Posted by Umguy on March 30, 2000 at 06:21:13:
In Reply to: For those of you who do not really get it... posted by Grallon on March 30, 2000 at 06:03:46:
> REMIND ME AGAIN, HOW THE LITTLE HORSE-SHAPED ONES MOVE
>
> Have any of you seen Bill and Ted's bogus journey?
Yes.
> How they play death for the chance to live?
Yes.
> That is actually a historical belief...to some extent.
Sure.
> In a number of cultures, around the world, life was seen as some sort of game against the power of death.
Ok.
> In the middle ages, it was often thought that your life was basically a huge chess game with a real being called "death". Your life came to an end when death check-mated you.
neat.
> The humor in this statement is that death, right before defeating you, is playing dumb, asking you to remind him how a chess piece moves...he is pretending to not know how to play just before he whomps your ass....hence the humor.
No, no, NO NO NO!
The humor in this statement:
Death tells you 'REMIND ME AGAIN, HOW THE LITTLE HORSE-SHAPED ONES MOVE'
stems from it's use in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Specifically, the book Small Gods . I'll admit, this is the only book I've read in the series (so far) but in the entire series, Death is mentioned as a physical being, that greets people after they die. He always speaks in upper case. The aforementioned statement is a direct quote from Small Gods (and a hilarious one, I really suggest reading the book.)