A Bit of Fry & Laurie Concerning Language

Fun English Lessons · 773K views · 2015-04-27 · 7:24

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Overview

A Fry and Laurie sketch about language, full of absurd phrases and wordplay, which also plays on the distinction between langue and parole.

On Hacker News

HN quotes it jokingly when talk turns to nonsense language, and one commenter points out its underlying linguistics.

Recommended by 1 HN people across 1 months · HN mentions 2023–2026

Topics

Stand-up & sketch comedy Language & linguistics

What people said

OfSanguineFire · 2023-06 · Recommendation
Fry & Laurie had a sketch[0] that, behind the silliness and ridiculous characterization, sets out Ferdinand de Saussure’s distinction of langue versus parole that is the foundation of modern linguistics. [0] [VIDEO]
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gib444 · 2026-06 · Joke / meme
> stephen fry "May I compartmentalise? I hate to, but may I? may I?" "Hold the newsreader's nose squarely, waiter, or friendly milk will countermand my trousers" "...saying the same weary things time after weary time: I love you. Don't go in there. Get out. You have no right to say that. Stop that. Why should I. That hurt. Help. Marjorie is dead" [VIDEO] (fantastic sketch!)
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gessha · 2025-03 · Joke / meme
Reminds me of this sketch from A bit of Fry and Laurie: Hugh: And by demagoguery you mean ...? Stephen: I mean demagoguery, I mean highly-charged oratory, persuasive whipping up rhetoric… Transcript: [LINK] Video: [VIDEO]
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Sources

Video by Fun English Lessons, played through YouTube.

HN Library · Source license

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

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