A small red steam train rounds a curved track beside scattered white daisies against a pale green background.

Original artwork, not a still

P.G. Wodehouse

I turned to Aunt Agatha, whose demeanor was rather like that of one who, picking daisies on the railway, has just caught the Down express in the small of the back.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Aunt Agatha's expression is compared to the shock of being struck by an express train. Daisies make the imagined scene start innocently, which makes the blow more absurd. The huge mismatch between a look and a railway collision gives the description its comic force.

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