"He jawed me: sarcastic owl!  He was always asking for homely illustrations, as he called them, and when I gave him one he snapped my head off.  I wrote, ’An excellent example of the application of this philosophical maxim in practical life is afforded by the navvy, who, as the most casual observer will often have noticed, dispenses with a handkerchief when he has a cold in the head.’  A jolly good sentence, what?"