Tea at Trianon: How To Respond To "Bless Your Heart

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

How To Respond To "Bless Your Heart

From Southern Living:

In the South, 'bless your heart' situations arise daily. Walk around long enough, and you'll hear 'bless your/their/his/her heart' spoken either vehemently aloud or in a breathless whisper. It's a versatile phrase. It has a thousand meanings—and just as many possible responses.
If you're on the receiving end of a 'bless your heart,' it might make you laugh or sting a little. It's usually good-natured, but you'll have to carefully listen because 'bless your heart' has too many meanings to count. Southerners know that the phrase's purpose depends on the tone in which it's spoken, and a slight change in inflection or volume can make all the difference.

Don't know how to respond? Consider a few variables. Who's speaking? What prompted the 'bless your heart'? You can bet your Southern mothers, aunts, and grandmothers are all well versed in the language of 'bless your heart.' They practically wrote the book, so you should study up too. Read on for 'bless your heart' etiquette, a few variants, and their appropriate responses. (Read more.)