05-30 01:22 ]

Tonya J | May 30, 04:00 CET

"Big print" isn't familiar to this British reader.

I always like "silence ensues" for "crickets chirp".

Craig Oxbrow | May 30, 04:39 CET

Oh wow, I'm Australian, and I thought big print stage directions was common practice right around the world.

aapac | May 30, 04:41 CET

A stalk of celery on the lapel is always interesting ... just ask Doctor Who. Though of course it risks attracting bunnies. But then you can always call in Wallace & Gromit's Anti-Pesto for that.
Randomly yours,

melsta | May 30, 04:54 CET

That is pretty funny. I think its cool how Ms. Espenson stil does a daily blog online..^^

the FAT indian | May 30, 05:15 CET

Oh wow, I'm Australian, and I thought big print stage directions was common practice right around the world.

I'm Australian and I'm confused...

crossoverman | May 30, 05:21 CET

Tonya J- Can't say as I've ever heard that expression before. Still, I wouldn't have taken it literally-I'd have just thought Jane E. had invented a clever way to say he was embarassed. But I do love the idea of a villain who first appears to be, say, a gravy stain or lapel button.

toast | May 30, 05:38 CET

Best comment of the day!

However, please tell me which Doctor had celery? I am very confused by that allusion.

chickenbird | May 30, 05:40 CET

I'm Australian and I'm confused...

Likewise, and likewise.

VirtualWolf | May 30, 06:26 CET

That would be the cute blond from the 80's, No. 5, Peter Davison.

Celery and a cricket uniform: still classic.

melsta | May 30, 06:33 CET

A stalk of celery on the lapel is always interesting ... just ask Doctor Who

Best comment of the day!

However, please tell me which Doctor had celery? I am very confused by that allusion.

Well chickenbird....I am pretty sure that it was the Fifth Doctor - Peter Davidson - who wore a small piece of celery on his lapel as an organic poison gas detector (supposedly, celery turns purple when there are traces of a certain type of airborne poisons about).

;)

Crap...gotten beaten out for posting the answer. Oh well;)

[ edited by BlueEyedBrigadier on 2007-05-30 03:37 ]

BlueEyedBrigadier | May 30, 06:35 CET

Haha, I love Jane's blog! Almost as much as I love lapel inclined evil. TV needs more of that nowadays. :P

FruityOatySaladbar | May 30, 09:59 CET

I'm Australian and I'm confused...

Likewise, and likewise.

Not likewise, definitely likewise though.

Never heard the euphemism but picturing it, I get what she means. It's like that suddenly very interesting piece of lint on your shoulder, focussing on the brushing off of which means you don't have to meet anyone's eye.

I like *crickets* but *tumbleweeds* is also good, especially over here, since "Shooting Stars" a popular TV comedy panel game (anyone familiar with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer will know that "quiz" is definitely going too far ;) from the 90s used to feature one joke each week that (purposefully) died on its arse accompanied by, yep, tumbleweeds blowing across the set, funereal church bells as in a wild west ghost town and much embarrassed "checking lapels" and avoiding the eye of the perpetrator.

('nother British perspective - which, unfortunately, may be what Jane means by 'English', one can never tell with you foreign Johnnies ;-) - I used to say "big print" or "big letters" when talking about CAPS, not sure if that's what Jane's Aussie correspondent means but now, post intarwebs and with keyboards much more familiar to the great unwashed, I almost always just say "caps" - apart from anything else "big letters" could mean large lowercase or large uppercase or just large full stop)

Saje | May 30, 15:29 CET

But the 5th Doctor wouldn't need Anti-Pesto. Peter Davidson also played a veterinarian on "All Creatures Great & Small".

As far as Giles' lapel is concerned, it may have been time to use simile instead of metaphor. So instead of him looking at a gravy stain devil on his collar, he could be looking at his lapel as if he had demonic ring-around-the-collar.

[ edited by OneTeV on 2007-05-30 13:32 ]

OneTeV | May 30, 16:28 CET

Nice post. The "crickets chirp" reminds me of the brief silence before Anya's "Bunnies" song in OMWF, where we actually do hear crickets chirp. Can anyone think of any other uses in the Jossverse? ;)

Razor | May 30, 21:20 CET

I just love the idea of a place where the crew would feel the need to ask a question like that.

Hee hee.

newcj | May 30, 22:59 CET

I think we've seen evidence of just exactly where the evil lint idea was born.

Fitz | May 31, 01:44 CET

HA! Fitz, I'll bet you're right.

toast | May 31, 01:57 CET

The "crickets chirp" reminds me of the brief silence before Anya's "Bunnies" song in OMWF, where we actually do hear crickets chirp.

Well now we know that was just an over-literal reading of a stage direction that was meant to be taken figuratively.

;)

tichtich | May 31, 12:47 CET