Tracing Quotations
Fanny Brice? Alice Roosevelt Longworth? Beatrice Lillie? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Giving birth to a child is an intense physical ordeal. A witty woman employed the following simile: Having a baby is like trying to push a grand piano through a transom. This remark has been attributed to the prominent Washington socialite Alice Roosevelt …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Giving Birth Is Like Pushing a Piano Through a Transom”
Beatrice Lillie? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The story of a snobbish person experiencing a comeuppance has been the template of many entertaining and satisfying anecdotes. Are you familiar with the tale of the actress Beatrice Lillie and the imperious wife of a wealthy Chicago meat-packer? Was this incident genuine or apocryphal? Reply from Quote …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: You May Tell the Butcher’s Wife That Lady Peel Has Finished”