Not Fine, thank you

Magnificent is better than Important. We no longer do Fine.
--Overheard at Christies: the official hermeneutics of the titles given to auctions.

2 comments:

Metta Spencer said...

Living in Canada, as I do, this “magnificent” business sounds entirely excessive. When you ask a Canadian how she is today, there's only one normal answer: “Not too bad, thanks.”

But you live in Mill Valley, where people let themselves go.

Porlock Junior said...

Yes, I do, but the Christies in question lives in Manhattan. Of course, they Want It All Now over there, same as we do, but with them it's considered Classy.

But Christies is run, and its official auction marketing vocabulary is set, from King Street in London. Looks as if you restrained Canadians may have to get used to the exuberant style of the English.