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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... wrote the play Julius Caesar). There is no evidence that Caesar ever said such a thing. Certainly Shakespeare never wrote it. Over time one gets a feel for which quotations are authentic and which phony. Those that are too eloquent, too ...
... wrote his own material longhand. Verdict: A maxim of obscure origins, put in famous mouths. “If you have to ask how much they cost, you can't AFFORD one.” J. P. Morgan's alleged response to an inquiry about the cost of his yachts is ...
... wrote, “Yet it was the schoolboy who said, 'Faith is believing what you know ain't so.'”) Billings, whose real name was Henry Wheeler Shaw, repeated this theme often in different forms. On one occasion Billings wrote, “I honestly ...
... wrote on a piece of paper while visiting the university in 1921. (The original French, handwritten, presumably by Foch, is “Ma gauche plie ma roite recule la consequence f'or donne nice appen jive générale, attaque decivise pour le ...
... wrote, “Men are raised on high in order that they may fall more heavily.” Verdict: An old boxing saw based on longtime proverbial wisdom. “A BILLION here, a billion there. Pretty soon you're talking about real money.” This witticism is ...
Contents
1 | |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 259 |
SOURCE NOTES | 267 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 345 |
KEY WORD INDEX | 347 |
NAME INDEX | 375 |
SIDEBAR INDEX | 389 |