ABSTRACT
Few people could be quicker at appraisal than W. S. Gilbert of light opera fame. Standing in a theatre resplendent in a red waistcoat with brass buttons Gilbert was approached by a man feigning to mistake him for a door attendant as an insult to his rather showy apparel. But when the fellow demanded of Gilbert, ‘Call me a cab!’ Gilbert appraised the situation immediately and retorted, ‘Sir, you are a cab, but certainly not a handsome one’.
