The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and WhenSt. Martin's Publishing Group, 1. apr 2007 - 416 pages Our 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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... published was not the Digest's strong suit. The press in general is a shaky source of evidence about who said what. Anyone who's ever been quoted in a newspaper knows this to be true. The words he or she actually said may bear only a ...
... published twelve years after the fact, is “folklore.” Most likely Gage simply abridged an antislavery motto, “Am I not a Woman and a Sister?”, and translated it into dialect for her report on Truth. Over time “Ar'n't I a woman?” mutated ...
... published, however, having appeared in a magazine article as early as 1902. It did not take long for this reported remark to become synonymous with imperious gravitas. Biographer Stanley Weintraub could not verify that Victoria said any ...
... published works. According to quotation compiler George Seldes, Mencken's actual words—made in reference to the success of Reader's Digest—were “There's no underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” His associate Charles ...
... published in 1760 credited the Duchess of Tuscany with offering the same advice. In 1823, Louis XVIII fingered Marie Therese, wife of Louis XIV, who supposedly said that the poor could eat pâté. Versions of this comment have also been ...
Contents
1 | |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 259 |
SOURCE NOTES | 267 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 345 |
KEY WORD INDEX | 347 |
NAME INDEX | 375 |
SIDEBAR INDEX | 389 |