Quote Investigator® – Tracing Quotations

Quip Origin: They Buried the Hatchet, But in a Shallow Grave

Dorothy Walworth? Abe Martin? Kin Hubbard? Thomas Kirby? Dave Ball? Anonymous?

**Picture of an axe buried in a tree truck from Unsplash**

Question for Quote Investigator: The phrase “bury the hatchet” means to end a dispute and make peace. A humorous twist on this figurative phrase highlights enduring hostility:

They buried the hatchet, but in a shallow grave.

This statement suggests that the hatchet might be retrieved and the conflict might resume. This quip has been attributed to U.S. writer Dorothy Walworth. Would you please explore the provenance of this modified expression?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match found by QI appeared in November 1901 within “The Surrey Mirror” of Reigate, England which published a letter from Thomas Kirby. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

What kind of olive branch was extended? of which we have heard so much. How shallow the grave of the buried hatchet! It seems rather that the latter has been exhumed, ground, and presented with a new handle.

Two weeks later “The South Bend Daily Tribune” of Indiana printed the following short item:²

It is said that Croker and Hill have buried the hatchet. It is in a shallow grave, however, and will be resurrected at the least provocation. These two chiefs are not the ones to long keep a truce.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Proverb Origin: Every Question Has Three Sides: Your Side, My Side, and the Right Side

Arthur Brisbane? Wray Hunt? John A. Broadus? Dorothy Maddox? Nellie K. Blissett? T. F. Thorp? George W. Paton? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: An old proverb asserts that every question has two sides. An extended proverb asserts that every question has three sides. The third side is the truthful or factual side. Here are three instances in this family:

(1) Every question has three sides: your side, my side, and the right side.
(2) There are three sides to every story: theirs, yours and the truth.
(3) In every dispute there are three sides — yours, mine, and the correct one.

This saying has been attributed to the famous newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane, but I have not seen a solid citation. Would you please explore the provenance of this saying?

Reply from Quote Investigator: This is a difficult topic to research because the members of this family can be expressed in many ways. The earliest strong match found by QI appeared in 1894 within “The Tamworth Herald” of Staffordshire, England. The Reverend Wray Hunt, Vicar of Trowell, spoke at a meeting of the Tamworth Cooperative Society. He argued that members of cooperatives should act as mediators. Boldface added to excepts by QI:¹

They ought to be the mediators, and to occupy the proud position, to which so few could attain, of seeing that there were really three sides to the question — my side, your side, and the right side — (hear, hear). If they looked at it in that light they would arrive at a correct solution of the question — (applause).

Based on this citation, Wray Hunt is the leading candidate for originator of this family of sayings. However, this citation may be antedated by future researchers, and the attribution may shift. Arthur Brisbane did use this adage in 1934, but many versions were already in circulation.

Here is an overview showing selected published items together with dates and attributions:

Proverb Origin: Inside Every Old Person There Is a Young Person Trying to Get Out

Mary Courtland? Harriet Van Horne? William D. McBride? Anonymous?

**Hands belonging to an old person and a young person from Unsplash**

Question for Quote Investigator: Older individuals sometimes embarrass themselves by chasing evanescent trends and trying to act young. Yet sometimes they succeed and feel rejuvenated. Here is a pertinent saying:

Inside every old person is a young person trying to get out.

Would you please explore the provenance of this saying?

Reply from Quote Investigator: QI believes that this saying about the old/young dichotomy evolved from a different saying about the fat/thin dichotomy which employed the same template. Here is an example of the latter from an Australian newspaper in 1950. Boldface added to excerpt by QI:¹

“Inside every fat man there is a thin man trying to escape.”

There is a separate QI article about the fat/thin family of sayings located here.

The first partial match for the old/young saying found by QI appeared in 1962 within an article by Mary Courtland published in “The Esher News and Advertiser” of Surrey, England. The following excerpt also mentioned the fat/thin saying:²

Someone said that inside every fat man is a thin one trying to get out. I’d like to adapt that and say that inside every middle-aged person is a young one trying to get out. Sometimes, of course, they do, with startling results!

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Misquotation Is the Pride and Privilege of the Learned

Hesketh Pearson? Stephen Gwynn? Lord Byron? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: The human brain is not designed to precisely remember quotations. Unintentionally paraphrasing or altering quotations is common. A popular writer once suggested that misquotations were the pride and privilege of the learned. Unsurprisingly, I do not remember the precise phrasing of this remark. Would you please help me to trace this expression?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The English writer Hesketh Pearson was a popular biographer. He wrote works about George Bernard Shaw, Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, and many others. In 1934 he published “Common Misquotations” which contained the following passage in the introduction. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Misquotation is, in fact, the pride and privilege of the learned. A widely-read man never quotes accurately, for the rather obvious reason that he has read too widely. He can retain the thought, but seldom the structure, of a phrase. There are exceptions, of course—Dr. Johnson for one—but it is broadly true to say that a person who wanders throughout the domain of literature cannot remember in detail any particular part of it.

QI believes that Pearson’s observation may have been true in 1934, but it is now incomplete. There are many reference tools currently available to facilitate the use of accurate quotations such as Wikiquote, “The New Yale Book of Quotations”, ‘Oxford Dictionary of Quotations”, “Brewer’s Famous Quotations”, the Google Books database, and the Quote Investigator website. Also, reference tools in digital format are electronically searchable. Using genuine quotations with accurate attributions helps to reduce the spread of misquotations.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Adage Origin: Inside Every Fat Person is a Thin Person Trying to Get Out

George Orwell? Cyril Connolly? Margaret Marshall? Kingsley Amis? Kit Reed? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Societal attitudes toward body weight and body image have changed, and this topic can be controversial. I recall the following adage from decades in the past:

Inside every fat person is a slim one who wants to get out.

I do not remember the precise phrasing. This notion has been attributed to English novelist George Orwell and English literary critic Cyril Connolly. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: A passage containing a partial match occurred in the 1939 novel “Coming Up for Air” by George Orwell. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

I’m fat, but I’m thin inside. Has it ever struck you that there’s a thin man inside every fat man, just as they say there’s a statue inside every block of stone?

In 1944 Cyril Connolly published “The Unquiet Grave” which included the following short item:²

Imprisoned in every fat man a thin one is wildly signalling to be let out.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Origin of Investor Proverb: Buy When There Is Blood in the Streets

Baron Rothschild? Anselm Rothschild? Nathan Mayer Rothschild? Lionel de Rothschild? Bernard Baruch? John D. Rockefeller? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Societal chaos and violence is frightening to investors. Uncertainty depresses the prices of securities. Yet, a popular adage highlights the presence of opportunity:

Buy when blood is running in the streets.

This guideline makes sense if property rights are maintained and the market recovers. This statement has been credited to a member of the Rothschild family of bankers. A more elaborate version states:

You must buy when blood is running on the streets — even when it’s your own.

Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match found by QI appeared in “The Globe” newspaper of Toronto, Canada on December 29, 1893. The following passage referred to “rentes” which were bonds issued by the government of France. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

A French investor at a critical time was advised by one of the Rothschilds to buy rentes.

“What!” he cried. “Buy Government securities while the streets of the capital are running with blood?”

“My friend,” was the reply, “if the streets were not running with blood you couldn’t buy rentes at present prices.”

The passage did not precisely identify the member of the Rothschild family who offered the advice. Also, the historical event that precipitated the violence was not specified.

This early anecdote did not directly present a compact proverb. The statement above which was similar to the modern proverb, was formulated as a question not an adage. Nevertheless, over time this anecdote evolved to yield the proverb.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Catchphrase Origin: Can a Duck Swim?

Thomas Otway? Thomas Brand? George Colman? Theodore Hook? Anonymous?

Picture of a duck paddling from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: When the answer to a question is obviously affirmative the respondent can employ a rhetorical phrase from a family that includes these three examples:

Is water wet?
Is the Pope a Catholic?
Can a duck swim?

Apparently, these types of catchphrases have been circulating for many decades. The “duck” phrase seems particularly old. Would you please explore its provenance?

Reply from Quote Investigator: There are diverse ways to express this interrogative. Here are five examples:

Will a duck swim?
Can a duck swim?
Would a duck swim?
Does a duck swim?
Could a duck swim?

The earliest match known to QI occurred in a play published in 1680 titled “The History and Fall of Caius Marius: A Tragedy” by English dramatist Thomas Otway. In the following dialogue the character Lavin was hoping to rendezvous with the character Marius. Boldface added to excepts by QI:¹

Lavin. Nay, prithee be not angry, Nurse; I meant No ill. Speak kindly, will my Marius come?

Nurse. Will he? will a Duck swim?

Lavin. Then he will come.

Nurse. Come? why, he will come upon all four, but he’ll come. Go, get you in, and say your Prayers: go.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Catchphrase Origin: Does a Chicken Have Lips?

Wesly Brogdon? Dea Reed? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? Bobby Foster? Dean Martin? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: When the answer to a question is obviously affirmative the respondent can employ a rhetorical phrase from a family that includes these three examples:

Is water wet?
Can birds fly?
Is the Pope a Catholic?

When the answer is obviously negative the respondent can employ one of these phrases:

Is Billy Graham Catholic?
Does a chicken have lips?

The answer to these two questions is clearly no. Billy Graham was a Southern Baptist minister. Chickens have beaks instead of lips.

Oddly, the latter phrase is now ambiguous. Some people believe it means “obviously, no”, and other people believe it means “obviously, yes”. Would you please explore the history of this expression?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match known to QI appeared in 1963 within the yearbook of a high school in Arvin, California. A student selected the statement to appear as his personal catchphrase. Unfortunately, the limited context did not delineate the meaning: ¹

BROGDON, WESLY — 2. Track, Football. 4. Ratty cars. 6. “Does a chicken have lips.”

In July 1965 a version of the phrase appeared in “The Washington Daily News” of Washington D.C. within an article about a high school basketball match. A coach emphasized the upbeat aspects of the competition, and a spectator disagreed by using a sarcastic instance of the phrase:²

… “Actually this league is only for learning basketball and for letting the kids have fun. That’s all.”

That’s what Wootten said. But when a spectator heard it, he didn’t quite agree. “Sure, sure” said the spectator, “and a chicken has lips.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Proverb Origin: A Bayonet Is a Weapon with a Worker at Each End

John Maclean? James Hudson? James Riley? H. L. Mencken? Anonymous?

**Illustration of a rifle with a bayonet from Pixabay**

Question for Quote Investigator: Warring countries enlist workers to fight battles. Pacifists have adopted the following slogan. Here are three versions:

(1) A bayonet is a weapon with a working man at either end.
(2) A bayonet is a weapon with a worker at each end.
(3) A bayonet is a weapon with a worker at both ends.

This saying has been attributed to Scottish socialist John Maclean and English politician James Hudson. Would you please explore the provenance of this slogan?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match found by QI appeared in a March 10, 1939 article by pacifist James Hudson published in the periodical “Peace News” of London. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

In war, one defends neither democracy nor the workers. A bayonet is a weapon with a worker at each end.

Based in current evidence, James Hudson is the leading candidate for creator of this saying.

The evidence supporting the attribution to John Maclean is very weak because he died in 1923, and he implausibly received credit decades after his death.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Catchphrase Origin: Is the Pope Catholic?

Carol Burnett? Charles Constantine Pise? Jim Furlong? Jim Obert? Art Lewis? Anonymous?

**View of St. Peter’s Basilica by Giovanni Battista Piranesi**

Question for Quote Investigator: When the answer to a question is obviously affirmative the respondent can employ the following rhetorical phrase:

Is the Pope Catholic?
Is the Pope a Catholic?

This reply suggests that the original question was ridiculous, but the insult is leavened with humor. Would you please explore the provenance of this remark?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Scholar Charles Clay Doyle calls this phrase a sarcastic interrogative, and he mentions other phrases in this family such as “Is water wet?”, “Can birds fly?”, and “Is the sky blue?”.¹ The wonderful website “Green’s Dictionary of Slang” lists several examples together with citations.²

The earliest match for the target phrase with the desired sense found by QI appeared in August 1952 within a San Antonio, Texas newspaper. An article about adventurer Jim Furlong described his journey sailing halfway around the world in a small sailing boat. Unfortunately, he suffered an accident that damaged his foot. Furlong was asked about his experience:³

Would he do it all over again?
“Is the Pope a Catholic,” grinned Furlong. “Sure I would. I’m already planning my next trip — and it’s going to be the biggest yet.”

QI has found the phrase “Is the Pope Catholic?” in print many years before 1952, but these earlier instances were not used as sarcastic interrogatives.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.