Buster Keaton, Magician

[sc1957]

An article on Keaton "as a conjurer" from Moving Image Source.

[Big Silent Fan]

An article on Keaton "as a conjurer" from Moving Image Source.

Looks like the link was missing. Here it is.
http://www.movingimagesource.us/article ... r-20111209" target="_blank

I've also got a question from the article (see quote below)

"Remember the famous scene in Sherlock Jr. where Buster is "shadowing" a man walking in front of him? Now, watch as the man tosses a cigarette behind him, which Buster catches, takes a drag of and then discards...or does he? Given that Buster is the fellow who had a whole side of a building fall around him, missing him by mere inches, I think handling a lighted cigarette in flight was child's play for him. But slow down the image and you will see a nifty sleight of hand he no doubt executed on many occasions, being an inveterate smoker."

"Being an inveterate smoker"?

I have no idea what inveterate means in this instance? The term can apply to "firmly established," or "Unjust discrimination." My dictionary also indicated it could mean "Creating ill will or a dislike for something."

Did he approve of smoking or not? I haven't a clue from reading this.

Always happy to learn new words, but this is much too ambiguous.

[Richard M Roberts]

An article on Keaton "as a conjurer" from Moving Image Source.

Looks like the link was missing. Here it is.
http://www.movingimagesource.us/article ... r-20111209" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

I've also got a question from the article (see quote below)

"Remember the famous scene in Sherlock Jr. where Buster is "shadowing" a man walking in front of him? Now, watch as the man tosses a cigarette behind him, which Buster catches, takes a drag of and then discards...or does he? Given that Buster is the fellow who had a whole side of a building fall around him, missing him by mere inches, I think handling a lighted cigarette in flight was child's play for him. But slow down the image and you will see a nifty sleight of hand he no doubt executed on many occasions, being an inveterate smoker."

"Being an inveterate smoker"?

I have no idea what inveterate means in this instance? The term can apply to "firmly established," or "Unjust discrimination." My dictionary also indicated it could mean "Creating ill will or a dislike for something."

Did he approve of smoking or not? I haven't a clue from reading this.

Always happy to learn new words, but this is much too ambiguous.

It's "inveterate" as in " several packs a day smoker", which Buster was for most of his life. Most candid footage of Buster has him with a butt in his hand, and a lot of later candid footage has him hacking and coughing. Lung Cancer got him in the end.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

[Big Silent Fan]

I've also got a question from the article (see quote below)

"Remember the famous scene in Sherlock Jr. where Buster is "shadowing" a man walking in front of him? Now, watch as the man tosses a cigarette behind him, which Buster catches, takes a drag of and then discards...or does he? Given that Buster is the fellow who had a whole side of a building fall around him, missing him by mere inches, I think handling a lighted cigarette in flight was child's play for him. But slow down the image and you will see a nifty sleight of hand he no doubt executed on many occasions, being an inveterate smoker."

"Being an inveterate smoker"?

I have no idea what inveterate means in this instance? The term can apply to "firmly established," or "Unjust discrimination." My dictionary also indicated it could mean "Creating ill will or a dislike for something."

Did he approve of smoking or not? I haven't a clue from reading this.

Always happy to learn new words, but this is much too ambiguous.

It's "inveterate" as in " several packs a day smoker", which Buster was for most of his life. Most candid footage of Buster has him with a butt in his hand, and a lot of later candid footage has him hacking and coughing. Lung Cancer got him in the end.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

Thanks. It too bad that the article didn't simply say so.

I guess since I was once an inveterate smoker myself, now that I'm no longer a smoker, perhaps I still have an inveterate attitude towards smoking (I dislike it now).

Plain spoken English is so much easier to comprehend.

[sc1957]

New words are useful and fun! Amaze your friends! Impress the ladies and the lads!

inveterate |inˈvetərit|
adjective [ attrib. ]
having a particular habit, activity, or interest that is long-established and unlikely to change : he was an inveterate gambler.
• (of a feeling or habit) long-established and unlikely to change.
DERIVATIVES
inveteracy |-rəsē| noun
inveterately adverb
ORIGIN late Middle English (referring to disease, in the sense [of long standing, chronic] ): from Latin inveteratus ‘made old,’ past participle of inveterare (based on vetus, veter- ‘old’ ).