The difference between “complete” and “finished”

The difference between “complete” and “finished” July 25, 2017

 

The northern coast of Maui
The northern side of Maui gets more rain than the southern side.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)

 

This wonderful item was brought to my notice by Faisal Alzamil:

 

http://theanthrotorian.com/culture/2012/11/29/the-difference-between-complete-and-finished

 

I’m in utter awe of impromptu wit like this, if it was, as it seems to have been, off the cuff.

 

Two of my other favorite examples both come out of Great Britain, but, in both cases, from non-Englishmen:

 

1.

 

The Irish comedic playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan (d. 1816; author of, among other things, The Rivals and The School for Scandal) also served as a Whig member of Parliament.  One day, enraged by a position that Sheridan had taken, a rival MP angrily predicted on the floor of the House of Commons that Sheridan would die either on the gallows or of syphilis.  “That depends, sir,” responded Sheridan without missing a beat, “on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress.”

 

2.

 

I’ve heard this one attributed to Elder B. H. Roberts, who ultimately became a member of the First Council of the Seventy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  But I’m not sure of the attribution.  (Roberts was originally from England, but emigrated to Utah as a young man and eventually even ran for the Congress of the United States.)

 

Anyway, it’s said that Roberts, who was reputedly the greatest Mormon orator of his time, was one day holding forth as a missionary at Speakers’ Corner in London’s Hyde Park.  As often happens at Speakers’ Corner, there was a heckler in the crowd.  “How many wives did Brigham Young have?” he yelled.  Roberts ignored him and continued.  “How many wives did Brigham Young have?” the heckler screamed a second time.  Paying no attention to the man, Elder Roberts went on.  “How many wives did Brigham Young have?” the man yelled once more.  “I don’t know,” replied Elder Roberts.  “When I get to heaven, I’ll ask him.”  “Brigham Young didn’t go to heaven!” shouted the heckler.  “In that case,” Roberts answered, “you ask him!”

 

Posted from Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii

 

 


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