You are not logged in. [Log In] Wordsmith.org Forums Q&A about words Charles's Friend Register Forums Calendar Active Threads Search Forum Help

Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread #148602 - 10/03/05 06:55 AM Charles's Friend   Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Bingley Carpal Tunnel Bingley   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Jakarta From another Father Brown story (The Actor and the Alibi): The group also contained Ralph Randall, who generally acted elderly character parts, and had a humorous hatchet face, blue with shaving, and discoloured with grease paint. It contained Mandeville's second walking gentleman, carrying on the not yet wholly vanished tradition of Charles's Friend, a dark, curly-haired youth of somewhat Semitic profile bearing the name of Aubrey Vernon. It is to be feared that the tradition of Charles's Friend has now wholly vanished, so much so that I have no idea what this tradition might be. Bingley #148603 - 10/03/05 10:15 AM Re: Charles's Friend   Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,156 Bean old hand Bean   old hand Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,156 I have seen it as a NY Times crossword definition, and only end up getting it right by getting in most of the cross-words. Hence I don't really know what it means, either. #148604 - 10/03/05 07:10 PM Re: Charles's Friend   Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 2,891 belMarduk Carpal Tunnel belMarduk   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 2,891 I found this site while surfing the web to look for the meaning of Charles's Friend. The article about Charles's Friend was good and the site is really interesting. http://www.xplanazine.com/archives/2005/01/making_deities.php #148605 - 10/03/05 10:00 PM Re: Charles's Friend   Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Doedn't zackticle splain "Charles's Friend" per se. Jus oney uses it as a zample of parper possessivization. #148606 - 10/03/05 11:27 PM Re: Charles's Friend   Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 2,891 belMarduk Carpal Tunnel belMarduk   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 2,891 Aye, I know she doesn't explain it, but the site was really interesting, so I thought I'd post it anyway. #207564 - 10/07/12 10:47 PM Re: Charles's Friend [Re: Bingley]   Joined: Oct 2012 Posts: 1 Tannhaeuser stranger Tannhaeuser   stranger Joined: Oct 2012 Posts: 1 "Charles's Friend" (or the "second boy") referred to a character depicted as the best friend of the hero of a romantic comedy or melodrama. Generally more worldly and cynical than the idealistic hero, he generally represented the comical or common-sense viewpoint of the hero's high-flown sentiments. Often he would attempt to dissuade the hero from his romance, though he would generally end by supporting him. Occasionally though not always, he formed a second romantic couple with the "second girl" or the "soubrette," generally a friend of the heroine. A typical example is Captain Hawtree from Thomas Robertson's "Caste" (1867). Last edited by Tannhaeuser; 10/07/12 10:50 PM. #207566 - 10/07/12 11:38 PM Re: Charles's Friend [Re: Tannhaeuser]   Joined: Nov 2011 Posts: 1,075 Rhubarb Commando old hand Rhubarb Commando   old hand Joined: Nov 2011 Posts: 1,075 Lancaster, UK That's a fascinating piece of theatre history, Tannhaeuser, and many thanks for it. I was aware of the device but had never heard that name. (How truly is it said that a thousand post in AWAD's sight is but a moment past. What is twelve years in the global scheme!) I'm immortal until proven otherwise #207622 - 10/12/12 01:28 AM Re: Charles's Friend [Re: Rhubarb Commando]   Joined: Mar 2004 Posts: 19 HalAl stranger HalAl   stranger Joined: Mar 2004 Posts: 19 Central Indiana Is there any tie-in with the play, "Charlie's Aunt?" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charley%27s_Aunt #207637 - 10/12/12 07:32 PM Re: Charles's Friend [Re: HalAl]   Joined: Nov 2011 Posts: 1,075 Rhubarb Commando old hand Rhubarb Commando   old hand Joined: Nov 2011 Posts: 1,075 Lancaster, UK A great comic play, indeed, HalAl. But I guess that it doesn't refer to "Cahrles' Friend", as the Charley in the comedy is a principle character, nit "Charles' Best Friend." I'm immortal until proven otherwise Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------   Information and announcements   Q&A about words   Wordplay and fun   Words and languages in schools   Miscellany   Weekly Themes   Looking for (writers, speakers, ...) (Old) Weekly themes. (have been consolidated into a single forum above) ------   Words from medicine   Beheading words   Meta-words   Words from classical mythology   Animal Safari   Words with unusual etymologies   Eponyms or words derived from people's names.   Loanwords from German   English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode View Profile Send Private Message Follow User Show Forum Posts View Profile Send Private Message Follow User Show Forum Posts View Profile Send Private Message Follow User Show Forum Posts View Profile Send Private Message View Homepage Follow User Show Forum Posts View Profile Send Private Message Follow User Show Forum Posts View Profile Send Private Message Follow User Show Forum Posts View Profile Send Private Message Follow User Show Forum Posts View Profile Send Private Message Follow User Show Forum Posts View Profile Send Private Message Follow User Show Forum Posts Forum Statistics Forums16 Topics13,880 Posts224,653 Members9,045 Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011 Newest Members DavidOrigami, RichEngle, Stosh2010, CarolWilliamson, Farscape07 9045 Registered Users Who's Online Now 0 registered members (), 86 guests, and 4 spiders. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod Top Posters(30 Days) wofahulicodoc 52 A C Bowden 29 LukeJavan8 11 may2point0 1 Top Posters(All Time) wwh 13,858 Faldage 13,803 Jackie 11,613 tsuwm 10,538 LukeJavan8 9,120 wofahulicodoc 7,879 Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210 AnnaStrophic 6,511 Wordwind 6,296 of troy 5,400

Default Style BlackNTan Drab eBay GooG v2 infopop new dark new light original dark original stock rounded corners Slate snow sunny dropshadow theblues Touch Of Grey UBB.threads UBB.threads - Dark UBB.threads - Light UBBCentral UBBCentral - Crimson UBBCentral - Lime UBBCentral - Marshmallow UBBCentral - Mocha UBBCentral - Zen ubbthreads ubbthreads-dark show/hide columns on this page Forum Rules · Mark All Read Contact Us · Wordsmith.org · Top