Meaning & Analysis
A witty, ironic response to witnessing something unusual, strange, or spectacular. It humorously claims that the only other time the speaker has seen something comparable was at a grand and chaotic ceremony like a wedding or a coronation.
Insights
Ironic Commentary
The proverb functions as a form of ironic understatement or exaggeration. By comparing a current event to the grandiosity of a wedding or coronation, it humorously highlights the event's exceptional or absurd nature.
The Rarity of Spectacle
It metaphorically categorizes a surprising event as a 'spectacle', suggesting it is so remarkable that it belongs to the class of rare, once-in-a-lifetime ceremonies known for their pomp and unpredictability.
Critique of Social Ritual
The phrase subtly critiques the nature of formal ceremonies, implying they are the natural home for bizarre, over-the-top, or chaotic behavior that deviates from the everyday norm.
Cultural Benchmark for Spectacle
The proverb draws on the cultural significance of weddings and coronations as benchmarks for spectacle and unusual occurrences in early modern England. These events were rare moments of public pageantry and social disruption, making them a perfect, universally understood reference point for anything out of the ordinary.
Satirical and Social Currency
Its inclusion in Jonathan Swift's 'Polite Conversation'—a satire of upper-class clichés—indicates that by the 18th century, the phrase had become a fashionable, perhaps overused, witty retort. This context reveals its function as a piece of social currency used to signal cleverness and observational humor.
Psychology of Surprise
Psychologically, the phrase is a sophisticated way to manage surprise. Instead of a simple exclamation, it employs irony to frame an unexpected event within a category of known, albeit rare, spectacles. This provides a humorous and socially acceptable way to express astonishment.
Rhetorical Devices
Irony
The core of the expression is its ironic tone, feigning a specific memory of a grand event to comment humorously on a present situation.
Hyperbole
It uses exaggeration by comparing a potentially minor surprise to the immense spectacle of a state or church ceremony, thereby amplifying its humorous effect.
Juxtaposition
The humor arises from the juxtaposition of a mundane context with the extraordinary setting of a wedding or coronation, creating a memorable and witty contrast.
Transcription
Quotations
Did you see the like before? —Never but once, in London.
But being a scholler, and a poore one to, they had noe vse for him except it were once in a coronation to make a speech for the entertainement of a prince.
Once at a Coronation.
I never see't but once and that was at a wedding.
Did you ever see the like? —Never, but once at a wedding.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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