Mr. Lucas: You see, it was like this, you see, Sir. Erm, Mr. Humphries kneed the jacket.
Mr. Rumbold: Ah! You mean, Mr. Humphries
needed the jacket.
Let's get our tenses right.
Mr. Humphries: No, no, you don't understand, Sir. You see, I kneed the jacket.
Mr. Rumbold: You need it now?
Mr. Humphries: No, I kneed it then.
Mr. Rumbold: You mean, you needed it then.
Captain Peacock: If I might clarify the situation, Sir.
Mr. Rumbold: Thank you, Captain Peacock. It does seem to have got rather out of hand.
Captain Peacock: Yes. It's a matter of spelling, Sir.
Mr. Rumbold: Spelling?
Captain Peacock: Yes Sir. You spelled kneed with an N. Mr. Humphries was using a K.
Mr. Rumbold: Oh, you mean like kneading dough? Is that it, Mr. Lucas?
Mr. Lucas: Yes, that's it. I needed the dough, but he didn't want the jacket because it was too tight.
Mr. Rumbold: So you kneaded it to make it more supple, which was why you needed the jacket, you may recall Captain Peacock. That is what I said in the first place.
Captain Peacock: Nearly right, Sir, yes. But what they're trying to explain, Sir, is that, erm... and coming from Hardware, you would not be aware of this, but there is a method used, and I disapprove of it myself, Sir. There is a method used to enlarge the arm holes of jackets, and the method used is to knee the jacket... with a K.
Mr. Rumbold: I am aware of how you spell jacket, Captain Peacock.
