[Ads-l] Quote: Sir your letter is before me, and it will presently be behind me. Attributed to Lord Sandwich

[Marc Sacks]

It may go back that far, but I've always heard it attributed to Max Reger.
There's an entire book, "Der heiterer Reger," devoted to Reger witticisms.

My favorite: A policeman encountered a drunken Reger urinating against a
wall and said, "I'm sorry, sir, I'll have to fine you five marks."

Reger handed him a ten-mark note and said, "Here. You can do it too." (I'm
probably not quoting exactly; I read this many years ago, and my German was
never all that good.)

On Mon, Oct 1, 2018 at 2:18 AM Geoffrey Nathan <geoffnathan at wayne.edu>
wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Geoffrey Nathan <geoffnathan at WAYNE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Quote: Sir your letter is before me, and it will
> presently be
>               behind me. Attributed to Lord Sandwich
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I share Mark=92s memory of this story, and vaguely recall
>
> that it was a reply to a music critic, and the speaker was either
>
> Beethoven or Schubert.
>
>
>
> Geoff
>
>
>
> Geoffrey S. Nathan
>
> Professor Emeritus and Retired Chief Privacy Officer
>
> Wayne State University
>
> Detroit, Michigan
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Mark
> M=
> andel <mark.a.mandel at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2018 7:47:54 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Quote: Sir your letter is before me, and it will presently be
> =
> behind me. Attributed to Lord Sandwich
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> ----
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Mark Mandel <mark.a.mandel at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Quote: Sir your letter is before me, and it will
> presentl=
> y be
>               behind me. Attributed to Lord Sandwich
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ----
>
> I recall seeing that letter prefaced by the words "I am sitting in the
> smallest room of my house." It was long ago and I don't remember the
> reference or the attribution.
>
> Mark Mandel
>
> On Wed, Sep 26, 2018, 2:23 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com
> >
> wrote:
>
> > A rare book dealer asked me to explore the scatological quip in the
> > subject line. The Yale Books of Quotations, Cassell's Humorous
> > Quotations, and many other references contain instances this remark.
> >
> > In 2008 Fred Shapiro presented an attribution to the Earl of Sandwich
> > in an 1843 citation.
> >
> > https://yalealumnimagazine.com/articles/2043-you-can-quote-them
> >
> > Here is an attribution to the Earl of Sandwich within an 1815 memoir.
> > The year specified in the memoir is 1786.
> >
> > Year: 1815
> > Title: Historical Memoirs of My Own Time: Part the Second from 1781 to
> 17=
> 84
> > Author: Sir N. William Wraxall.
> > Section: 1781 (Yet, context specifies 1786)
> >
> >
> https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=3Duc1.b4010789;view=3D1up;seq=3D54=
> 8
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > How laconically, yet forcibly he could write, with what Conciseness
> > and Severity blended, he exhibited in his memorable Note to Mr. Eden,
> > afterwards created Lord Auckland. That Gentleman, when he quitted his
> > political Friends in 1786, in order to join Mr. Pitt, who sent him
> > over to Paris, for the purpose of negociating the Commercial Treaty;
> > addressed a circular Letter to them, endeavouring to explain and to
> > justify his Line of Conduct. Lord Sandwich, in answer to the Letter
> > that he received on the Occasion, instantly wrote back these Words.
> > "Sir your letter is before me, and it will presently be behind me. I
> > remain, Sir, your most humble Servant."
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson O'Toole
> >
>
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