Gesundheit: Lampshaded when a foreign gentlemen introduces himself by making a sneezing sound, then says, "That is my name.".Foreign Correspondent: Boot and many supporting characters are journalists covering an Eastern African country likely based on Ethiopia.Did Not Get the Girl: Despite Boot's best efforts to woo her, Katchen reconciles with her husband and flees Ishmaelia.He replies thanking them for their concern, and explaining that it's not costing him anything because he's charging all his telegrams to his note that is, the newspaper's expense account.
Comically Missing the Point: Boot sends all his reports back to England by telegram in fully worded English, prompting the newspaper to suggest that he adopt the more usual practice of abbreviations to reduce the cost.Chekhov's Gun: The collapsible boat that Boot buys early in the novel becomes useful about two-thirds of the way through, when he loans it to Katchen and her husband so that they can escape Ishmaelia.Bulungi: The (not quite) war-torn Republic of Ishmaelia.Adventurer Outfit: Before being sent overseas, Boot is sent to the requisite adventure outfitters who, realizing his naivete, sell him a vast mountain of clothing and equipment which he lugs to Africa with him.Partly based on Waugh's own experience as a Daily Mail correspondent in Abyssinia, the novel is considered a classic for its early, biting portrayal of the media. When a bit of backstage politics at a Fleet Street newspaper goes awry, unassuming nature columnist William Boot is mistaken for an aspiring foreign correspondent with whom he shares his last name, and finds himself shipped to the East African Republic of Ishmaelia to cover the civil war which is expected to break out any day now between the Patriots and the Traitors (which is which, exactly, depends on who's employing him). Scoop is a 1938 satirical novel by English author Evelyn Waugh.
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