In some Government offices the clerks， upon arrival in themorning， have to sign their names in an“attendance book”．This book provides space for signature， time of arrival， and“remarks”． Ten minutes after the hour an official draws a redline under the last arrival's name， and all those coming subsequently are expected to furnish an explanation of their tardinessin the“remarks” column．

When a real“London particular①” occurs the number“below the line” is legion ；the first of them wirtes：“Delayedby fog，” and the rest scribble¹ a“ditto”．

One morning—a foggy one—Mr． Jones became a proud father；but even this only caused him to be about eleven minutes late． Proudly he wrote in explanation：“Wife had twins，”which was followed in due course by the usual string of “ditto's”！

迟到的原因

在一些政府机关里，每天早晨到达办公室时职员们都要在一本“签到簿”上签上他们的名字。这本签到簿留出空格签名，写签到时间，还有“备注”。上班时间过后十分钟，一个官员就在最后一个人的名字下面划一道红线。以后来的每一个人都必须在“备注”栏里注明迟到的原因。

当真正的“伦敦大雾”出现的时候，“红线以下”的名字就很多。第一个迟到的人写上“因大雾延误时间”，其他的人，在下面草草写上“丷”（同上）。

一天早上——一个大雾迷漫的早晨——琼斯先生骄傲地当上了父亲；但即使是这种事也只让他迟到了十一分钟。他自豪地写上他的原因：“妻子生了一对双胞胎，”到一定的时候，这个解释下面照例又跟了一串“丷”。