Mark in Stumptown
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| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:04 pm
Post subject: Pundits on the Railway |
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In chapter 60 of _The Prime Minister_ of Anthony Trollope, I find that
certain employees of the railway are called "pundits", viz:
"But the pundits are very clever, and have much experience in men and
women. A well-taught pundit, who has exercised authority for a year
or two at such a station as that of Tenway, will know within a minute
of the appearance of each stranger what is his purpose there..."
Reading the text suggests that this was a common usage at the time,
and would not seem exotic to contemporaries. I wonder how a term
indicating one well versed in the Veda is applied to a railway
functionary.
There are so many pundits on the internet these days that I was unable
to find much help from Google.
Mark Harris
Portland, OR
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Mark
Portland, OR, USA
for e-mail, sabocat at labordefense dot org
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