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I go on translating Saki and asking all the good Sakians: What do you think the initials "D.V." mean here: "His wife was really to be pitied,
because he had been the only person in the house who understood how to
manage the cook’s temper, and now she has to put "D.V." on her dinner
invitations. Still, that’s better than a domestic scandal; a woman who
leaves her cook never wholly recovers her position in Society". (Reginald on house-parties). Thanks again
I have no doubt that "D.V." here stands for "Deo volente" (Latin for "God willing"). In other words, you're invited to dinner provided that no act of God intervenes. The cook's temper is being likened to an earthquake or a hurricane for its randomness and devastation.
As to your other question, the "City" is the financial district in London, as you may already know. I don't know specifically, but I would guess the phrase "where the patriotism comes from" is just a cynical allusion to war profiteering.
Thanks, Gwil; I strongly guessed the meaning of DV (in Spanish -because I translate into this language--, 'Si Dios quiere' that is also a set phrase) but just wanted to be sure.
But I have -and will certainly have-- other doubts, so let me ask you again: in this phrase in the same storie (Reginald on house-parties), "Some hostesses, of course, will forgive anything, even unto pavonicide
(is there such a word?), as long as one is nice-looking and sufficiently
unusual to counterbalance some of the others; and there _are_ others--the
girl, for instance, who reads Meredith, and appears at meals with
unnatural punctuality in a frock that’s made at home and repented at
leisure", 'some of the others' guests or hostesses? And why the frock 'repented'?
Perhaps the frock was "repented" because, while it may have seemed a grand idea to make one's own frock at home, the results were not as pleasing as if the task were undertaken by an experienced dressmaker.
Hi Juan,
in case you have not yet found a suitable answer to your ongoing Sakian queries, the word, ‘pavonicide’ means the killing of a peacock, Pavo being the peacock genus.
You may find that the use of a Quality, modern, English language dictionary will aid you in your endeavours. Abbreviations, like DV, are listed and explained and it will help you to deconstruct inventions like ‘pavonicide.’
With regard to the remark about ‘The City’ being the place “…where the patriotism comes from.” I don’t discount Gwill’s suggested war profiteering explanation, but it would rather depend on the original date of publication. I think it more likely that it refers to commerce being the driving force behind Empire. It should be remembered that the British Empire, for the most part, was not forged out of military conquest, even though it was protected by military might. Rather it grew through trade and the activities of merchant adventurers.