Who the heck is Beau Brummell?

[mrsbrown]

Today at work I read this article while sitting in the lunch room with a bunch of other people. It featured this quote:'

He was something of a dandy, always sporting yellow socks. In fact, his house in Mayfair had once been the home of Beau Brummell.

I looked up, about to read it to someone and exclaim over the fact that I knew what the writer was talking about and how clever I am, when I stopped, looked at the twenty-something who's a fitness fanatic, and the 50-something who probably doesn't read the sort of books I do, and I stopped myself.

So I'm exclaiming here, and then I'm going to bed

Comments

[sjkasabi.livejournal.com]

aieeee! It's like that where I work too, you know. And when I hung out in history departments the rest of the inhabitants may have been "oh yeah, well, Beau Brummell, but did you know that when Harold Macmilliam..." but you couldn't make even quite popular popular culture references and assume you would be understood. Never mind the obscure stuff I'm into.

It's just life.

And also

[erudito.livejournal.com]

A friend who is a full Professor (in a Political Science) department in Cornel University never ceases to be amazed at how much contemporary politics his fellow political science academics are completely ignorant of.

I used to find the Parliamentary Library wasn't like that. It was not so much they would get the reference (though they often would) but that it was expected everyone would have odd and quirky knowledge.