Bowls of petunias

[HVS]

I've just encountered the expression "to feel like a bowl of
petunias", which apparently means "being forced to deal with
something that you've dealt with way too often in the past".

It's an entirely new expression to me; anyone know the source of it?

(Yes, I've googled, but only turned up its use and meaning, not its
origin.)

[Frances Kemmish]

Post by HVS
I've just encountered the expression "to feel like a bowl of
petunias", which apparently means "being forced to deal with
something that you've dealt with way too often in the past".
It's an entirely new expression to me; anyone know the source of it?
(Yes, I've googled, but only turned up its use and meaning, not its
origin.)

It must be related to "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Missiles turn
into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias, and the petunias think "Oh
no, not again".

Fran

[HVS]

Post by Frances Kemmish

Post by HVS
I've just encountered the expression "to feel like a bowl of
petunias", which apparently means "being forced to deal with
something that you've dealt with way too often in the past".
It's an entirely new expression to me; anyone know the source of it?
(Yes, I've googled, but only turned up its use and meaning, not
its origin.)

It must be related to "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".
Missiles turn into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias, and the
petunias think "Oh no, not again".

Ah; that would indeed explain it -- thanks.

(I really must read HHGTTG some day; I know I'd enjoy it.)

[Dominic Bojarski]

Post by HVS
I've just encountered the expression "to feel like a bowl of
petunias", which apparently means "being forced to deal with
something that you've dealt with way too often in the past".
It's an entirely new expression to me; anyone know the source of it?
(Yes, I've googled, but only turned up its use and meaning, not its
origin.)
--
Cheers, Harvey
CanEng and BrEng, indiscriminately mixed

Douglas Adam's "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy". Before landing
on Magrathea, the crew of the heart of gold are subjected to a nuclear
attack. At the last moment, one missle turns into a whale, and the
other into a bowl of petunias. The bowl of petunias thinks to itself
"Oh, no. Not again", or something like that.

Dominic Bojarski

[the Omrud]

Post by Dominic Bojarski

Post by HVS
I've just encountered the expression "to feel like a bowl of
petunias", which apparently means "being forced to deal with
something that you've dealt with way too often in the past".
It's an entirely new expression to me; anyone know the source of it?
(Yes, I've googled, but only turned up its use and meaning, not its
origin.)

Douglas Adam's "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy". Before landing
on Magrathea, the crew of the heart of gold are subjected to a nuclear
attack. At the last moment, one missle

Aha. "missle". Proof. Where's that Gurl?

Post by Dominic Bojarski
turns into a whale, and the
other into a bowl of petunias. The bowl of petunias thinks to itself
"Oh, no. Not again", or something like that.

The missiles are converted into these other objects by action of the
Infinite Improbability Drive, which Arthur engages as a last
desperate act to avoid dying. I mean, it would sound silly
otherwise.

[Wavy G]

Post by the Omrud

Post by Dominic Bojarski

Post by HVS
I've just encountered the expression "to feel like a bowl of
petunias", which apparently means "being forced to deal with
something that you've dealt with way too often in the past".
It's an entirely new expression to me; anyone know the source of it?
(Yes, I've googled, but only turned up its use and meaning, not its
origin.)

Douglas Adam's "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy". Before landing
on Magrathea, the crew of the heart of gold are subjected to a nuclear
attack. At the last moment, one missle

Aha. "missle". Proof. Where's that Gurl?

Post by Dominic Bojarski
turns into a whale, and the
other into a bowl of petunias. The bowl of petunias thinks to itself
"Oh, no. Not again", or something like that.

The missiles are converted into these other objects by action of the
Infinite Improbability Drive, which Arthur engages as a last
desperate act to avoid dying. I mean, it would sound silly
otherwise.

Ahh, yes. Now that you've clarified that, engaging the Infinite
Improbability Drive at the last second in order to turn two missiles
into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias doesn't sound the least bit
silly. Thank you for steering this line of discourse clear of the
path of silliness.

[Mike Lyle]

[...]

Post by Wavy G

Post by the Omrud
The missiles are converted into these other objects by action of the
Infinite Improbability Drive, which Arthur engages as a last
desperate act to avoid dying. I mean, it would sound silly
otherwise.

Ahh, yes. Now that you've clarified that, engaging the Infinite
Improbability Drive at the last second in order to turn two missiles
into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias doesn't sound the least bit
silly. Thank you for steering this line of discourse clear of the
path of silliness.

Golly, I'm glad you pointed that out.

[contrex]

Post by HVS
I've just encountered the expression "to feel like a bowl of
petunias", which apparently means "being forced to deal with
something that you've dealt with way too often in the past".
It's an entirely new expression to me; anyone know the source of it?
(Yes, I've googled, but only turned up its use and meaning, not its
origin.)

But did you Google Google Groups?

I believe Chapter 18 of "The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy", by
Douglas Adams is the source of this.

"Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the
bowl of petunias as it fell was Oh no, not again. Many people have
speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had
thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the
universe than we do now."

Search alt.fan.douglas-adams for "petunias".

It seems to have a status among THHGTTG fans approaching that of the
dead parrot among Python addicts.

[HVS]

Post by contrex

Post by HVS
I've just encountered the expression "to feel like a bowl of
petunias", which apparently means "being forced to deal with
something that you've dealt with way too often in the past".
It's an entirely new expression to me; anyone know the source of it?
(Yes, I've googled, but only turned up its use and meaning, not
its origin.)

But did you Google Google Groups?
I believe Chapter 18 of "The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy",
by Douglas Adams is the source of this.
"Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of
the bowl of petunias as it fell was Oh no, not again. Many
people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of
petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the
nature of the universe than we do now."
Search alt.fan.douglas-adams for "petunias".
It seems to have a status among THHGTTG fans approaching that of
the dead parrot among Python addicts.

Thanks; noted for future reference.

(As posted in response to Fran, I must read Adams one of these
days; the only thing that puts me off a bit is the fanaticism of
the fans, which is quite unfair to Adams or the books.)

[Mark Brader]

Post by HVS

Post by contrex
I believe Chapter 18 of "The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy",
by Douglas Adams is the source of this.

(As posted in response to Fran, I must read Adams one of these
days; the only thing that puts me off a bit is the fanaticism of
the fans, which is quite unfair to Adams or the books.)

So go to the original version of HHGttG, which came out before there
were all those fanatical... er... fans. This is not a book, but a BBC
radio series. It should be available in audio form if that's what you
want; I have a book containing the scripts of the 6 original episodes
and the following set of 6.

[Gary G. Taylor]

So go to the original version of HHGttG, which came out before there were
all those fanatical... er... fans. This is not a book, but a BBC radio
series. It should be available in audio form if that's what you want; I
have a book containing the scripts of the 6 original episodes and the
following set of 6.

The audio CD: http://tinyurl.com/2mbvdb
("Quintessential Phase" combines all of several different series
of programs, aired at different times, into one CD)
Anthology of all the books: http://tinyurl.com/2mwxcm

[Gary G. Taylor]

Post by Gary G. Taylor
("Quintessential Phase" combines all of several different series
of programs, aired at different times, into one CD)

Whoops, I mis-spoke ... just search Amazon on "Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Galaxy" and you'll see the Primary, Tertiary and Quatenary Phase CDs,
which is what you want.

[Ian Noble]

Post by Mark Brader

Post by HVS

Post by contrex
I believe Chapter 18 of "The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy",
by Douglas Adams is the source of this.

(As posted in response to Fran, I must read Adams one of these
days; the only thing that puts me off a bit is the fanaticism of
the fans, which is quite unfair to Adams or the books.)

So go to the original version of HHGttG, which came out before there
were all those fanatical... er... fans. This is not a book, but a BBC
radio series. It should be available in audio form if that's what you
want; I have a book containing the scripts of the 6 original episodes
and the following set of 6.

As a personal observation, mind, Adams revised things regularly and
quite significantly between all the various radio, book, audio
recording and TV releases of HHGTTG to which he was party, and they
all have their plusses and minuses. I first heard the thing in an LP
release version, which has a number of wonderful one-liners and so on
that I was surprised to discover the original broadcasts lacked (and,
indeed, at least one quite significant plot change). Plus the cast
seemed to have warmed to their characters more, and the deliveries of
quite a few lines are rather slicker and funnier. In my opinion it's
rather better, but I've no idea whether or not it's still available.

Cheers - Ian
(Not a "fan" fan, exactly - but it chimes nicely with my own sense of
humour and the absurd.)

[Evan Kirshenbaum]

Post by Ian Noble

Post by Mark Brader
So go to the original version of HHGttG, which came out before there
were all those fanatical... er... fans. This is not a book, but a
BBC radio series. It should be available in audio form if that's
what you want; I have a book containing the scripts of the 6
original episodes and the following set of 6.

As a personal observation, mind, Adams revised things regularly and
quite significantly between all the various radio, book, audio
recording and TV releases of HHGTTG to which he was party, and they
all have their plusses and minuses.

This holds between different editions in the same media, as well. The
bit about "the Most Gratuitous Use of the Word 'Belgium' in a Serious
Screenplay" in _Life, the Universe, and Everything_, for example, was
added in the US version of the book, probably due to US editors'
unease with the word "fuck", but resulting in a far better bit.
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |Pious Jews have a category of
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |questions that can harmlessly be
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |allowed to go without an answer
|until the Messiah comes. I suspect
***@hpl.hp.com |that this is one of them.
[phone] | Joseph C. Fineman

http://www.kirshenbaum.net/

[R H Draney]

Post by Evan Kirshenbaum
This holds between different editions in the same media, as well. The
bit about "the Most Gratuitous Use of the Word 'Belgium' in a Serious
Screenplay" in _Life, the Universe, and Everything_, for example, was
added in the US version of the book, probably due to US editors'
unease with the word "fuck", but resulting in a far better bit.

A bit that won me a seven-minute score on an SDC question a couple of years
ago....r

[R H Draney]

Post by Evan Kirshenbaum
This holds between different editions in the same media, as well. The
bit about "the Most Gratuitous Use of the Word 'Belgium' in a Serious
Screenplay" in _Life, the Universe, and Everything_, for example, was
added in the US version of the book, probably due to US editors'
unease with the word "fuck", but resulting in a far better bit.

A bit that won me a seven-minute score on an SDC question a couple of years
ago....r

[Donna Richoux]

Post by HVS
I've just encountered the expression "to feel like a bowl of
petunias", which apparently means "being forced to deal with
something that you've dealt with way too often in the past".
It's an entirely new expression to me; anyone know the source of it?
(Yes, I've googled, but only turned up its use and meaning, not its
origin.)

I find that the "bowl of petunias" that says "Oh, no, not again" is in
"The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. Someone quoted
the relevant excerpt:

Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl
of petunias as it fell was Oh no, not again. Many people have speculated
that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that we
would know a lot more about the nature of the universe than we do now. "
-Douglas Adams/The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[Peter Moylan]

Post by HVS
I've just encountered the expression "to feel like a bowl of
petunias", which apparently means "being forced to deal with
something that you've dealt with way too often in the past".
It's an entirely new expression to me; anyone know the source of it?
(Yes, I've googled, but only turned up its use and meaning, not its
origin.)

It's a while since I've read the books, but I'd say it's from The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In the first or second book - and this
is from very vague memory - a bowl of petunias falls to its death saying
"Oh, no, not again", or words to that effect. At a much later point in
the series, we discover an individual who is fated to be killed
repeatedly by Dent Arthurdent.