Thicknesse: Question on Pronunciation

[Tonks]

> Geoff:
> I think this is another of JKR's marvellous wordplays - in the Diagon 
> Alley/Umbridge/Disillusion tradition.
> 
> I would see Pius Thicknesse = pious thickness which would give two 
> syllables to his surname.
> 
> My dictionary gives a second meaning to "pious" which is "making a 
> hypocritical display of virtue". It immediately made me think of 
> Charles Dickens' Uriah Heep who was a singularly unpleasant 
> character. Thickness(e) speaks for itself. :-)
>

Tonks_op
I thought of it as a way of putting down the Roman Catholic church and 
the methods of government in the church. Pius being a name often 
associated with one of the Popes.

Tonks_op