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1. 

   Dr. Oetker Pistazien said, 5 months ago

   Atwitter? Is that related to Twitter? LOL!
2. 

   Kosaka Jinnai said, 5 months ago

   @Dr. Oetker Pistazien

   He meant ‘a-twitter’, jackass. It’s a little word used in nineteenth-century English to describe a state of gossip.

   You could not know this because you evidently lack basic education in grammar. AND DON’T BLAME THIS SPELLING MISTAKE ON BEN! Ben, like Rudyard Kipling before him, is replicating a seaside town’s way of life as it was back then. Kudos to you, Ben Towle!
3. 

   Kosaka Jinnai said, 5 months ago

   @Ben Towle
   So the Flattop lookalike was Fink? Way to pay homage to Chester Gould, Ben!
4. 

   LizardPriest said, 5 months ago

   I’ve been reading this strip from the beginning, and the concept struck me as absurdly funny until I researched it and discovered there actually was a Maryland Oyster Navy, founded in 1868. Who says comics aren’t educational!
5. 

   Ben Towle said, 5 months ago

   @Kosaka Jinnai

   I’ve seen it spelled with and without the dash. Merriam’s online has it without:

   http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atwitter

   And, I’m sure there are some spelling mistakes throughout this story, honestly. That’s just a danger of hand lettering vs. using a digital font. I write my dialog in Word, but mistakes get made copying the words onto the actual paper.

   With my own work, I just think hand lettering “matches” the look of the art better, so I do the best I can… and I’m always grateful if anyone spots spelling (or other) text problems. I always note them so that I can correct them if/when this story gets collected in book form.
6. 

   Ben Towle said, 5 months ago

   @Kosaka Jinnai

   I’m actually a latecomer to Gould’s work. I’d read some Dick Tracy here and there, but I didn’t become a “convert” until I saw some Gould originals at a big exhibit of original comics art at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The strips they had there were just beautiful. IDW has been collecting the whole Dick Tracy run and the last few volumes are getting into some of the best material.
7. 

   Ben Towle said, 5 months ago

   @LizardPriest

   Yeah, the Oyster Wars and the Maryland Oyster Navy were real things. My strip doesn’t have much to do with real, historical events, but yeah, that’s the background. There’s a book on the subject called The Oyster Wars of Chesapeake Bay:

   http://www.amazon.com/Oyster-Wars-Chesapeake-Bay/dp/061518250X
8. 

   richardj said, 4 months ago

   “Hoi polloi” actually means the commoners, or literally, “the many.” So using “the hoi polloi” to refer to the upper classes is wrong and redundant.
9. 

   Carolynfaubel said, 4 months ago

   @leatherface Why would you be so rude, calling names and “yelling” at Nordrike when he’s obviously just making a silly joke. Gosh, just ignore that stuff if it offends you that badly. Or if you really think it’s serious, then be respectful. Sheesh!
10. 

    John Bollinger said, 4 months ago

    @Kosaka Jinnai

    There’s no room for personal insults here.
    Take your trolling elsewhere!
11. 

    annieb1012 said, 4 months ago

    @Leatherface “It’s a little word used in nineteenth-century English to describe a state of gossip.”

    *

    “Atwitter” is still very much in use, usually in a humorous fashion, and it doesn’t necessarily relate to gossip. It’s a “state of nervous excitement,” somewhat like “aflutter.” Nordrike Field’s comment was right on; “twitter” refers to the sounds made by little birds chattering to each other; note the use of “tweet” to describe posts on Twitter. Finally, misuse of a word, or misunderstanding its meaning , is not a grammar problem; it’s a word-usage problem. Grammar has to do with the rules of word order, punctuation, and so forth.

    I agree with John Bollinger that there is no room for discourtesy, including name-calling, here.
12. 

    annieb1012 said, 4 months ago

    @Leatherface “…the hoi polloi in Annapolis are atwitter, given the, ah, tabloid nature of it.”

    *
    I think he’s saying that the common folk in Annapolis are all excited over the titillating stuff coming out of the rumor mills. Ben, care to weigh in on this momentous question?!

    *

    (BTW, speaking of punctuation, I learned the word “interrobang” the other day. It’s a printer’s term for a mark of punctuation that combines the question mark with the exclamation point. “Bang” is what printers call the exclamation point. Wish I’d had access to an interrobang just now!)
13. 

    Ben Towle said, 4 months ago

    @richardj

    Yep, that’s exactly right. I’ve heard people use it to mean “upper class” which is funny, since that’s exactly the opposite of what it means. Maybe it’ll switch meanings someday, like peruse, which actually means “to read thoroughly or carefully,” but which is pretty much always used to mean “look over casually.”
14. 

    Ben Towle said, 4 months ago

    @annieb1012

    I’ve always assumed that “atwitter” was the origin for the name Twitter… but it could just be a reference to plain old “twitter”—meaning the bird sounds. “Atwitter” really evokes the nature of Twitter to me for sure: lots of chattering going on.
15. 

    maybeinthenextworld said, 4 months ago

    Another wonderful installment, Ben.
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