A month ago, when I wrote, If history were recorded by fashion writers, I was a little afraid that people wouldn't get all the semi-hidden references. A couple days ago I asked an Ivy-eduated guy if he'd gotten them all, and it turned out he'd only gotten a few of them.
If you haven't read the post, please do so. Then see how many of the following references you recognized.
Scroll down.
Scroll down.
Attila the Hun:
"The scourge of everyone who finds grunge acceptable" -- Attila was known as "the Scourge of God."
Vlad III of Wallachia (popularly known as Vlad the Impaler):
"The prince's piercing gaze….If fashion were a car race, Vlad would be sitting in the pole position!" -- Vlad was known to kill people by sitting them atop a long pointed stake placed in their anus which would gradually sink into their intestines.
"Count Dracula wouldn't be caught dead in anything less!" The vampire Dracula was said to have been based on Vlad.
Francisco Pizarro:
"Francisco is one macho peach, you can't deny that!" -- a reference to Machu Picchu, the most famous site of the Incas. (This one was a little forced, I admit.)
Benito Mussolini:
"The black shirt reflects Benito's point of view perfectly." -- Mussolini's squads of goons were known as the "Blackshirts."
"The hands of his German Leica sweep around their axis reliably" -- a reference to the Axis powers.
Adolf Hitler:
"Adolf's final solution was pure genius" -- You probably know what Hitler's "final solution" was.
Mao Tse-Tung:
"Political power may come from the barrel of a gun" -- from a well known Mao saying.
The "long march" was what his troops engaged in during their successful revolution.
Manuel Noriega:
Noriega actually did help both Escobar and Castro, and was said to have homosexually sodomized his prisoners during torture.
Idi Amin:
"One does not earn that kind of hardware by cannibalizing others' heroism." -- Amin was widely thought to have eaten some of his enemies.
Muammar Khaddafi:
"Woe to the man who does not let that locker be!" -- a reference to Lockerbie, Scotland, where Libyan terrorists, on Khaddafi's orders, took down a passenger jet.
If you spotted all the references, you get an A in History.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
15 comments:
I didn't follow instructions properly and just read this without reading the article first. I think I'd have got about 5 if looking out for them. Definitely wouldn't have got the Attila or Wlad ones. I remember final solution jumping out when I read it.
Here's one you never noted: "Those sheikhs in Kuwait, with their traditional dish dashes and keffiyehs, could never have hoped to be a match for this Beau Brummell!"
p.s. you seem to be getting more regular commenters lately.
Steven --
Thank you for getting back. I was a little surprised that no one has written in to say either "I got them all" or "I missed a bunch." Anyway, appreciate your honesty.
The sheikhs line didn't really contain any hidden references.
A couple more people will probably comment.
They couldn't have hoped to be a match for Sadam when he invaded Kuwait which led to the first gulf war. That's a reference!
Steven --
Oh, I see what you're saying. I'd hadn't thought of that as hidden, but you're right, I guess a lot of people would have forgotten about the Kuwait invasion.
thanks for the history lesson...Now I am more impressed with the original post which is one of your best, very funny, you should have been a writer for the Zoolander films
Jova --
Thank you very much. The original was fun to write.
Once I found your blog (3 to 4 years ago), I've been hooked, having enjoyed reading your posts. When it comes to writing, you are very talented, original, clever.
- Susan
Susan --
Thank you so much. I suppose that's partly why I write it, to occasionally hear something like that.
It's occurred to me that you would have been a good newspaper writer, author of books, etc. Anyway, your blog is a good one.
- Susan
Susan -
Thank you very much. I never tried to be a reporter, but I can tell you that there were publishers who disagreed with your assessment of my book-writing ability. I've always appreciated your loyalty and comments.
You're sweet. Keep on doing what you enjoy (and that you're gifted at).
- Susan
I forgot to mention, I would have gotten an F in history because I didn't get any of the references in your original post. Lol. I feel a bit stupid, but I'll be okay.
- birdie
Birdie --
Appreciate your honesty, I'm sure you're not the only one, but you are the only one to have 'fessed up. Mark of a good character.
Loved the original post - really clever and very entertaining! Unfortunately I only identified three of the hidden references on first read. Guess I wasn't really paying attention in history class --Anonymous
Anon --
Thank you very much, and thank you for your honesty. I have to admit, I cribbed a little on this post myself, looking up stuff about Alexander the Great, Vlad the Impaler, and Mussolini which I hadn't known before. (I wasn't paying much attention either.)
Post a Comment