“Twopence more and up goes the donkey”. It’s a fascinating phrase because it only exists for a limited time in London. It has a meaning that people ascribe to it, and even one man who claims to have invented it, saying he was fined for balancing a donkey.

But specifically entering the lexicon of London at a point that Terry Pratchett didn’t feel he could add it to his fictional history book “Dodger” because it would be anachronistic (even though he massages history pretty liberally to assemble the story).

The phrase means that if you gave just a bit more, the show would be a lot more grand; and was a kind of 1800’s “jump the shark” sort of phrase. “The production will include a full symphony, two-hundred acrobatic flying stunts, and live elephants on stage.” “Well, with all that, twopence more and up goes the donkey, I bet”

It’s a phrase I think of frequently when reading apologetics. The hebrew is buried in the egyptian, which made it through the ages 1500 years still in a format that Joseph could translate? Well, twopence more and Abraham could have included the donkey then, eh?

To me, the following phrases are the equivalent of finding “Twopence more and up goes the donkey” in the Book of Mormon:

“Curious Workmanship”

“Moroni”

“Secret Combinations”

“Stripling”

Maybe alone each one is irrelevant or a footnote, but all together well… twopence more and up would go the donkey