A truth universally acknowledged? Oh, you betcha!

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that everything awesome is somehow related to Jane Austen: forgiving empire-cut dresses, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, funny girls who get the guy, Colin Firth, and of course, Amy Heckerling’s contemporary classic Clueless, built on Emma. – Jezebel

True, true. I guess that’s why it’s a truth universally acknowledged . . .

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman starring in a romantic comedy, must be in want of a man — and have a best friend (or sister) on hand to crack wise and provide emotional support while she deals with him. – Vulture

That IS pretty universal, and kind of annoying.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single person with a reasonably nice standard of living must be in want of a Swedish partner. – “The Official Gateway to Sweden”

Funny, I never knew that . . . Sounds like the ’70s.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a social landlord with green aspirations must be in want of a trophy wife. – Inside Housing

WHAT??

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a farmer in possession of gelignite is in want of somewhere better to put it than the steps of the Balclutha police station. – Homepaddock

Now I’m really lost . . .

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a novelist in want of an idea will eventually take possession of one of Jane Austen’s.  – The Telegraph

Yeah, and that they’ll start their book with “It is a truth universally acknowledged . . . .” Alas.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that anyone can have a blog. – Universally Acknowledged

You said it, sister. And that they’ll all NAME their blogs “A truth universally acknowledged.”

Even a science blog! – A truth universally acknowledged

Is there an echo in here?

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that there are only two kinds of bacteria. One is Escherichia coli and the other is not.  – “The ABC of symbiosis” by J. Allan Downie and J. Peter W. Young

So which one killed Jane Austen?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a writer beginning a piece with “It is a truth universally acknowledged” must be in want of ideas. – The Sydney Morning Herald

I thought there was an echo in here!

P.S. Hey everyone, please go read this before you acknowledge any more universal truths: Irony. Thank you.

Photo credit: ©Leonieke Aalders. Used under Creative Commons licensing.

Universally Acknowledged

Gentle readers, you must know that in matters of SCIENCE!, the ladies of Austenacious consider themselves your humble servants. No matter of intellectual integrity is too arcane for the eyes and ears of your beloved sisters; no necessary course of field research is too grueling for the hitching up of hems and the donning of proper footwear. When it comes to the codification of Jane for the collective Austenacious consciousness, we’re here for you.

And so on the key tenet of single men, their fortunes, and their want of wives, we have gone to bat for you: we have ventured into that native land of (many) single men—WonderCon 2010—and communed with the population at hand. We have gotten answers. We have gotten the truth.

And in that spirit, we introduce the first film from Austenacious Films, A Truth Universally Acknowledged.

Enjoy.