While pointing my profile at an omnibus edition of P.G. Wodehouse whilst riding on the omnibus to and from my place of employment, I came across a curious bit of language, and I'd love for the POMs in the crowd to help out.
In Right Ho, Jeeves, for various reasons, Anatole, the genius chef in the household of Bertie Wooster's Aunt Dahlia, is having a bad time of it (Bertie keeps encouraging people to lay off their meals in order to make clear how emotionally wrought they are - naturally, the tempermental French chef is upset to see his dishes return untouched to the kitchen). With the stage thus set, I came across the f.:
Anatole, I learned, had retired to his bed with a fit of the vapours, and the meal now before us had been cooked by the kitchen maid - as C3 a performer as ever wielded a skillet.
In the original the "3" is written as subscript, so it looks a bit like a chemical notation, but I don't know how to do that here.
Anyway - what the hell's it mean?
