Stephen Pile mentions this work in "The Book of Heroic Failures" and comments: "Is there anything in conventional English which could equal the vividness of "to a marmoset"?" The original has "to craunch the marmoset", an entry under the book's "Idiotisms and Proverbs". This is the author's attempt to translate the French slang idiomatic expression , used to indicate "waiting patiently for someone to open a door", with referring to the "knocking" or "rapping" sound, and , a term for the grotesque door knockers in vogue at the time. The term is presumably inspired by the marmot's large teeth, as many of the grotesque door knockers were figures holding the knocker clasped in their teeth. "Craunch" is an archaic term meaning 'to chew' or 'crunch'. In Modern French, usually means "to crunch" (cf. croque monsieur); its use in this idiom is a survival from the Middle French meaning of , , which meant "to slap, hit, strike". See croquet.