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"Good night, Mother dear, and don't wait up." If a daughter of mine ever really talked like that I'd cut her tongue out!

— Mrs. Finney ‧ A Letter to Three Wives

A floral porcelain teacup with a pink bow sits on a saucer beside small silver scissors.
Original artwork
Behind the line May contain spoilers.

Our reading

An editorial interpretation.

The speaker repeats an elaborately sweet goodnight, then responds with a violent threat about a daughter using those words. The contrast makes the polite phrasing sound intolerable to the speaker. Read as comic exaggeration, the reaction mocks the style of the greeting through startlingly excessive language.

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