Huh!? Wha!
DubyaSpeak.com : Fresh Dubya — I was watching Jon Stewart and was aghast at Bush calling the Luxembourg Prime Minister a “Piece of Work!” To his face! In New York this means a singular sort of unusual a-hole.
quote Bush:
In terms of your Prime Minister, he’s a — interesting guy. He’s a lot of fun to be around. He promotes, uhh, serious business in a, in a, in a way that, uhh, endears himself to people. And so, uhh, I think his presidency has been an important presidency for the EU during difficult times, and he’s handled it well. And, umm, I was gonna say he’s a piece of work, but that might not translate too well. Is that all right, if I call you a piece of work?
— Dubya dons his “diplomatic” hat in welcoming Luxembourg Prime Minister and EU President Jean-Claude Juncker, White House, Jun. 20, 2005
Regional dialects, John. Happens throughout the world, but Americans are always surprised that words mean different things in different parts of the country. For example. in the midwest, we enjoy dago sandwiches, and we get holier-than-thou easterners telling us we’re insulting them.
I invite you to expand your mind a bit.
I wonder if the two-edged use of the phrase today stems from the two-edged use of it in Hamlet….
“What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me….
— Hamlet (Act II, Scene II)
Now also, I’ll have to dig out the following from Startrek: The Next Generation: “When an alien mockingly quotes Hamlet’s “What a piece of work is man” speech to Captain Jean-Luc Picard (in Star Trek: The Next Generation), the Captain (played by Shakespearean actor Patrick Stewart) responds that he does not see the quote as ironic at all, but rather as truthful. Thus humanity is offered as an essential and unique trait which will allow our species to rise above its warlike tendencies and Shakespeare is a cultural shorthand for what that humanity actually is or at least could be.”
(Source: http://www.marshall.edu/engsr/SR1997.html )
Oh for freaks sakes!
It’s obvious that Bush wasn’t being complimentary. It was rude, and you can tell by the Prime Mininster’s reaction, Georgie’s nervous laugh, and the context. Which was far removed from Shakespeare.
See the clip for yourselves, and then decide.
O yeah like Dubya reads and retains Shakespeare! Still more evidence that George W Bush is an embarrasment to our country. I am shocked that someone so ignorant was elected president, simply because he espouses a “moral agenda.” The man is as ignunt as the junkyard dog and should be flushed out of Washington before he does more damage to our National image.
Bush is a moron in Prsidents clothing. The arrogance of his administration has led a nation that could’ve and should’ve been a force for good in the world down the path of a militaristic overlord.
BTW: in Australia “Fanny” is where babies come from.