Erma Bombeck? Woody Allen? L. M. Boyd? Mark Hatfield? David B. Whitlock? Anonymous?
Dear Quote Investigator: If you or a loved one has faced cancer then the following assertion would be understandable:
The most beautiful word in the English language is ‘benign’.
This notion has been attributed to two well-known humorists Erma Bombeck and Woody Allen. Would you please explore its provenance?
Quote Investigator: Erma Bombeck included this remark in a newspaper column she wrote in 1991. Woody Allen used this idea in a movie he wrote and directed in 1997. Details are presented further below.
The earliest strong match located by QI appeared in the widely-syndicated column of L. M. Boyd in 1968, but he credited a correspondent named Erna. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:[1] 1968 November 12, The Robesonian, Checking Up by L. M. Boyd, Quote Page 6, Column 6, Lumberton, North Carolina. (Newspapers_com)
“I have always maintained (and always will) that the most beautiful word in English is ‘benign’ and the ugliest word is ‘malignant,'” writes a San Francisco girl named Erna.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Continue reading The Most Beautiful Word in the English Language Is Benign
References
| ↑1 | 1968 November 12, The Robesonian, Checking Up by L. M. Boyd, Quote Page 6, Column 6, Lumberton, North Carolina. (Newspapers_com) |
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