Friday, March 20, 2009

Much of a Muchness

"They look much of a muchness." George Orwell, referring to a parade of mostly Senagalese soldiers on maneuvers, Morocco, 1939. From 3/12/39 Orwell Diaries.

Much of a muchness. Thinking of this phrase, I am wondering if there are other obvious examples. Human endeavors: Sports figures, cheerleaders (related to the sports thing), soldiers (very obvious, obviously), girl scouts, boy scouts, rotary, fraternal organizations in general, sororities, clubs of all kinds, generally groups of like-minded individuals. Animal kingdom: Any flock, herd, pride, infestation, on and on. Plant kingdom: Forests, wheat fields, tulips.

Much of a muchness.

1 comment:

  1. Commenting on my own post...it occurred to me upon re-reading, that Orwell may have had a racist aspect to his comment about muchness. Not being an Orwell scholar, I do not know his attitude about race, but I suspect, given his time and place, his viewpoint nowadays, may very well have been viewed as racist. If anybody knows anything about this, I am interested in finding out.

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