ten minutes to twelve
For you know as well as I do that you 've made that boy of yours a sort of anesthetic . You put him on like a nose-cap , and forget the world . He 's about all you remember to think about . Why , when you look at the clock , nowadays , it is n't ten minutes to twelve . It 's always Dinkie minutes to Dink . When you read a book you 're only reading about what your Dinkie might have done or what your Dinkie is some day to write . When you picture the Prime Minister it 's merely your Dinkie grown big , laying down the law to a House of Parliament made up of other Dinkies , rows and rows of 'em .