chapter 12: "It's true, is it, that the old bird has bust a flipper?""He has wrenched his shoulder most painfully," assented Lady Constance, with a happier choice of phrase. Where there is a difference between British and American usage of syntax, Wodehouse often follows the British pattern. While American English uses the simple form of a verb in subjunctive clauses (after verbs referring to desire, necessity, and the like), British English uses the inflected form wherever it is available. For example, in chapter 7, Lord Ickenham says: "It is essential [...] that Polly goes to Blandings and there meets and fascinates Dunstable." In American usage, this would be It is essential that Polly go, meet, and fascinate. Commercial products, patent medicines, and other items often have comical names in Wodehouse's stories. For example, in imitation of the names of swords like Excalibur and Durendal, Lord Ickenham's great bath-sponge is called Joyeuse. Exaggerated synonyms are used in Wodehouse's stories to vary the dialogue in humorous ways, such as when a character speaks of squashing in with the domestic staff (chapter 8). Publication history The story was first published as a serial in The Saturday Evening Post from 22 April to 27 May 1939, illustrated by James Williamson. The first US edition dust jacket was illustrated by Peggy Bacon. The first UK edition dust jacket was illustrated by Fenwick. Adaptations The novel was adapted as a radio drama by Archie Scottney in 2012 for BBC Radio 4, directed by Martin Jarvis, who also portrayed Lord Emsworth. The cast also included Ian Ogilvy as the narrator, Patricia Hodge as Lady Constance, and Alfred Molina as Uncle Fred. The radio drama first aired in two parts on 22 April and 29 April 2012. Scenes from the novel were adapted in the first episode of the second series of the Blandings television series, "Throwing Eggs", which first aired on 16 February 2014. See also Uncle Fred would return in: Uncle Dynamite (1948) Cocktail Time (1958) Service with a Smile (1961) – in which he and Dunstable revisit Blandings References Notes Bibliography External links Summaries of most of P.G. Wodehouses books, information on characters, quizzes The Russian Wodehouse Society's page, with a list of characters Fantastic Fiction's page, with details of published editions, photos of book covers and links to used copies Novels by P. G. Wodehouse 1939 American novels Herbert Jenkins books Doubleday, Doran books