Tracing Quotations
T. S. Eliot? Ogden Nash? Kate Upson Clark? William Lyon Phelps? O. M. Gregor? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Some pets are constantly signaling a desire to enter or leave a domicile. Here are two pertinent expressions: This notion has been attributed to the poets T. S. Eliot and Ogden Nash. Would you please help …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Cat / Dog Is Always On the Wrong Side of the Door”
C. M. Marshton? Dixon Lanier Merritt? Ogden Nash? Jeff McLemore? Bennett Cerf? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A comical poem about the pelican uses a creative rhyming scheme with the word “pelican” matched to the invented words “belican” (belly can) and “helican” (hell he can). Would you please explore the provenance of this work? Reply …
Ogden Nash? James Nelson Gowanloch? Frank Colby? Arthur Knight? Alfred Hitchcock? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The popular creator of light verse Ogden Nash once crafted a poem that playfully altered a common phrase describing a thorough search: “no stone unturned”. The comical transformation produced “no tern unstoned” and “no stern untoned”. Did Nash originate …
Continue reading “Wordplay Origin: No Stone Unturned. No Tern Unstoned. No Stern Untoned”
George Bernard Shaw? Catholic Standard and Times? Ethel Watts Mumford? Oliver Herford? Addison Mizner? Arthur Wimperis? Colette d’Arville? Ogden Nash? Diana Rigg? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous playwright George Bernard Shaw has been credited with a clever bit of wordplay concerning the role of a critic. The quip transforms the following venerable idiom describing …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: A Drama Critic Leaves No Turn Unstoned”
Joyce Kilmer? Ogden Nash? Confucious? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: April is National Poetry Month in the U. S., and Arbor Day also occurs in this month. A famous poem by Joyce Kilmer begins with the following couplet: I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A comical riff on …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Think that I Shall Never See a Billboard Lovely as a Tree”
Joseph Campbell? Ogden Nash? Brendan Gill? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Here is a quick question. Which of the following quotations is accurate? There is not one shred of evidence that life is serious. —Joseph Campbell There is not a shred of evidence that life is serious —Ogden Nash Not a shred of evidence exists …
William James? Dorothy Parker? Ogden Nash? Mrs. Amos Pinchot? Alice Duer Miller? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I read a wild story about William James, the prominent psychologist, educator, and philosopher. One night he experimented with the psychoactive gas nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas. While experiencing a reverie James became convinced that …
Ogden Nash? George Bernard Shaw? James Agate? La Liberté? Winston Churchill? Henry James? Oscar Wilde? Georges Clemenceau? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a famous humorous saying about the United States that has been credited to four celebrated wits: George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Winston Churchill, and Georges Clemenceau: America is the only country that …
Ogden Nash? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Jeopardy is my favorite game show, and I recently watched in amazement as an IBM computer named Watson beat the two best human players in the history of the trivia tournament. I was reminded of the classic one-line observation made by the brilliantly humorous poet Ogden Nash: Progress …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Progress May Have Been All Right Once, But It Went On Too Long”