I'm as pure as the driven slush. (Tallulah Bankhead 1941)

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Sun Sep 22 22:45:53 UTC 2013


Great thanks to George Thompson who provided me with some fun
citations for the expression "pure as the driven slush" off-list.

The QI website now has an entry:

I’m as Pure as the Driven Slush
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/09/20/driven-slush/

Garson


On Wed, Aug 14, 2013 at 3:05 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> Several references have entries for the quotation listed in the
> subject line, e.g., Cassell's Humorous Quotations (2001), Yale Book of
> Quotations (2006), Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations (2008). A
> citation in 1947 is given.
>
> Below is a 1941 citation in which Walter Winchell presented the
> quotation and asserted that Tallulah Bankhead employed it "a dozen
> seasons ago".
>
> [ref] 1941 September 3, Tucson Daily Citizen, Walter Winchell On
> Broadway, Quote Page 4, Column 2, Tucson, Arizona.
> (NewspaperArchive)[/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Tallulah, however, is still indifferent to what others think and say
> of her. As indifferent as she was a dozen seasons ago when a prudish
> interviewer asked: "Would you call yourself a pure woman?" "Yes," said
> Bankhead, "I'm as pure as the driven slush."
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson

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