Bernard starting to repeat the speech verbatim is the best moment in the entire series.

@kaladwarakanath5503

2 жыл бұрын

🤣🤣 Exactly!

Thanks Heavens for the transcript! Am I the only one who really, Really, REALLY wants to send out Christmas cards with this as the greeting?

I love his way of saying a lot without actually telling something!

@doctorpc1531

7 жыл бұрын

Well, he did say happy Christmas, did he not? Let's break this down, shall we? "I wonder if I might crave your momentary indulgence in order to discharge a by no means disagreeable obligation, which has over the years become more or less established practice within the government circles, as we approach the terminal period of the year come, of course not financial. In fact, not to put too fine a point on it, week 51. And submit to you, with all appropriate deference at a convenient juncture, a sincere and sanguine expectation, indeed, confidence, indeed, one might go so far as to say hope, that the aforementioned period may be, at the end of the day, when all relevant factors have been taken into consideration, susceptible of being deemed to be such as to merit a final verdict of having been by no means unsatisfactory in its overall outcome, and in the final analysis, to give grounds to being judged, on mature reflection, to have been conducive to generating a degree of gratification which will be seen in retrospect to have been significantly higher than the general average." "I wonder if I might crave your momentary indulgence in order to" is quite straightforward: "I want to" " discharge a by no means disagreeable obligation, which has over the years become more or less established practice within the government circles," It's actually not that overly complicated. However, it could be cut down to: "carry out the happy tradition of" . " as we approach the terminal period of the year come, of course not financial. In fact, not to put too fine a point on it, week 51." = "as Christmas is approaching" "And submit to you, with all appropriate deference at a convenient juncture, a sincere and sanguine expectation, indeed, confidence, indeed, one might go so far as to say hope," A very respectful way of saying "I wish" "that the aforementioned period may be, at the end of the day, when all relevant factors have been taken into consideration, susceptible of being deemed to be such as to merit a final verdict of having been by no means unsatisfactory in its overall outcome, and in the final analysis, to give grounds to being judged, on mature reflection, to have been conducive to generating a degree of gratification which will be seen in retrospect to have been significantly higher than the general average."" ´= A happy Christmas. (said very comprehensibly) So, to sum it up: "As Christmas is approaching, I want to wish you happy holidays". It really is not that bad, aside from the "a happy Christmas" part where he went a bit mad. Aside from it, the extra words did provide the listener with a more precise understanding of his message. I know many people criticise those who speak in a manner akin to Sir Humphrey, but I believe those of us who have underlying tendencies towards a more Mandarin form of communication do, in fact, have pure intentions. While I do not deny that some people use overly complex sentence structures so as to obscure the true content of their message, I dare claim that they are in the minority. I, for example, do speak in a more formal and specific way, although completely incomparable to Sir Humphrey, as I lack the verbal mastery or the linguistic capacity to form sentence structures as rich as he does, but I do this not out of obstructionism, but of the fear of being misunderstood. (Though, having been jotting down this "big speech" of his certainly had the effect of temporarily elevating my register, and as such potentially causing one to falsely assume that this is my normal style of writing.) You see, "happy Christmas" could be seen as a sarcastic remark, while what Sir Humphrey said rules out such hidden meaning. I know you don't care, especially four years later, but I'm having a sick day and thought I'd write this. I had fun, and that's enough for me.

@grizzly3793

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you :-)

@someothername9462

3 жыл бұрын

@@doctorpc1531 but but but....why should an innocuous "happy Christmas " be seen as sarcastic?

@kakefisk

5 ай бұрын

@@doctorpc1531 I believe he says "calendar ofcourse, not financial", when referring to the end of the year, as the calendar year and the financial year does not necessarily overlap.

How the hell did Nigel remember all that stuff? Perfection! Good job, Nigel!

@adrian993

4 жыл бұрын

He's reading it from a card or something off screen. You can tell by the weird camera angle.

@Glostermeteorf3

3 жыл бұрын

@@adrian993 no he isn’t in interviews they go over how he learned all of them by heart.

@JuliaDutta

3 жыл бұрын

There probably were many takes in small bits and then the efitor's magic worked wonders 😁😂😁😂😁😂

@JuliaDutta

3 жыл бұрын

editor's magic, pardon me😁😂😁😂😁

@Glostermeteorf3

3 жыл бұрын

@@JuliaDutta they had a live studio audience so it would be harder to have the sound match up and if they did it was seem less

That is the greatest speech I have ever heard.

@TheHutchy01

6 жыл бұрын

Tommy Estridge It's my next Christmas card sorted

After many years in service, I understood the whole thing.

I know what's going to be on my next Christmas card..

Right! This is it. "I wonder if I might crave your momentary indulgence in order to discharge a by no means disagreeable obligation which as over the years has become more or less established practice within government circles as we approach the terminal period of the year, can (?) of course, not financial - in fact, not too put too fine a point on it, week fifty-one - and submit to you, with all appropriate deference for your consideration at a convenient juncture a sincere and sanguine expectation, indeed confidence, indeed one might go so far as to say ‘hope’, that the aforementioned period may be, at the end of the day, when all the relevant factors have been taken in consideration, susceptible of being deemed to be such as to merit a final verdict of having been by no means unsatisfactory in its overall outcome and in the final analysis to give grounds for being judged, on mature reflection, to have been conducive to generating a degree of gratification which will be seen in retrospect to have been significantly higher than the general average." - All this is grammatically correct. A masterpiece of impressive, yet void eloquence. Splendid. May his example inspire us all!

@umanistan

2 жыл бұрын

I believe he says "calendar, of course, not financial" (referring to the notion of "year" in question).

@hdholl9696

2 жыл бұрын

@@umanistanCorrect: I think you are right. I guess he pronounced this word only half because it is too simple in the pompous verbosity of the other words.

@schubertuk

2 жыл бұрын

@@hdholl9696 The script might originally have intended calendar to be spoken, but I think Nigel might be saying "the year come" rather than the "the year can" or "the year calendar" - but I agree he does munge the word! And also I believe he says "which _has_ over the years" not "which as over the years".

One of the best comedy ever!

I miss these guys !

Merry Christmas Minister!!!! :) Humphrey at his best....

That's it! Unbeatable British humor.

40 years ago...still classic

I wonder if we can resolve the Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays nontroversy by referring to it as "Week 51"?

What if this come up in IELTS 🤦🏻‍♂️

@Gangsterpanda007

5 жыл бұрын

then you are screwed.

@uncommon_name9337

3 жыл бұрын

@@Gangsterpanda007 I hope not

With respect to Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn (whomever wrote those (brilliant) lines, sir Humphrey did not wish his minister a “Happy Christmas.” He merely hoped the past year (or the last “51 weeks”) were good ones: I would like to continue a government tradition (of civil servants wishing to “discharge” an “obligation”) to their ministers that one hopes the last 51 weeks have been satisfactory, indeed gratifying.

Merry Christmas Everyone :)

whats amazing is Humphrey memorized all his lines and never read them from a sidecard. Lots of pep pills.

@Diogo503

4 жыл бұрын

you can see he's looking at a spot a bit sideways to the actor playing minister. he's reading his lines in this particular scene.

@zapazap

4 жыл бұрын

Not pep pills. ;)

@ghughesarch

2 жыл бұрын

@@Diogo503 So interesting that people don't seem to understand that this is what actors do for a living - learn their lines, often complicated speeches, and then deliver them. Without cue cards.

@Gleifel

6 ай бұрын

@@ghughesarchyeah they’re not politicians with teleprompters, even if that is the role they’re acting.

Just wondered what episode this is from, think ive seen them all and haven't come across this scene

@johnking5174

7 жыл бұрын

This was a specially recorded sketch for "The Funny Side of Christmas" which aired on BBC One 27 December 1982 where many BBC sitcoms and comedy stars performed specially written short sketches about the festive season. This sketch was recorded by the Yes Minister production team at the end of Series 3 which aired in 1982. Hope this helps?

@lindakristinekjlibraten757

4 жыл бұрын

@@johnking5174 More like a Christmas episode?

@johnking5174

4 жыл бұрын

@@lindakristinekjlibraten757 No, this was filmed in 1982 along side Series 3, the Yes Minister Christmas Special was not made until 1984

@lindakristinekjlibraten757

4 жыл бұрын

@@johnking5174 Ok, thanks!

@GeoffIX What?

Prime Minister is that you?

Nigel ✔

Bruh my English literature class is even worse🤦‍♂️

Here after shashi tharoor's tweet😆

@SamvedIyer

2 жыл бұрын

Before Shashi Tharoor, there were Sir Humphrey Appleby and William F. Buckley Jr.

I wonder if I might crave your momentary indulgence in order to discharge a by no means disagreeable obligation, which has over the years become more or less established practice within government circles as we approach the terminal period of the year, counting, of course, not financial. In fact, not to put too fine a point on it, week 51. And submit to you, with all appropriate deference for your consideration at a convenient juncture, a sincere and sanguine expectation, indeed confidence, indeed, one might go so far as to say, hope, that the aforementioned period may be at the end of the day, when all relevant factors have been taken into consideration, susceptible of being deemed to be such as to merit a final verdict of having been by no means unsatisfactory in its overall outcome, and in the final analysis to give grounds for being judged, on mature reflection, to have been conducive to generating a degree of gratification, which will be seen in retrospect to have been significantly higher than the general average.

Hawthorne's delivery seems a bit stale here, in my opinion. Especially the beginning of the speech didn't sound natural at all. I do however like to think, or well imagine really considering a lack of any concrete evidence to support this claim, that this is intentional. In this line of thought, it is not the expression of hope that one's colleague might experience a happy Christmas that has become established practice within certain government circles, rather it is the precise recitation of just this speech that is the tradition.