"It was the Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Town Hall. A vitally important occasion, and he made the feeblest speech i have ever heard. A child with water on the brain could have done better. Even you could have done better."
Well, I suppose placing me on a level of efficiency with a water-on-the-brain child was quite a stately compliment coming from Florence, so I didn't go further into the matter, and she carried on, puffs of flame emerging from both nostrils.
"Er, er, er!"
"I beg your pardon."
"He kept saying Er, Er, er, er. I could have thrown a coffee spoon at him."
Here, of course, was my chance to work in the old gag about to err being human, but it didn't seem to me the moment. Instead, I said, "He was probably nervous."
(from Jeeves and the Tie That Binds, by Sir Pelham Wodehouse)
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