Painterly wooden megaphone spilling tangled gold and teal ribbons on a pale surface.

Original artwork, not a still

Time Enough for Love  ·  1973

Robert Heinlein

A poet who reads his verse in public may have other nasty habits.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Reading poetry aloud is placed in the category of a nasty habit before the sentence even reaches its conclusion. The suggestion of other habits extends that insult beyond the performance. Its humour depends on delivering a sweeping dislike as though it were a cautious personal assessment.

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