Random Point

[deird_lj]

It really is quite jarring (now that I'm reading the Discworld novels in order) to read a paragraph which identifies a woman as an "Ankh-Morpork seamstress", and then suddenly realising that she actually makes a living by sewing things...


(Does anyone remember which one of the novels actually started the trend of using "seamstress" to refer to... um... seamstresses?)

Comments

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

I know that it is revealed to young Sam in Night Watch, but it could very well have occurred earlier. There's a lot of talk about the various guilds in Pyramids, so that might be it. I've never read in order, either, so I'm just guessing.

[deird1]

Nope, and nope.

It's way before Nightwatch, and I've already passed Pyramids...

[angearia.livejournal.com]

I no understand the lingo, lady, but it all sounds fascinatingly bizarre...

[mymatedave.livejournal.com]

It comes from "In a survey of women working by the docks, hundreds of them claimed their profession as "seamstress" hem, hem."

[angearia.livejournal.com]

Hee! Well, the Ankh-Morpork is still eluding me. ;)

[deird1]

A big and famous city in Discworld. Sort of a cross between New York and London - but set in a fantasy world.

(And yes - what mymatedave said. I'm now so used to that, that even when I'm reading something entirely non-Discworldy, my brain sees "seamstress" and mentally substitutes "prostitute". It's just very odd seeing an early Discworld novel where that isn't an automatic assumption.)

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

Random possibly-not-helpful fact: in 'Feet of Clay' Mrs Palm is mentioned as head of the Guild of Seamstresses and there's a footnote explaining the joke. So I suspect that that wasn't the first ever mention, but it was recent enough at that stage of the writing that Terry thought he'd need to explain it to new readers.

Maybe it was in 'Guards, Guards!'?

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure it's one of the Watch stories, but damned if I can pin it down. Guards Guards or Men At Arms, I suppose. They're just more rooted in the functioning of the city, guilds and crime - unlike the wizards, the witches and even DEATH.

If you spot Rosie Palm in a novel, of course, then you know he's thought of the joke even if it's not explicit yet. I think it takes him forever to allude to the rude reason behind the name!