ob·jur·gate [ob-jer-geyt, uhb-jur-geyt] verb (used with object), -gat·ed, -gat·ing.
to reproach or denounce vehemently; upbraid harshly; berate sharply.
I learned a new word today.
Thank you.
"Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I have not had my rubber."
(It's even funnier when you realize that the following line *also* occurs in the same story:
"What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice read over the extraordinary announcement.)
But the number one obscure British literary quote is from (who else?) G.K. Chesterton's The Club of Queer Trades:
Basil smiled at me. `You didn't know,' he said, `that I had a practical brother. This is Rupert Grant, Esquire, who can and does all there is to be done. Just as I was a failure at one thing, he is a success at everything. I remember him as a journalist, a house-agent, a naturalist, an inventor, a publisher, a schoolmaster, a---what are you now, Rupert?'
`I am and have been for some time,' said Rupert, with some dignity, `a private detective, and there's my client.'
Cheers!