Such terms should not be taken too literally. I include an excerpt from a letter from Gen. Francis Marion to the British lieutenant colonel Balfour:
"Lord Rawdon and Col. Watson have hanged three men of my brigade for supposed crimes, which will make as many of your men in my hands suffer. I hope this will be prevented in future, for it is my wish to act with humanity and tenderness to those unfortunate men, the chances of war may throw in my power.
"I have the honour to be Your obedient servant, Francis Marion."
Now, do you really think that Gen. Marion was Balfour's obedient servant? ;-)
The "beg to differ" is an old joke among some friends of mine.
I was attempting to vehemently disagree with a buddy, I opened with "I beg to differ" and then started yelling that I refused to "beg" my differences. Everyone burst out laughing and it stuck.
From that point forward it was common to yell "I differ" at people in that group.
The subtle variation on the expected cliche often got people's attention.
That's OK. I just enjoy trotting out the use of "I have the honour to be your obedient servant" while threatening someone with violence. What a civilized era that was!?
;-)
Don't beg, its unbecoming :)
Such terms should not be taken too literally. I include an excerpt from a letter from Gen. Francis Marion to the British lieutenant colonel Balfour:
"Lord Rawdon and Col. Watson have hanged three men of my brigade for supposed crimes, which will make as many of your men in my hands suffer. I hope this will be prevented in future, for it is my wish to act with humanity and tenderness to those unfortunate men, the chances of war may throw in my power.
"I have the honour to be Your obedient servant, Francis Marion."
Now, do you really think that Gen. Marion was Balfour's obedient servant? ;-)
I was attempting to vehemently disagree with a buddy, I opened with "I beg to differ" and then started yelling that I refused to "beg" my differences. Everyone burst out laughing and it stuck.
From that point forward it was common to yell "I differ" at people in that group.
The subtle variation on the expected cliche often got people's attention.