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Wherefore petards are pants and the rub is a catch


The first time I heard hoist by one's own petard I had assumed petard was the ass, but it turns out it is a small bomb.


It's not quite "ass", but "petard" does also suggest "fart". The French still use "pet" to mean "fart". Including an amusingly named pastry: Pete De Soeur, "nun's fart".

Shakespeare definitely loved his fart jokes. And if I ever get around to directing Hamlet, I'm gonna see if a fart joke works at that line. It would be hilarious to break the tension.




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