Two silver fish face each other on a blue plate beside two gold coins.

Original artwork, not a still

The Word in Season

P.G. Wodehouse

The fishy glitter in his eye became intensified. He looked like a halibut which had been asked by another halibut to lend it a couple of quid till next Wednesday.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The face is compared to a fish being asked for a small loan. That unlikely request gives the fishy stare a comically guarded quality. The exact sum and deadline make the imagined exchange sound ordinary, which sharpens the absurdity of picturing it between halibut.

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