[PW] Re: Honi soit ...

[John P. Dyson]

Tom,

The motto is a medieval version of "What goes around comes around:" 
"Evil unto him who evil thinks." It requires no lady's leg and no 
king's arm for any meaning. Besides, the garter is actually a strap. 
Think of the possibilities.

Honi: I shrunk the kids,

John Dyson


Quoting "Fuller, Thomas (US - Washington D.C.)" <tfuller at DELOITTE.com>:

> Since this has come up, and since we're laboring through the summer
> sleepies, can anyone enlighten me on the meaning of the Garter's motto,
> "Honi soit qui mal y pense"?  Most reference books just translate it
> ("Shamed be he who thinks evil of it") and retell the story of Edward
> III picking up the Countess of Salisbury's fallen garter, as if that
> explains the whole thing.
>
> It never has, to me.  Why would anybody think evil of it?  Because of
> the accidental revealing of an undergarment?  And where's the shame,
> really, in a few snickers at a stocking?  Why should Edward tying the
> garter on his sleeve fix anything, assuming something needed fixing?
> And why should the garter, and the motto, then become attached to the
> most elevated order of British knighthood?  Who would think evil of such
> a badge, even if it started out as something embarrassing?  "Dont tread
> on me", I get.  "Liberte, egalite, fraternite", I get.  Shame on the
> garter, I don't get.
>
> I've never seen anyone really explain this.  Maybe I'm super-clueless
> and nobody else needs an explanation, but I sure do.
>
> -- Tom
>
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