m-u-t

Updated: May 27, 2025

"And Shawmut was the Boston microbe, was it?" asked Johnson. "Yes," said Emerson. "Spelt with a P, I suppose?" said Shakespeare. "P-S-H-A-W, Pshaw, M-U-T, mut, Pshawmut, so called because the inhabitants are always muttering pshaw. Eh?" "Pretty good," said Johnson. "I wish I'd said that." "Well, tell Boswell," said Shakespeare. "He'll make you say it, and it'll be all the same in a hundred years."

John Kendrick Bangs - A House-Boat on the Styx