Tracing Quotations
Dorothy Parker? Alexander Woollcott? Israel Zangwill? Oscar Wilde? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The body and the soul separate at the time of death according to many religious systems. Hence, the idiom “keep body and soul together” refers to maintaining life, i.e., earning enough money to maintain health and activity. A quipster once reversed this formula …
Continue reading “Salary Is No Object; I Want Only Enough To Keep Body and Soul Apart”
Babe Paley? Wallis Simpson? Suzy Knickerbocker? Mrs. J. Gordon Douglas Sr.? Gregg Moran? Truman Capote? Dorothy Parker? Joan Rivers? Zenith Carburetor? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Achieving wealth and a svelte body have become idealized goals in some cultural milieus. Here are three versions of a pertinent maxim: You can never be too rich or too …
Dorothy Parker? Jean Kerr? Charles Whitehead? Simon Suggs Jr.? Sam Stackpole? Abe Martin? Kin Hubbard? Herbert Spencer? Mort Walker? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Beauty is only skin-deep according to an adage that can be traced back to the 1600s. This assertion has inspired a wide variety of twisted reactions and elaborations. Here are three closely …
Continue reading “Beauty Is Only Skin-Deep, But Ugly Goes Clean To the Bone”
Dorothy Parker? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: If you experience a wild and tumultuous love affair then you will probably become bored with an episode of staid affection. The famous wit Dorothy Parker wrote a poem on this topic containing the following elegant line: They sicken of the calm, who knew the storm. Sometimes reference works …
Continue reading “They Sicken of the Calm, Who Knew the Storm”
George S. Kaufman? Scott Meredith? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Bright remarks are often misattributed to famously witty individuals such as Dorothy Parker. An exasperated fellow humorist once said: Everything I’ve ever said will be credited to Dorothy Parker. Would you please help me to locate a citation and tell me who said this? Quote investigator: …
Continue reading “Everything I’ve Ever Said Will Be Credited To Dorothy Parker”
Dorothy Parker? Oscar Wilde? Mike Porter? Arch Ward? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Composing poetry is rarely a lucrative occupation. A traditional moralistic adage has been transformed into a comical warning for versifiers: Crime does not pay. Rhyme does not pay. This word play has been credited to the prominent wit Dorothy Parker who published multiple …
Dorothy Parker? Louella Parsons? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The 19th-century Irish playwright Oscar Wilde is a superstar in the realm of quotations, and many scintillating expressions have been incorrectly attributed to him. A humorous verse about this phenomenon was composed by another wit, Dorothy Parker. The verse ends with this line: We all assume that …
Continue reading “I Never Seek To Take the Credit; We All Assume That Oscar Said It”
Who Made the Criticism?: Dorothy Parker? Blanca Holmes? Vincent Sheean? Sidney Skolsky? Anonymous? Who Was Being Criticized?: Alan Campbell? Lloyd George? Orson Welles? Dear Quote Investigator: A person who is tough and adaptable is able to absorb setbacks in life and continue onward. This capability is represented metaphorically by a tumbler who lands upright. I …
Continue reading “No Matter What Happens He Will Land On Someone Else’s Feet”
Dorothy Parker? Yogi Berra? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Numerous sharp remarks have been credited incorrectly to the well-known wit Dorothy Parker. She was well aware of these misattributions, and she once commented that many of those clever remarks were not hers. Would you please help me to find a citation for her general disclaimer? Quote …
Continue reading “I Say Hardly Any of Those Clever Things That Are Attributed To Me”
Dorothy Parker? Alexander Woollcott? Bennett Cerf? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The idiom “to crawl out of the woodwork” refers to an unpleasant person or thing that quickly emerges from hiding or obscurity. The companion idiom “to crawl back into the woodwork” refers to the person or thing disappearing. The authoritative Oxford English Dictionary has citations …