The exact quote is snot coming to mind
April 11, 2019 7:11 AM Subscribe
I'm trying to remember a quote about blowing your nose and manners. I want to say it was by Ben Franklin from Poor Richard's Almanack, but I can't remember enough to pull it up. It was something like, "A gentleman does not, upon blowing his nose, open his handkerchief up afterward and inspect the contents as though diamonds and rubies might have spilled from his head." Is that Ben Franklin? If not, where is that from? Ringing any bells?
Yep, Giovanni Della Casa - here's another source - from an Italian book on etiquette called Il Galateo. Google is showing a bunch of different translations of this line.
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:38 AM on April 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:38 AM on April 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
With that settled, here's a chaser from the BBC scifi comedy series Red Dwarf: "What do you expect to see in there? A Turner seascape, perhaps? The face of the Madonna? An undiscovered Shakesperean sonnet?"
posted by duffell at 9:53 AM on April 11, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by duffell at 9:53 AM on April 11, 2019 [8 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
And when you have blown your nose you should not open your handkerchief and look inside as if pearls or rubies might have descended from your brain.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:24 AM on April 11, 2019 [12 favorites]