Igor (t4a) wrote:
> I always wondered what the method was
> Woody Woodpecker applied, to break his (A) silent treatment. Although
> the doctor was very well prepared to remain absolutely quiet he
> couldn't resist to shout: "Who is there?" when Woody concluded: "Knock,
> knock, knock," after provoking him twice before by saying, "Knock,
> knock.".
>
>
> (A) What I always wanted to know about silent treatment
You know that it's an idiom, right? "To give someone the silent treatment"
means to refuse to speak to them, to maintain silence in their presence
even if they speak to you. It's a way of being very rude to them.
It's not a medical "treatment" or therapy; it's a "treatment", "a way of
treating the person", in the sense of "a way of behaving towards them".
(Compare: "He always treated me with kindness." "They treated us with
respect." -- also not medical treatments.)
> 1.
> Whose silent treatment is it? Is it Woody's (directed towards Woody) or
> is it the doctor's (treats Woody)?
Either one: "the doctor's silent treatment (of Woody)" or "Woody's silent
treatment (that he got from the doctor)."
> 2.
> The person it is done to: Is he the "treated"?
Rather, Woody is "given the (silent) treatment". You could, however, say
"The doctor treated Woody with silence" or "Woody was treated with silence
(by the doctor). But you would not say just "The doctor treated Woody" or
"Woody was treated (by the doctor): those could be said about an ordinary
medical treatment, but not about "the silent treatment".
> 3.
> And the one who is doing it ... How is he called?
> (In this particular case it actually was a medical doctor. Maybe it was
> a clue, maybe it was coincidence ...)
I think it was a coincidence, in a sense. Isn't the doctor a recurring
character, one of Woody's many regular antagonists? But there may be a
sort of joke or pun here: one goes to the doctor for a (medical) treatment,
and gets "the silent treatment" instead -- which might be a medical
treatment only in a cartoon world. (I don't remember having seen this
particular cartoon, so I don't know if this is the case.)
--
Roland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food.
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