Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 19, 2025
The terms practically explain themselves; but a third class ought to be added the "mot de caractère." The "mot d'auteur" is the distinguishing mark of the Congreve-Sheridan convention. It survives in full vigour or, shall one say, it sings its swan-song? in the works of Oscar Wilde.
For instance, the scene of the five men in the third act of Lady Windermere's Fan is a veritable running-fire of epigrams wholly unconnected with the situation, and very slightly related, if at all, to the characters of the speakers. The mark of the "mot d'auteur" is that it can with perfect ease be detached from its context.
The Queen of England had told you that an Italian performance of your works would be desirable; of Roger's "Tannhauser" we had spoken several times, and you had also come to an understanding with Ollivier as to the droits d'auteur.
If we compare this passage with any page taken at random from Mid-Channel, we might think that a century of evolution lay between them, instead of barely twenty years. The convention of wit-at-any-price is, indeed, moribund; but it is perhaps not quite superfluous, even now, to emphasize the difference between what the French call the "mot d'auteur" and the "mot de situation."
Word Of The Day
Others Looking