Churchill & Mrs. Astor repartee--in 1902!

[Jonathan Lighter]

In the version I remember, from a kids' book of baseball anecdotes in 1957, the actors were an irate lady fan and a put-upon umpire.

JL

Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Bapopik at AOL.COM
Subject: Churchill & Mrs. Astor repartee--in 1902!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>From the OXFORD DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS (6th edition, 2004), pg. 222:
...
NANCY ASTOR: If I were your wife I would put poison in your coffee!
CHURCHILL: And if I were your husband I would drink it.
Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan _Glitter and Gold_ (1952)
...
Oxford surely checked and checked again. Does Fred have this?
...
...
(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
...
_IN NEW PLAYS_
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=101222024&SrchMode=1&sid=14&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1106554110&clientId
=65882)
Where the Laughs Come. By "A.K.". New York Times (1857-Current file). New
York, N.Y.: Sep 28, 1902. p. 27 (1 page)
...
These lines are saved from "Captain Molly," in which Elizabeth Tyree
appeared at the Manhattan:
...
Bunner--If I were your husband I'd give you poison.
Molly--If I were your wife I'd take it.
..
...
_HERE IN WASHINGTON_
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=1&did=260085892&SrchMode=1&sid=15&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1106554533&cl
ientId=65882)
The Washington Post (1877-1954). Washington, D.C.: Sep 30, 1906. p. ES4 (1
page)
...
"Mr. Blank, if I were your wife, I'd give you a cup of poison."
"Madam," he responded, without a smile. "If you were my wife, I'd be glad to
drink it."
...
...
...
...
I couldn't find this in the OXFORD DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS. I suppose Fred
has it from 1951 on ProQuest.
...
23 January 2005, NEW YORK POST, pg. 41, col. 1:
"IN wartime," said Winston Churchill, "truth is so precious that she should
wlways be attended by a bodyguard of lies."


---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
 Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses.