Tracing Quotations
Boyle Roche? Joe Miller? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A comically incoherent or absurd statement is sometimes called a bull or an Irish bull. Here is an example: I am writing this letter with a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. If the writer is not a three-handed alien then this statement …
Continue reading “Whilst I Write This Letter, I Hold a Sword In One Hand, and a Pistol In the Other”
King George II? Duke of Newcastle? Joe Miller? James Wolfe? Dear Quote Investigator: When George II of Great Britain was planning to send General James Wolfe on a military expedition to Canada his close advisor told him that Wolfe was a poor selection for such an important assignment because he was a madman. The King …
Continue reading “I Hope He Will Bite My Other Generals and Make Them Mad, Too”