Family Quote by P.G. Wodehouse
““But I say, really, you know, I am an old friend of the family. Why, by Jove, now I remember, there's a photograph of me in the drawing-room. Well, I mean, that shows you!" "If there is," said the policeman. "I've never seen it," said the parlourmaid. I absolutely hated this girl. "You would have seen it if you had done your dusting more conscientiously," I said severely. And I meant it to sting, by Jove! "It is not a parlourmaid's place to dust the drawing-room," she sniffed haughtily. "No," I said bitterly. "It seems to be a parlourmaid's place to lurk about and hang about and - er - waste her time fooling about in the garden with policemen who ought to be busy about their duties elsewhere." "It's a parlourmaid's place to open the front door to visitors. Them that don't come in through windows." I perceived that I was getting the loser's end of the thing.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse, 1938
A humorous exchange highlights class tensions and petty grievances through exaggerated dialogue.
In simple terms: Class clash in witty banter.
Key Takeaway
Recognize absurdity of petty conflicts.
Themes
humor
class
conflict
Mood
playful
ironic
Type
literary
satirical
When to use this quote
- social gatherings
- workplace interactions
- family meals
- community events
Key Concepts
social satire
literary dialogue
Questions to Reflect On
- What does the dialogue reveal about social hierarchy?
- How does humor defuse tension?
A Different Perspective
Humor may mask deeper issues.
![“Really, Nan could be very odious when she liked. Yet somehow she [Gay] didn't hate her as before. She felt very indifferent to her. She found herself looking at her with cool, appraising eyes, seeing her as she had never seen her before. An empty, selfish little creature, who had always to be…” quote by L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/005/l-m-montgomery-567_life_really-nan-could-be-very-odious-when-she_776157.jpg)
![“[A]lways get to the dialogue as soon as possible. I always feel the thing to go for is speed. Nothing puts the reader off more than a big slab of prose at the start." (Interview, The Paris Review , Issue 64, Winter 1975)” quote by P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/989/p-g-wodehouse-723_communication_a-lways-get-to-the-dialogue-as-soon-as-p_13316.jpg)
![“...he switched on the [flashlight]. When he did so, he instantly became the center attraction to a rowdy mob of those gnats, moths, and beetles which collect in gangs and stay up late in the rural districts. They appeared to have been waiting for a congenial comrade to come along and give a fillip…” quote by P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/eb9/p-g-wodehouse-723_humorous_he-switched-on-the-flashlight-when-he-di_44308.jpg)
