understood ‘willy-nilly’, you used a phrase. You said ‘willy-nillily’ but you got the gist of it, so what does ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ mean?
Karl: I don’t know.
Steve: What do you mean you don’t know?
Ricky: You must know. Think about it. ‘A stitch in time saves nine.’
Karl: Is it to do with sewing?
Ricky: Well yes, sort of.
Karl: Err … it’s not that clear.
Ricky: Say if you’ve got a jacket, and the seam starts coming undone. ‘Oh, I’ll leave it. Oh, it’s getting worse and worse’ – soon your sleeve falls off. Initially you just needed one stitch to fix it but if you do it later you need nine stitches. And that, of course, is an analogy to other things. If you leave something that needs attention or repair it’ll get worse, so do it now, do it in time.
Karl: But it depends if you’re busy at that point, because if you’ve got something else that needs doing, that means that isn’t being done because you’re messing about sorting out a hole in your coat. You can’t always do stuff straightaway, so I don’t know if there’s sort of a middle ground where you don’t have to do it straightaway, ‘a stitch in fifteen’ or whatever. Meaning you don’t have to do it straightaway but just do it before it gets really bad.
Ricky: Brilliant. Do you think yours is less poetic than ‘a stitch in time saves nine’? This is what you want as a quote: ‘Well, you could do it now but if you’re doing summit else then don’t do it immediately, but do it soon, so it doesn’t get really bad’ – Karl Pilkington.
Karl: But it’s the same; that’s the way I treat most things in life. It’s like I never go to the doctors unless it’s really bad.
Ricky: But that’s why a lot of people die, particularly working class people, because they don’t want to bother the doctor, or they are mildly embarrassed, or they don’t recognise bad symptoms. Go to the doctor if you are not sure about something. Like you were terrified to go and have your prostate examined.
Karl: Still not been. Not doing it.
Ricky: Why not?
Karl: I wish you wouldn’t talk about it ’cos now Suzanne will be reminded and she’ll go, ‘Oh yeah, you haven’t been’ and start dragging it up again.
Ricky: But why are you worried about a little qualified doctor …
Karl: I don’t know what they’re doing up there. What year are we in?
Ricky: What are you talking about? They just pop their finger up and …
Karl: That’s what I mean though. It’s 2006. Why are they still using the index finger?
Steve: Would you prefer the forefinger or the thumb?
Karl: No.
Ricky laughs .
Steve: A thumb on a stick? Some kind of thumb on a stick? A mechanical thumb? A robot thumb?
Karl: Why isn’t it just a little camera?
Steve: Well, they put the camera up if they initially discover something.
Karl: Just put the camera up straightaway.
Ricky: No. They don’t need to. They pop the finger up, feel that the prostate isn’t swollen, and wiggle it about a little bit up your back passage.
Karl: I don’t think they need to do that.
Ricky: Are you embarrassed? Are you embarrassed about being in a room with your trousers round your ankles and a little fella popping his …
Karl: A little bit, yeah.
Ricky: Why?
Karl: And the other thing is, it’s not just that, is it? You have got to go there. You’re sat on the bus, stressing out, thinking, ‘Oh in less than half an hour I am going to have a finger up me arse.’
Ricky: What is the problem though?
Karl: And you go in. They check your heart, and probably check your testicles and that …
Ricky: What’s up with that? They check your testicles, yeah.
Karl: Yeah, but it’s all building up, and you’re sat there going, ‘Oh soon that’ll be happening’, and that’s what puts me off.
Ricky: So you’d be happy if they just came round when you were asleep? Suzanne lets them in and whispers ‘He’s over there’. And they creep up and go bang!
Karl: I don’t know.
Steve: What do you mean you don’t know?
Ricky: You must know. Think about it. ‘A stitch in time saves nine.’
Karl: Is it to do with sewing?
Ricky: Well yes, sort of.
Karl: Err … it’s not that clear.
Ricky: Say if you’ve got a jacket, and the seam starts coming undone. ‘Oh, I’ll leave it. Oh, it’s getting worse and worse’ – soon your sleeve falls off. Initially you just needed one stitch to fix it but if you do it later you need nine stitches. And that, of course, is an analogy to other things. If you leave something that needs attention or repair it’ll get worse, so do it now, do it in time.
Karl: But it depends if you’re busy at that point, because if you’ve got something else that needs doing, that means that isn’t being done because you’re messing about sorting out a hole in your coat. You can’t always do stuff straightaway, so I don’t know if there’s sort of a middle ground where you don’t have to do it straightaway, ‘a stitch in fifteen’ or whatever. Meaning you don’t have to do it straightaway but just do it before it gets really bad.
Ricky: Brilliant. Do you think yours is less poetic than ‘a stitch in time saves nine’? This is what you want as a quote: ‘Well, you could do it now but if you’re doing summit else then don’t do it immediately, but do it soon, so it doesn’t get really bad’ – Karl Pilkington.
Karl: But it’s the same; that’s the way I treat most things in life. It’s like I never go to the doctors unless it’s really bad.
Ricky: But that’s why a lot of people die, particularly working class people, because they don’t want to bother the doctor, or they are mildly embarrassed, or they don’t recognise bad symptoms. Go to the doctor if you are not sure about something. Like you were terrified to go and have your prostate examined.
Karl: Still not been. Not doing it.
Ricky: Why not?
Karl: I wish you wouldn’t talk about it ’cos now Suzanne will be reminded and she’ll go, ‘Oh yeah, you haven’t been’ and start dragging it up again.
Ricky: But why are you worried about a little qualified doctor …
Karl: I don’t know what they’re doing up there. What year are we in?
Ricky: What are you talking about? They just pop their finger up and …
Karl: That’s what I mean though. It’s 2006. Why are they still using the index finger?
Steve: Would you prefer the forefinger or the thumb?
Karl: No.
Ricky laughs .
Steve: A thumb on a stick? Some kind of thumb on a stick? A mechanical thumb? A robot thumb?
Karl: Why isn’t it just a little camera?
Steve: Well, they put the camera up if they initially discover something.
Karl: Just put the camera up straightaway.
Ricky: No. They don’t need to. They pop the finger up, feel that the prostate isn’t swollen, and wiggle it about a little bit up your back passage.
Karl: I don’t think they need to do that.
Ricky: Are you embarrassed? Are you embarrassed about being in a room with your trousers round your ankles and a little fella popping his …
Karl: A little bit, yeah.
Ricky: Why?
Karl: And the other thing is, it’s not just that, is it? You have got to go there. You’re sat on the bus, stressing out, thinking, ‘Oh in less than half an hour I am going to have a finger up me arse.’
Ricky: What is the problem though?
Karl: And you go in. They check your heart, and probably check your testicles and that …
Ricky: What’s up with that? They check your testicles, yeah.
Karl: Yeah, but it’s all building up, and you’re sat there going, ‘Oh soon that’ll be happening’, and that’s what puts me off.
Ricky: So you’d be happy if they just came round when you were asleep? Suzanne lets them in and whispers ‘He’s over there’. And they creep up and go bang!
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