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PolyPanFemme t1_itcir66 wrote

Written in 1899 to the American author Winston Churchill, proposing a solution to problems of confusion between the two of them. Churchill's letter to the other Winston Churchill

London, June 7, 1899.

"Mr. Winston Churchill presents his compliments to Mr. Winston Churchill, and begs to draw his attention to a matter which concerns them both. He has learnt from the Press notices that Mr. Winston Churchill proposes to bring out another novel, entitled Richard Carvel, which is certain to have a considerable sale both in England and America. Mr. Winston Churchill is also the author of a novel now being published in serial form in Macmillan's Magazine, and for which he anticipates some sale both in England and America. He also proposes to publish on the 1st of October another military chronicle on the Soudan War. He has no doubt that Mr. Winston Churchill will recognise from this letter — if indeed by no other means — that there is grave danger of his works being mistaken for those of Mr. Winston Churchill. He feels sure that Mr. Wiston Churchill desires this as little as he does himself. In future to avoid mistakes as far as possible, Mr. Winston Churchill has decided to sign all published articles, stories, or other works, 'Winston Spencer Churchill,' and not 'Winston Churchill' as formerly. He trusts that this arrangement will commend itself to Mr. Winston Churchill, and he ventures to suggest, with a view to preventing further confusion which may arise out of this extraordinary coincidence, that both Mr. Winston Churchill and Mr. Winston Churchill should insert a short note in their respective publications explaining to the public which are the works of Mr. Winston Churchill and which those of Mr. Winston Churchill. The text of this note might form a subject for future discussion if Mr. Winston Churchill agrees with Mr. Winston Churchill's proposition. He takes this occasion of complimenting Mr. Winston Churchill upon the style and success of his works, which are always brought to his notice whether in magazine or book form, and he trusts that Mr. Winston Churchill has derived equal pleasure from any work of his that may have attracted his attention"

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Ahelex t1_itd6x3y wrote

Flip a coin every time you read "Winston Churchill" to read that part as being the person of choice.

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AudieCowboy t1_ite6spk wrote

I'd say make a drinking game of it but you'd die before you got 6 sentences in

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ElTontoDelPueblo t1_itdfvg8 wrote

I find oddly satisfying the prose in which they used to write in those times. Compare it with nowadays correspondence. We come across as brute chimps in comparison.

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Sugar_buddy t1_itdh1ye wrote

I was thinking this too. If I were to compose emails like this, I would be told to stop it, lol. I feel that we have a lot more information to convey than letters by overseas post back In those days ever had to process, so I think our values have just changed. We can't be long-winded and focused on prose because we have stacks and stacks of communications records stored up in the back room. We need to convey information in shorter, more efficient ways since there's so much taking up our time during the day, so we value convenience.

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das_thorn t1_itdib3c wrote

Winston Churchill was an utter master of the English language.

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platitood t1_itedzk3 wrote

Are you comparing a cheeky letter with extra formality added for effect written by a master of the English language, to your work emails?

Next up: were the top painters of the Renaissance better than my webcomic?

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Pbadger8 t1_itfkhqx wrote

That’s a really weird and rude way to respond, dude…

It’s a valid observation that sheer volume of correspondence humans have with eachother in the 21st century might… you know, influence how we talk and write compared to correspondence in 1899.

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DryCoughski t1_ite0386 wrote

It's not oddly satisfying, it's completely understandably satisfying!
The eloquence of the people of yesteryear is a pleasure to hear/read, and it seems that that level of command of the English language is pretty rare these days, unfortunately.

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dare2smile t1_itdytq4 wrote

I actually bought a vintage copy of Richard Carvel because I thought it was written by the Prime Minister. I didn’t realize there was another!

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PolyPanFemme t1_itf3zqq wrote

That's both hilarious and totally understandable. I didn't know there were two of them until well past school age. I spent a lot of my childhood wondering how an American author became British Prime Minister...

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