John V Marsch, polish count

Tony Ellis · 23 Jun 1998, 09:34 · from urth-v0014.mbox · original

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From: tony.ellis at futurenet.co.uk (Tony Ellis)
Subject: (urth) John V Marsch, polish count
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 10:34:20 +0100
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Sgt. Rock quoted:
> 'A Polish Count, a Knight Grand Cross,
>         Rx. and Q.E.D.;
> Grand Master of the Blood Red Dirk,
>         and R.O.G.U.E.'

> ...This is a real head-banger. What _does_ it mean? First of all, it's in
> quotes. Does that mean it _is_ a quote from somewhere? If so, can anyone
> identify it?

It's just a little verse that the interrogator recites to show how
clever he is. I suppose it _may_ be a quote from somewhere, or a parody
of a quote from somewhere, but I've always assumed that he just makes it
up.

Since he's ridiculing Marsch's academic qualifications, presumably each
title is derived from a recognisable abbrevation. I would imagine that
"Polish Count" =3D "PhD", although I don't pretend to see exactly how, and
so forth.

Anybody out there with more time, imagination, and knowledge of academic
qualifications than me who'd care to solve this one for us?

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