History Recap / BlackadderS3E2InkAndIncapability

* CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon: "Baldrick, believe me. Eternity in the company of Beelzebub, and ''all'' his hellish instruments of death, will be a ''picnic'' compared to five minutes with me... and ''this pencil''... if we cannot replace this dictionary."

* HaveAGayOldTime: A somewhat subtle example: Blackadder says that "The prince cannot wait to patronise your dictionary." At the time, "patronise" meant "to be a patron of; to bankroll", which is what Doctor Johnson is looking for. Of course, to modern audiences, "patronise" means "to sarcastically insult", which is closer to what the regent actually does to the dictionary.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Creator/SamuelJohnson and Creator/LordByron. The two other poets are identified as Creator/PercyByssheShelley and Creator/SamuelTaylorColeridge. Additionally, various other authors are referred to.

-->'''Dr. Johnson:''' I celebrated last night the encyclopaedic implementation of my premeditated orchestration of demotic Anglo-Saxon.\\

** After Prince George annoys Dr. Johnson by thinking he is talking about an erotic encounter, Blackadder explains to him in LaymansTerms that he has finished writing the Dictionary.

Prince George is sick of everyone thinking he's an idiot. So to boost his credibility, he decides to patronize Dr. Creator/SamuelJohnson's new book, The English Dictionary. Blackadder thinks this a ridiculous idea -- though he is biased against Dr. Johnson since he sent Johnson a novel entitled ''Edmund: A Butler's Tale'', under the name Gertrude Perkins, and never heard back from him. But unfortunately, the prince is too dumb to be dissuaded. Dr. Johnson comes over, and the prince, being himself, fails to understand what exactly a dictionary is, and insults Dr. Johnson, who storms out, but not before saying that the only book he ever read that was better than his own was ''Edmund: A Butler's Tale'', and if the prince weren't so stupid, he could patronize that book as well. Realizing this might be his chance to have his novel published, Edmund tries to convince Dr. Johnson to give the prince another chance, and let Edmund convince him to patronise the book. Dr. Johnson agrees, and after remembering he left the dictionary in the prince's room, tells Edmund to give it to him later at Mrs. Miggins' Coffee Shop. Edmund manages to convince the prince to patronize the book, but runs into a worse problem; Baldrick has burned the dictionary in a fire, and there are no other copies.

The rest of the episode involves Edmund trying to stall for time and replace the book before he is brutally murdered by Johnson and his poet friends. He eventually tries to rewrite the dictionary, getting only as far as 'aardvark'. But on the morning when the book must be delivered, George appears, having had the book the whole time! Doctor Johnson accepts it gratefully, and allows George to be both its patron and the patron of "Edmund; A Butler's Tale." Edmund finally, reveals himself as Gertrude Perkins, and offers to prove it by comparing his signature to that on the manuscript's title page. However, Dr. Johnson now can't find that manuscript. Turns out Baldrick hadn't burn the dictionary manuscript; he burnt Edmund's. And to make matters worse, Johnson left the word 'sausage' out of his dictionary. He's going to have to hope he has better luck next time; as they all leave, Baldrick sets a third fire, this time throwing the dictionary on it for good!

** Baldrick's novel (or "Magnificent Octopus") also has elements of this: "Once upon a time there was a lovely little sausage called Baldrick, who lived happily ever after."

* LifesWorkRuined: DoubleSubverted in a very odd way. It turns out that Dr Johnson's dictionary was never burned at all, despite what Blackadder and Baldrick spent most of the episode believing; the book that was burned was in fact ''Blackadder's'' novel, which both he and Johnson thought was a masterpiece. The dictionary then gets burned by Baldrick while he's making another fire.
* MagnumOpus: Blackadder spent seven years writing ''Edmund: A Butler's Tale'', "a giant rollercoaster of a novel in four hundred sizzling chapters, a searing indictment of domestic servitude in the eighteenth century, with some hot gypsies thrown in", and describes it as his magnum opus. This is immediately followed by a parody in which Baldrick produces his "magnificent octopus": "Once upon a time, there was a lovely little sausage called Baldrick, and he lived happily ever after." (Baldrick doesn't like long books, y'see.) And Samuel Johnson agrees that Blackadder's book is a masterpiece, pronouncing it the only book superior to his dictionary. A pity he's the only person besides Blackadder who ever gets to read it before a misunderstanding leads Baldrick to throw it on the fire...

* SteppingOutToReact: Blackadder learns the book he's spent years writing was thrown into the fire and asks to be excused. He screams "OH NO!" just behind the door and returns.

* AllJustADream: Blackadder wakes up to find that Dr. Johnson is about to arrive and find out his dictionary has been burned. Then Dr. Johnson comes in and announces that he didn't like the dictionary after all; and that he is ''glad'' to find out it has been destroyed. Things start getting surreal when Blackadder's aunt appears out of nowhere and Baldrick starts turning into a dog. Blackadder eventually realises that "It's all a bloody dream!" Cut to Blackadder waking up and finding out that Dr. Johnson is still arriving and the dictionary has still been burned.

'''Blackadder''': (''[[TranquilFury calmly, but visibly trying not to explode]]'') So we did. Thank you, Baldrick... ''seven years'' of my life up in smoke. Your highness, would you excuse me a moment...?\\

'''Blackadder:''' (''he exits, but audible from outside'') '''OH, GOD, ''NOOOOOOO!''''' (''returns, calm again'') Thank you, sir.

* MoustacheDePlume: Edmund writes ''Edmund: A Butler's Tale'' under the name Gertrude Perkins, because everyone wants books by women nowadays. He claims that Ann Radcliffe, Creator/JaneAusten, and Dorothy Wordsworth are all in fact men using female pen names. Reversed with James Boswell, who's actually a woman who wants to ensnare Dr. Johnson.

-->'''Blackadder''':

** And the word "aardvark."

-->'''Blackadder''': Well, compared to Dorothy Wordsworth's, certainly! James Boswell is the only real woman writing at the moment, and that's just because she wants to get inside Johnson's britches.
* {{Neologizer}}: Blackadder becomes one for a short while in order to confuse Doctor Johnson, who is boasting about having written the first English dictionary and that he has taken care to include every English word.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Most Baldrick and George's efforts to help Blackadder rewrite the dictionary:

* ArtisticLicenceLinguistics: When trying to rewrite the dictionary, Blackadder refers to "a" as an "impersonal pronoun". The grammatically correct term is "indefinite article".

* AllJustADream: Blackadder wakes up to find that Dr. Johnson is about to arrive and find out his dictionary has been burned. Then Dr. Johnson comes in an announces that he didn't like the dictionary after all and that he is ''glad'' to find out it has been destroyed. Things start getting surreal when Blackadder's aunt appears out of nowhere and Baldrick starts turning into a dog, until Blackadder realises that "It's all a bloody dream!" Cut to Blackadder waking up and finding out that Dr. Johnson is still arriving and the dictionary has still been burned.

* IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow: George mistakes Dr. Johnson's large words for "damn saucy talk".

'''Blackadder''': (''[[TranquilFury trying not to explode]]'') So we did. Thank you, Balrick... ''seven years'' of my life up in smoke. Your highness, would you excuse me a moment...?\\

-->'''Blackadder''': [''from outside''] OH, GOD, NO!

* BigNo: [[spoiler:They didn't burn the dictionary as they thought. They burnt Blackadder's book, a novel that would have made him a millionaire.]] When Baldrick reveals this, Blackadder excuses himself and lets out one of these.

** Baldrick's novel (or "Magnificent Octopus") also has elements of this: "Once upon a time there was a lovely little sausage called Baldrick, [[spoiler: who lived happily ever after]]."
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Creator/SamuelJohnson and Creator/LordByron. The two other poets are identified as Creator/PercyByssheShelley and Creator/SamuelTaylorColeridge. Additionally, various other authors are referred to (see below).

* MagnumOpus: Blackadder spent seven years writing ''Edmund: A Butler's Tale'', "a giant rollercoaster of a novel in four hundred sizzling chapters, a searing indictment of domestic servitude in the eighteenth century, with some hot gypsies thrown in", and describes it as his magnum opus. This is immediately followed by a parody in which Baldrick produces his "magnificent octopus": "Once upon a time, there was a lovely little sausage called Baldrick, and he lived happily ever after." (Baldrick doesn't like long books, y'see). And Samuel Johnson agrees that Blackadder's book is a masterpiece, pronouncing it the only book superior to his dictionary. A pity he's the only person besides Blackadder who ever gets to read it before a misunderstanding leads Baldrick to throw it on the fire...

* TruthInTelevision: Dr. Johnson really did leave the word "aardvark" out of his Dictionary, although he did include "sausage".

** And a more obvious example: Dr. Samuel Johnson refers to Edmund's HerCodeNameWasMarySue book ''Edmund: A Butler's Tale'' as a "huge '''rollercoaster''' of a novel".

-->'''Blackadder''': "AB". What starts with "AB"?\\
'''Baldrick''': Honey? Honey starts with a bee.
And later:
-->'''George''': "Medium-sized insectivore with protruding nasal implement." ''[beat]'' Doesn't sound much like a bee to me.

* MustacheDePlume: Edmund writes ''Edmund: A Butler's Tale'' under the name Gertrude Perkins, because everyone wants books by women nowadays. He claims that Ann Radcliffe, Creator/JaneAusten, and Dorothy Wordsworth are all in fact men using female pen names. Reversed with James Boswell, who's actually a woman who wants to ensnare Dr. Johnson.

----

* IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow: George mistakes Dr. Johnson's large words for 'damn saucy talk.'

* MustacheDePlume: Edmund writes ''Edmund: A Butler's Tale'' under the name Gertrude Perkins, because everyone wants books by women nowadays. He claims that Creator/AnnRadcliffe, Creator/JaneAusten, and Creator/DorothyWordsworth are all men, Austen being an "a huge Yorkshireman with a beard like a rhododendron bush". Reversed with Creator/JamesBoswell being a woman wanting to snare Dr Johnson.

Prince George is sick of everyone thinking he's an idiot. So to boost his credibility, he decides to patronize Dr. Creator/SamuelJohnson's new book, The English Dictionary. Blackadder thinks this a ridiculous idea (though he is biased against Dr. Johnson since he submitted Johnson a novel entitled ''Edmund: A Butler's Tale'', under the name Gertrude Perkins, and never heard back from him. But unfortunately, the prince is too dumb to be persuaded. Dr. Johnson comes over, and the prince, being himself, fails to understand what exactly a dictionary is, and insults Dr. Johnson, who storms out, but not before saying that the only book he ever read that was better than his own was "Edmund: A Butler's Tale," and if the prince weren't so stupid, he could patronize that book as well. Realizing this might be his chance to have his novel published, Edmund tries to convince Dr. Johnson to give the prince another chance, and let Edmund convince him to patronise the book. Dr. Johnson agrees, and after remembering he left the dictionary in the prince's room, tells Edmund to give it to him later at Mrs. Miggins' Pie Shop. Edmund manages to convince the prince to patronize the book, but runs into a worse problem; Baldrick has burned the dictionary in a fire, and there are no other copies.

The rest of the episode involves Edmund trying to stall for time and replace the book before he is brutally murdered by Johnson and his poet friends. He eventually tries to rewrite the dictionary, getting only as far as 'aardvark.' But on the morning when the book must be delivered, George appears, having had the book the whole time! Doctor Johnson accepts it gratefully, and allows George to be both its patron and the patron of "Edmund; A Butler's Tale." Edmund finally, reveals himself as Gertrude Perkins, and offers to prove it by comparing his signature to that on the manuscript's title page. However, Dr. Johnson now can't find that manuscript. Turns out Baldrick hadn't burn the dictionary manuscript; he burnt Edmund's. And to make matters worse, Johnson left the word 'sausage' out of his dictionary. He's going to have to hope he has better luck next time; as they all leave, Baldrick sets a third fire, this time throwing the dictionary on it for good!

* AnachronismStew: Samuel Johnson actually published his dictionary in 1755, seven years before Prince George was born. In addition, Johnson died 27 years before the Regency was declared.

* LifesWorkRuined: DoubleSubverted in a very odd way. [[spoiler: It turns out that Dr Johnson's dictionary was never burned at all, despite what Blackadder and Baldrick spent most of the episode believing; the book that was burned was in fact ''Blackadder's'' novel, which both he and Johnson thought was a masterpiece]]. The dictionary then [[spoiler: gets burned by Baldrick while he's making a fire]].
* MagnumOpus: Blackadder spends seven years writing ''Edmund: A Butler's Tale'', "a giant rollercoaster of a novel in four hundred sizzling chapters, a searing indictment of domestic servitude in the eighteenth century, with some hot gypsies thrown in," and describes it as his magnum opus. (Followed immediately by a parody in which Baldrick produces his "magnificent octopus": "Once upon a time, there was a lovely little sausage called Baldrick, and he lived happily ever after." Baldrick doesn't like long books, y'see.) And Samuel Johnson agrees that Blackadder's book is a masterpiece, pronouncing it the only book superior to his dictionary. A pity he's the only person besides Blackadder who ever gets to read it before a misunderstanding leads Baldrick to throw it on the fire...

* OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo: Invoked. Edmund asks what the next greatest book to the dictionary is "Dictionary 2: The Return of the Killer Dictionary?"
* PerfectlyCromulentWord: Edmund makes up a lot of these to annoy Dr. Johnson into thinking he has left out words such as 'contrafibularities' "pericombobulations" and "interfrastically."

* TruthInTelevision: Dr. Johnson really did leave the word 'aardvark' out of his Dictionary, although he did include 'sausage'.
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Doctor Johnson was very focused on his work. When his mother died, he didn't notice. When his father cut his head off and fried it in garlic, he didn't look up from his work. When his wife cheated repeatedly just to raise a huge family of bastards, he didn't care.

* AllJustADream: Blackadder wakes up to find that Dr. Johnson is about to arrive and find out his dictionary has been burned. Then Dr. Johnson comes in an announces that he didn't like the dictionary after all and that he is ''glad'' to find out it has been destroyed. Things start getting surreal when Blackadder's aunt appears out of nowhere and Baldrick starts wearing a dog mask, until Blackadder realises that "It's all a bloody dream!" Cut to Blackadder waking up and finding out that Dr. Johnson is still arriving and the dictionary has still been burned.

* MustacheDePlume: Edmund writes ''Edmund: A Butler's Tale'' under the name Gertrude Perkins, because everyone wants books by women nowadays. He claims that Ann Radcliffe, Jane Austen, and Dorothy Wordsworth are all men, Austen being an "a huge Yorkshireman with a beard like a rhododendron bush". Reversed with James Boswell being a woman wanting to snare Dr Johnson.

* OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo: Invoked. Edmund asks what the next greatest book to the dictionary is "Dictionary 2: Return of the Killer Dictionary?"

* MustacheDePlume: Edmund writes ''Edmund: A Butler's Tale'' under the name Gertrude Perkins, because everyone wants books by women nowadays. He claims that Ann Radcliffe, Jane Austen, and Dorothy Wordsworth are all men, Austen being an "a huge Yorkshireman with a beard like a rhododendron bush". "James Boswell is the only real woman writing at the moment, and that's just because she wants to get inside [Samuel] Johnson's britches."