"Sticking to stout denial” was the tactic that characters in stories of P.G,Wodehouse would resort to, even when caught red-handed. For instance, in the Blandings Castle stories, Clarence or Lord Emsworth who had the habit of getting into trouble with his sister for some misdeed or other would simply keep denying that he had done it. For, “he was a great believer in stout denial and very good at it.”
I didn’t realize that, hundred years after these books were written, the technique of “stout denial” would continue to be practised with vigour, in Pakistan. So it is that even in the face of unimpeachable evidence of involvement of their men, they resolutely stick to “stout denial”. Wodehousian philosophy is well and alive.
Good little blog and I just used it in an academic article I'm writing:
ReplyDelete"While I find the downward-sloping demand curve of the neoclassical persuasion aesthetically pleasing, claiming that the Law of Demand remains afloat in a market demand curve situation is, as P. G. Wodehouse would say, 'sticking to stout denial' after being caught red-handed."
P.S. Nice pakistan poke.
Anon, thanks. Glad the reference was useful somewhere.
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