Jay: I laughed at your comments on “a** over teakettle.” However, I
seriously doubt that David Pryce-Jones said “ass.” In England, “ass” is a
quadruped related to the donkey, or else a very silly person. The thing you
sit on is your ARSE. Remember Dudley Moore: “The Americans have their soul
singers, and we have our soul singers…” (You have to say the vowels
Britishly.) There is, by the way, a mathematicians’ version of “a** over
teakettle”—see the subject line.