Tracing Quotations
Dorothy Parker? Alexander Woollcott? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A patient in a modern hospital room can push a button to call for the help of a nurse; however, on occasion, the response time is long because nurses have many medical tasks to perform. The famous wit Dorothy Parker created a joke on this topic. She …
Continue reading “I Ring It Whenever I Want an Hour of Uninterrupted Privacy”
Dorothy Parker? Tallulah Bankhead? Edith Gwynn? Roy Blount Jr.? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The 1948 war novel “The Naked and the Dead” by Norman Mailer employed the euphemism “fug” (“fugged”, “fugging”) instead of the four-letter word for intercourse. According to a popular literary legend, a witty woman who was introduced to Mailer shortly after the …
Dorothy Parker? Susan Sontag? Alix Nelson? Ross Macdonald? Kenneth Millar? Tom Samet? Edmund Wilson? Anne Ruggles Gere? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Yesterday, while reading an acerbic episode within a stylish memoir I recalled the following adage: Writing well is the best revenge. These words are often credited to the famous wit Dorothy Parker, but I …
Dorothy Parker? Walter Winchell? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Dorothy Parker was well known for her sometimes controversial witticisms. Apparently, one of her remarks was based on clichés about the vanity, mannerisms, and/or sexuality of actors. Would you please examine this topic? Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in the widely-syndicated column of …
Continue reading “Scratch an Actor and You’ll Find an Actress”
Dorothy Parker? Margaret Irwin? Kingsley Martin? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The writers, artists, and intellectuals of the Bloomsbury Group formed complex and shifting intimate relationships. A wit once said: They lived in squares and loved in triangles. The geometric wordplay referred to the residences of the group. For example, Leonard and Virginia Woolf lived in …
Continue reading “All the Couples Were Triangles and Lived in Squares”
Dorothy Parker? Pauline Kael? Dear Quote Investigator: The decision to greenlight a movie in Hollywood is complicated and protracted. Those eager to make films experience a mixture of encouragement, uncertainty, delays, and heartbreak. Here are two versions of a germane witticism: Hollywood is the one place on earth where you could die of encouragement. Hollywood …
Continue reading “Hollywood Is the Only Place Where You Can Die of Encouragement”
Dorothy Parker? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The well-known wit Dorothy Parker brought forth laughter from others, but personally she experienced episodes of depression. Apparently, when her doorbell rang she would sometimes proclaim: What fresh hell is this? Is this an accurate claim? Reply from Quote Investigator: Dorothy Parker died in 1967, and her earliest …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: What Fresh Hell Can This Be?”
Dorothy Parker? Corey Ford? John Keats? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Apparently, the famous wit Dorothy Parker was once asked why she had selected the curious name Onan for her pet canary. She replied: Because he spills his seed on the ground. What is the veracity of this tale? Quote Investigator: The biblical figure Onan appeared …
Tallulah Bankhead? Dorothy Parker? Robert Benchley? James Boswell? Richard Burke? William Hazlitt? Dear Quote investigator: The actress Tallulah Bankhead was watching an ostentatious play, and she whispered to her companion a hilarious line based on an inverted cliché: There is less in this than meets the eye. This quip has also been attributed to two …
Dorothy Parker? Ben Hecht? Corey Ford? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous wit Dorothy Parker apparently constructed a risqué quip when she observed people ducking for apples at a party. Would you please explore this topic? Dear Quote Investigator: The earliest evidence of Parker’s jest located by QI appeared in the 1957 book “Charlie: The …
Continue reading “Change One Letter in That Phrase and You Have My Life Story”