June 20, 2005
Doublecrossed
“Plus fours” is a term for those loose and baggy sports knickers made four inches longer than the ordinary ones. ‘Tis the pity that they’re probably pretty much a thing of the past, for they had their place.
There was a time when, for guys, knickers marked a major transition from short pants to long. There was also a time when they were de rigueur on the golf course. Remember the Payne Stewart days? Victorian bishops wore a little bit trimmer variety, but now, they’ve begun to put the plusses elsewhere. (My paid-up prosaic license allows me occasional segués like that.)
Have you noticed how those cute little crosses are showing up more and more on the fronts of episcopal signatures and the rears of mere priest’s? It’s almost as if we need some sort of warning cum admonition lest someone might unfortunately forget. Few and far between are those rare birds who when ordained or consecrated somehow avoid becoming infected by the malady of terminal narcissism that leads to such an affectation.
But with archbishops more and more in our faces these days, we’re seeing two where before there was only one. It’s all to wonder if that means we should be wary of getting double-crossed, or possibly even that a new variety of plus fours are on the way back.