Meme nicked from ianthefira

[active_apathy]

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal...along with these instructions.
5. Don't search around and look for the "coolest" book you can find. Do what's actually next to you.

Right. So, the closest book is the Collins Australian Pocket English Dictionary; it's the 1986 reprint of the 1981 edition. A thrilling read, for some. A useful reference for everyone else.

The fifth sentence is:

Callisthenics (kal'əs then'iks) n.pl. [ < Gr. kallos, beauty + sthenos, strength ] exercises to develop a strong, trim body —cal'listhen'ic, cal'listhen'ical adj.

Thrilling, isn't it. The second-closest - and much more fun - book is Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves (at exactly one inch closer than Pyramids). And this time, the quote is:

However, so long as there remain sentences on this earth that begin with capital letters and end with full stops, there will be a place for the semicolon.

Disregarding that last inch, we come to Mr Pratchett who, in this particular copy of Pyramids (which I am, in fact, yet to read), gives us:

That's one of the signs of real royalty, not having any money.

Comments

[eighthcloud.livejournal.com]

Not fair! I don't have a book near me!

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

You could leave it for later! Or pretend to look in some obscure book no-one's ever heard of (because it does not, in fact, exist)!

[eighthcloud.livejournal.com]

Then I shall leave it for later and return to this post once I get home.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

I approve.