the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

Click check box to select all entries on this page:

Baroness Emmuska Orczy : The Scarlet Pimpernel

in 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' there was the key line, 'That demmed elusive Pimpernel'; and, of course, 'demmed' would never do, so Mother substituted 'awful'. I think she deliberately chose a word which did not scan and which obviously was not the original one... 'The Scarlet Pimpernel', incidentally, was another great favourite of Mother's...

Century: 1900-1945     Reader/Listener/Group: Harriet Beer      Print: Book

Click check box to select all entries on this page: