Downton Abbey Observations

I watched all of Downton Abbey and the continuation movies, and I was so puzzled at Tom’s insistence that Lady Mary and Henry Talbot were a good match, because they had little in common and it didn’t seem as if they really knew anything about each other. So it was kind of satisfying for him not to show up in the later films and for them to divorce. But I never really liked Matthew as a match for her anyway, so whatever. I honestly loved the Dowager Countess, played by Maggie Smith. She hilariously delivered so many good lines. Here are some I wrote down (season 3, episode 6 was gold):

S3E6:

"I have spent many happy evenings without understanding a word. The thing is to keep smiling and never look as if you disapprove."

"You will both admit it when you’re wrong."
"That's an easy caveat to accept; I'm never wrong."

"One forgets about parenthood, the on-and-on-ness of it."
"Were you a very involved parent with Robert and Rosamund?"
"A bit."
"I imagined them at a nanny's and an hour at tea."
"Yes, but it was an hour every day."

"If you had to sell Charlie to the butcher to be chopped up as stew to achieve the same ends, you would have done so."
"Happily, it was not needed."

S5E6
"I blame the war. Before 1914, nobody thought about anything at all."

S5E7
“But you don't plan to tell Robert? He is Edith's father."
"He's a man. Men don't have rights."

S6E3
“You can’t expect me to avoid talking to my own wife.”
“Why not? I know several couples who are perfectly happy, haven’t spoken in years.”

Downton Abbey Movie (2019)
“And you’re an expert in the matter?”
“I’m an expert in every matter.”

“How like you. A word of resistance and you slash with your saber.”
“It is lucky for Miss Smith that I do not own a saber.”

Also, I learned some interesting words:

• Jejune: not interesting, immature
• Rialto: a theatrical district or marketplace
• Verruca: a plantar wart
• Bally: bloody; used as a mild intensifier
• Cock-a-hoop: reckless, jubilant, or tipsy
• Pogrom: a massacre of a minority group, especially against Jews
• Trunk call: a telephone call made outside the local calling area
• Pally: chummy, friendly, can be derogatory