The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and WhenOur language is full of hundreds of quotations that are often cited but seldom confirmed. Ralph Keyes's The Quote Verifier considers not only classic misquotes such as "Nice guys finish last," and "Play it again, Sam," but more surprising ones such as "Ain't I a woman?" and "Golf is a good walk spoiled," as well as the origins of popular sayings such as "The opera ain't over till the fat lady sings," "No one washes a rented car," and "Make my day." |
From inside the book
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... America.”) Library of Congress researchers call the attribution “unverified.” They did find the complete quotation, attributed to de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, in a 1941 book called The Kingdom of God and the American Dream by ...
... America. This one dates back at least to World War II, when it was associated with American General Joseph “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell. Lexicographer Eric Partridge thought it originated with British intelligence officers during that war ...
... American saw. “When I was a BOY of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could barely stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twentyone, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” Reader's ...
... American public.” His associate Charles Angoff wrote Seldes that Mencken had repeatedly made that observation in conversation. But the closest known Mencken comment on the record did not even mention Americans. This was recorded in the ...
... America is business.” The remark for which Calvin Coolidge is best remembered is an unfair condensation of his actual ... American people is business.” Coolidge's actual words are similar to the terserversion, but their meaning is quite ...
Contents
1 | |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 259 |
SOURCE NOTES | 267 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 345 |
KEY WORD INDEX | 347 |
NAME INDEX | 375 |
SIDEBAR INDEX | 389 |