Tracing Quotations
Mae West? Gypsy Rose Lee? Ann Richards? Emma Bullet? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Activities such as growing a garden, consuming a savory dish, and dancing a striptease are best when performed slowly. An adage embodies this idea: If it is worth doing then it is worth doing slowly. This saying has been attributed to …
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Mae West? Jack Wagner? Joe E. Lewis? Charley Weaver? Cliff Arquette? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The Hollywood screen siren Mae West once verbally lacerated the villain of a movie by saying that when he was born his mother should have kept the stork and disposed of him. Would you please help me to determine …
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Dorothy Parker? Mae West? Alexander Woollcott? A. E. Mortimer? Mark Barron? Meyer Levin? Billy Boner? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The U.S. poet and wit Dorothy Parker has received credit for scandalous wordplay based on the following phrases: Sliding down a banisterSliding down a barrister Would you please explore this topic? Reply from Quote Investigator: …
Mae West? George Christy? Barbara Rowes? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent movie star delivered a paradoxical line about aging: You are never too old to become younger. Would you please help to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1969 Hollywood columnist George Christy interviewed the famous actress Mae West in the …
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George Orwell? Coco Chanel? Mae West? Ingrid Bergman? Albert Camus? Abraham Lincoln? Edwin M. Stanton? Lucius E. Chittenden? Albert Schweitzer? Maurice Chevalier? William H. Seward? Edward Lee Hawk? William Shakspeare? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A person’s true character can be deduced by the careful study of the face according to believers in physiognomy. This …
George M. Cohan? P. T. Barnum? Mae West? Elinor Glyn? Babe Ruth? Damon Runyon? James J. Johnston? Charley Murphy? Max Schmeling? Walter Winchell? Oscar Wilde? Samuel Johnson? Ed Sullivan? Question for Quote Investigator: A person once planned to write an article or book containing derogatory material about a celebrity. The unruffled response of the celebrity …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Say Anything You Like About Me, But Spell My Name Right”
Mae West? Margot Asquith? Lillie Langtry? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The movie star, screenwriter, and sex symbol Mae West once spoke a humorous line about keeping a diary, but I do not recall the precise phrasing. She said a diary might provide the diarist with financial support in the future. Are you familiar with …
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Mae West? Aristophanes? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Screenwriter and sex symbol Mae West is usually credited with the following ribald line: Is that a pistol in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me? But I have seen many variations of this comical remark: Can you determine which joke is the original …
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Mae West? A College Student? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The actress, screenwriter, and sex symbol Mae West was well-known for delivering double entendres. Here are two examples of clever lines with multiple meanings: I was once pure as snow, but then I drifted.I used to be Snow White but I drifted. Did Mae West …
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