From: Michael M. Butler (butler@comp-lib.org)
Date: Wed Jan 23 2002 - 17:31:06 MST
It's worse than that, Spike. The author of several absurdist/dadaist plays in France
(_pere ubu_ and _ubu roi_) used a deliberately misspelled "merde" in an attempt to get
around censorship laws. His word was "merdre" (often translated as "shitr" in English).
So you see the distance between "merdre" and "mairdair" is even shorter. I would not be
a bit surprised if this was known to a cosmopolitan like Sellers.
Spike Jones wrote:
> Oh man, I finally get that scene in one of the Peter Sellers movies
> where he is playing Inspector Cleuseau and says something like
> "Soon we will find out who committed the mairdair."
>
> Then the people start saying "Merde? What merde?"
>
> "Who said merde? I did not say merde..."
>
> etc. I saw that movie 25 years ago and I just now get the joke. spike
-- butler a t comp - lib . o r g Wm. Burroughs said it best: "After a shooting spree, I am not here to have an argument. they always want to take the guns away I am here as part of a civilization. from the people who didn't do it."
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