coxcombry
I remember reading something about a chatterbox in a coach who left himself open to some devastating wit by asking his fellow passengers if he wasn’t a coxcomb and I have no idea where I read it but it was about a sixth of the way down a verso. I think.
The witticism involved repeating the coxcomb’s statement to a fellow passenger who was hard of hearing.
This might be like that book with a green cover that I will never be able to find.
I think it was Boswell. Or Boswell adjacent. But I can’t find it.
It could also be a historical novel I didn’t finish reading, though.
The only thing I am actually certain about is the use of the word ‘coxcomb’.
And if ‘coxcomb’ were included as an index entry to Boswell, it would state ‘passim’.
(This is not wholly because of Boswell, mind.)