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What does hiding an uneasy conscience with a judicial air mean? I've quoted it from Pygmalion, a play by George Bernard Shaw.

Lambie
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Moustafa Saad
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    Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking. – Community Jan 26 '22 at 15:40
  • judicial: of, by, or appropriate to a court or judge. – Lambie Jan 26 '22 at 16:15

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Higgins is using "a judicial air" to hide his "uneasy conscience." The broader context can be seen here; Higgins' housekeeper has scolded him for swearing and he claims that he has never used a certain word. When she stares at him he adds, "hiding an uneasy conscience with a judicial air, 'Except perhaps in a moment of extreme and justifiable excitement.'" In other words, he was uneasy because he knew he has used that word, and hid his guilty conscience by adopting an "air"—an attitude—that Shaw describes as "judicial," having to do with judges or legal pronouncement.

There is intentional irony, since Higgins is adopting a "judge-y" tone to cover the fact that he himself is guity.

Andy Bonner
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  • In common parlance, a reference something like *judiciously chosen examples* doesn't always (maybe not even usually) imply showing good* judgement* in any kind of absolute sense. In my experience, judiciously chosen examples usually implies *cherry-picked examples* - "good" from the perspective of whoever chose those examples, because they support whatever case he's making. But other people who don't agree with the line being presented might well say those examples were *deviously / misleadingly* selected. I think it's that implication GBS intends. – FumbleFingers Jan 26 '22 at 16:47
  • @FumbleFingers But as Kate points out, I hastily misread; the original is judicial, not judicious. Editing... – Andy Bonner Jan 26 '22 at 17:19
  • thanks alot , but what was the certain word excatly mrs perece asked hegens not to use the word begins with the same letteras bath – Moustafa Saad Jan 26 '22 at 19:35
  • @MoustafaSaad "Bastard" seems the most likely choice, given the character and setting. – Andy Bonner Jan 26 '22 at 20:39
  • @MoustafaSaad More likely "Bloody" We know Eliza uses this word because she later says "Walk! Not bloody likely. I am going in a taxi”. And that line caused a scandal. Such swearing hadn't previously been heard on the London stage. Also "bastard" is an insult, and Eliza had no reason to insult anyone because the water was hot. But "bloody" is an intensifier. Eliza wouldn't call Mrs Pearce a bastard; Eliza is coarse, but not rude. Note that for the musical, "Bloody" was still too strong, and it became "blooming" – James K Jan 26 '22 at 23:03
  • @JamesK Agreed, that makes a lot more sense, especially since it's an adjective rather than a noun. Mrs. Pearce says "you applied it to your boots, to the butter, and to the brown bread," and I thought the construction would be a bit odd. – Andy Bonner Jan 26 '22 at 23:09
  • thank you all i'm arocky here and i can't figure out how to use the menthin so thanks for all replying i'm egyptian and i'm trying to translat the play into the arbic thank you – Moustafa Saad Jan 27 '22 at 16:19
  • @MoustafaSaad (Wow! Besides simple translation, there's a lot of cultural issues that get lost in translation—it's hard enough to explain some of them to an American audience or a modern one!) – Andy Bonner Jan 27 '22 at 16:21