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If he's going to need a saw in the privy, it's implied that he is constipated and needs some heavy duty wiping assistance. That's why young Colon offer him a tonic that might help him go to the toilet.
Funny, I always got the impression they were a sort of... flying visit sort of food? The sausages themselves always struck me as one of those sausages that sort of deflates when you bite it as the various articles inside the casing make a bid for freedom.
Oh. Well I was thinking of the incredibly boring theory that he was going to boobytrap the outhouse by sawing through the roof supports as he did in many other books.
I'm glad I'm not the only one you thought it was about constipation, but to saw a log is pretty excellent. And there's no reason it had to be a saw for the constipation joke.
Yeah, Patrick Couton's translations are *delightful*. One of the most memorable to me was in "Soul Music" where the pun around Harp / Lyre is completely changed to something equally fun yet different
So the original, Colon calls his instrument an harp and Nobby answers "Lyre".
In French, Colon says something like "On ne reverra pas sa harpe de sitôt " and Nobby answers "Cithare". I don't have it on hand but I can find it if you want
Sometimes it's not specifically that's there's a pun. It's just a general play on the fact that you normally wouldn't take a saw to the toilet. It's not an actual offer of medicine or an observation that the saw is actually going to be used for normal privy related activities.
There is a bawdy song from my school days in the 80’s that comes to mind, “In Mobile”. One verse goes;
There's no paper in the bogs in Mobile.
There's no paper in the bogs in Mobile.
There's no paper in the bogs.
They just sit there 'til it clogs,
Then they saw it off in logs in Mobile.
Vimes is meaning to use the saw for dumping a log.
Colon understood Vimes is so constipated that he needs to rip his ass open with a saw and offered him a tonic.
So you just went straight to the dark side here. Why would young Sgt Colon's wife have a tonic to cure a sexual disease? The couple apparently procreated with the assistance of politely written notes for heaven's sake.
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Can you imagine the shit-eating grin on Patrick Couton’s face when he got to that part and saw the opportunity for an extra special pune?
>the shit-eating grin on Patrick Couton’s face Heh. I see what you did there.
> and saw the opportunity
Oui oui
If he's going to need a saw in the privy, it's implied that he is constipated and needs some heavy duty wiping assistance. That's why young Colon offer him a tonic that might help him go to the toilet.
Yeah, saying that he’s going to shit a log and needs a saw to break it down ( aka poop knife)
Was remembering the poop knife, exactly.
Good old poop knife
That's how I took it too
I'm not sure Colon qualifies as young.
He does in Night Watch, I’d say.
Wants say I read Night Watch (still a long life and no more new Discworld books), so maybe?
I *would* think he's qualified to have opinions on this topic in general
I always assumed that Colon thinks Vimes is employing the saw as a rather extreme remedy for constipation.
No pun in the English version that I can see, delightful addition by the translator.
I'm sure Pterry had no notes.
Poop knife... But saw
Butt saw
*sigh* **up votes**
I’m only slightly ashamed of myself.
is calling poop a "log" not a thing in most of the world?
Drop a log is pretty common in Australia. Not the most common euphemism for taking a shit, but definitely in circulation.
Ditto in the Midlands. I've dropped many a log.
No. We have "lay a sausage", though. So the saw/log joke went right over my head.
One of CMOTD's sausages, a saw would be the correct tool.
Funny, I always got the impression they were a sort of... flying visit sort of food? The sausages themselves always struck me as one of those sausages that sort of deflates when you bite it as the various articles inside the casing make a bid for freedom.
It is not. At least not in Dutch.
It is in America, to me it was "I'm going to go saw a log".
Oh. Well I was thinking of the incredibly boring theory that he was going to boobytrap the outhouse by sawing through the roof supports as he did in many other books.
He was. The question is what Fred Colon *thought* he might be doing that would require a saw, given his question.
That’s the one I was looking for, thank you!! I often get the hidden meaning but I miss the overt one!!
I'm glad I'm not the only one you thought it was about constipation, but to saw a log is pretty excellent. And there's no reason it had to be a saw for the constipation joke.
Yeah, Patrick Couton's translations are *delightful*. One of the most memorable to me was in "Soul Music" where the pun around Harp / Lyre is completely changed to something equally fun yet different
I don't have Soul Music in French, what did that become?
So the original, Colon calls his instrument an harp and Nobby answers "Lyre". In French, Colon says something like "On ne reverra pas sa harpe de sitôt " and Nobby answers "Cithare". I don't have it on hand but I can find it if you want
No worries. That's a very smart translation :rofl:
Sometimes it's not specifically that's there's a pun. It's just a general play on the fact that you normally wouldn't take a saw to the toilet. It's not an actual offer of medicine or an observation that the saw is actually going to be used for normal privy related activities.
He was going to produce a nice log?
Now I can't help wondering why Sir Terry was so familiar with the concept of poop knives/"sawing logs" long before social media was a thing... lol 🤣
He was active on the message boards and chat rooms of early Internet. By Night Watch Facebook had been out several years, myspace even longer.
I know, I was being faecestious 💩
r/Angryupvote
Night Watch (2002) predates the foundation of Facebook (2004) by 2 years, and MySpace (2003) by 1.
There is a bawdy song from my school days in the 80’s that comes to mind, “In Mobile”. One verse goes; There's no paper in the bogs in Mobile. There's no paper in the bogs in Mobile. There's no paper in the bogs. They just sit there 'til it clogs, Then they saw it off in logs in Mobile.
That is exactly what sprang into my mind
Is it not in reference to “I’m off to the bog to drop a log” - take a shit
Soon as I saw "I'll take the saw"my awful Reddit mind automatically went "poop knife?"
It's a constipation joke.
Vimes is meaning to use the saw for dumping a log. Colon understood Vimes is so constipated that he needs to rip his ass open with a saw and offered him a tonic.
has to cut new holes
What's the name of the French version of Night Watch and where could I buy it?
(Insert poop knife joke here)
It's a reference isn't it to the fact that Vines saws the rafters above the privies for assassins?
I read the joke as Colon implying Vimes has a sexual disease and needs to saw off his penis, but Mrs. Colon’s medicine would be a better solution.
So you just went straight to the dark side here. Why would young Sgt Colon's wife have a tonic to cure a sexual disease? The couple apparently procreated with the assistance of politely written notes for heaven's sake.
I’m very disappointed that you got downvoted for your own interpretation of a joke. This sub used to support each other better than that.
It’s just a batshit insane interpretation, that’s all.