SAYS WHO?
I really didn’t say everything I said. — Yogi Berra
Maybe he didn’t….but Yogi did say that he didn’t say everything he said — and it should go without saying that some say he is not the only one who didn’t say everything he said. Sad to say, no way can one say who said what was said in all cases, and always saying who said what one said is way easier said than done. Or so they say.
That said, the following is a selection of famous quotes not said (or at least not said originally) by those to whom they are attributed, along with some quotes which are correctly attributed (or so they say). Some mis-atributed quotes happened inadvertently, others deliberately; some have persisted despite attempts to set the record straight. Can you separate the suspect ones from the correct ones?
1. Go west, young man, go west. –Horace Greeley
2. Go West, Virginia, yes, Virginia: there is a —Santa Claus
3. Win one for the Gipper. –Knute Rockne
4. Win one for the Gingger. –Newt Gingrich
5. A woman drove me to drink and I didn’t even have the decency to thank her. –W. C. Fields
6. Forget your troubles, come on, get happy. –Elysian Fields
7. Our comedies are not to be laughed at. –Samuel Goldwyn
8. Our cold meds are not to be sneezed at. –Dr. Don
9. Elementary, my dear Watson. –Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle)
10. Excelente, my dear Sr. Muse. –Ricardo Cahill (after bribe payment)
Of the above, the following are attributed incorrectly (supposedly):
1. Greeley did write this in an 1865 editorial, but denied originating it, crediting it to John Soule’s authorship in a Terre Haute (Indiana) newspaper in 1851. Nonetheless, the Greeley attribution persists.
3. Actually, this was said by Ronald Reagan in the 1940 film “Knute Rockne – All American.”
6. Forget Ely Fields – this is the opening lyric of “Get Happy” by Harold Arlen & Ted Koehler: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGk3tY4yP7k
7. Like many “Goldwynisms,” origin is suspect. Reported to be an old Hollywood quip pre-dating its attribution to Goldwyn.
9. Never said by Holmes in Doyle’s novels and short stories. Made famous by actor Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes in movies.
How many did you get right?
You got all of them?
Says who?
Don Frankel are discussing. 
The Observation Post 
Don Frankel 6:41 pm on January 17, 2014 Permalink |
Just one more Muse. It is said that General Sherman did not say. “War is all hell.” However upon hearing that he had said it, he made sure he kept saying it, until he said it.
My favorite Yogism is. “Some guys don’t like to swing on an 3 – 0 count because they swing.” I know he said it because I heard him say it.
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mistermuse 8:48 pm on January 17, 2014 Permalink |
Don, if Yogi said even half of what he said, it would still be twice as funny as all of the other half….speaking of which, since my Yogi and Goldwyn quotes post was un-posted on SWI, maybe I’ll do another one here sometime if I can come up with a fresh angle or approach. “It ain’t over till it’s over.”
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Don Frankel 5:55 am on January 18, 2014 Permalink |
Why not post this one on SWI so a few other people like Minnette, Michael, Richard, Kaye and even itsTV or is it VD? guy can get a laugh?
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mistermuse 10:19 am on January 18, 2014 Permalink |
Don, I love ya like my brother (I was tempted to say like my MOTHER, who would keep after me to do something because it was for my own good), but as far as posting again on SWI, you can forgeddaboutit – I can forgive, but I can’t forget Bob Grant’s destruction of 200 of my posts, while not deleting even one of Minnette’s 800+. I know SWI is his site & he can do as he pleases, but if my hard work didn’t warrant more respect (& a more even-handed take) than that, nothing short of an abject apology will change my mind.
As for the people you mention, Richard reads & comments frequently on my posts here; I don’t think Minnette ever was as much of an “appreciater” of my posts as I am of hers; and I’d love to have Michael and Kaye connect with me here, but they know where to find me if they wish (it’s not as if I haven’t pointed out how easy it is on SWI a number of times).
Finally, it would be remiss of me not to thank you and Ricardo (or Richard, for you gringos out there) for continuing to follow my “humble” offerings here. Your continued patronage is warmly appreciated.
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Don Frankel 12:16 pm on January 18, 2014 Permalink |
Forgive me for being a nudge. My social psychological profile is like an Alpha in a Grey Wolf pack. So my instinct is to keep the Pack together. You are an integral part of SWI. The way I see it Bob may own and run the site but like everything else in life, SWI belongs to its ownself. It is what we make of it.
I think you give Bob too much credit or say or sway or importance. One time some woman, I forget who but she didn’t write there much, but she said in a comment that I was trying to make her behave. After I stopped laughing and stopped myself from writing back. Do you want me to make you behave? I just chalked it up to everybody has a right to say whatever or “everybody has to love somebody sometime.”
Sorry about that last one but Dean Martin was singing on my cable TV. I’d close by saying I won’t nag you anymore but I can’t promise that..
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mistermuse 1:19 pm on January 18, 2014 Permalink |
No problem, Don – I don’t have a brother to love you like I said anyway (though I do have a sister, if you don’t mind the gender adjustment). And you can rely on me, if you do “nag” me again, not to say what that woman said in her comment to you; my reply will simply be a youtube clip of Cole Porter’s “Why Can’t You Behave?” from KISS ME KAYE – I mean KATE.
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