[Ads-l] quote of the year candidate

[Laurence Horn]

> On Dec 22, 2017, at 1:08 PM, James A. Landau <JJJRLandau at NETSCAPE.COM> wrote:
> 
> Not a strong candidate, I'm afraid.  If anyone be interested, I will contact the person who sent the graphic to me and "try and" find its origin.
> 
> George Washington:  I cannot tell a lie.
> Richard Nixon:  I cannot tell the truth.
> Donald Trump:   I cannot tell the difference.
> 
> graphic is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ATSCC/permalink/1392060604253183/
> 

The original (as far as I know) is Mort Sahl’s line, from 1987 (same year Trump’s ghostwritten _Art of the Deal_ came out):

“Washington couldn’t tell a lie, Nixon couldn't tell the truth, and Reagan couldn’t tell the difference."                                                                
------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org