Revision 73962940 of "Turtletaub" on enwiki

'''Turtletaub''' and the Foul Distemper - A story by [[Roger Angell]] about Inspector Turtletaub and the dangers of terrible [[pun]]s.  

The name ''Turtletaub'' has become a [[catch phrase|catchphrase]] to call people who make bad puns.  In the story, the puns actually drive people insane.  Be careful.

Inexorably, he <nowiki>[Turtletaub]</nowiki> reached for another file and went on. "Originally, a 
Father Martin Quist, an unremarkable young priest in a poor [[Midwest]]
[[parish]]," he intoned.  "So poor, in fact, that they had to let out some of the rooms in the [[rectory]] to boarders, in order to make ends meet.  Well this was well back  in
the [[fifties]], in the unlamented [[mccarthyism|McCarthy era]], and soon ugly stories were
afloat to the effect that one of the boarders was a 
[[Communist]] and possibly an [[atheist]].  Parish morale declined and suspicions were
rife, and one Sunday Father Quist determined to put an end to the matter.
He rose in the pulpit after [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]]--"<br>  I put my hands up, as if to ward off a blow.<br>  "--and told the congregation that there was nothing in it. The accused boarder
wasn't a Communist or an atheist. 'In fact,' he told them, holding back a
smile, 'I can assure you that we have nothing here but an [[Confirmation|unconfirmed]]
roomer.'"

==Vaguely Related links==
*[www.turtletaub.com] - site for people with the last name of Turtletaub and variants

{{Uncategorized|September 2006}}