In 1892, Oscar Wilde was near the peak of his fame. He had already gained international renown as a poet, essayist and wit. His novel The Picture of Dorian Gray…
Author: Robert Deis
The dark origins of the terms “the Dismal Science” and “Professors of the Dismal Science”…
“The Dismal Science” is an old but still commonly-used nickname for the realm of economics. “Professors of the Dismal Science” is an old but still used nickname for economists. Both…
“I love it when a plan comes together.”
You may or may not be a fan of the ‘80s TV series The A-Team, but you probably know the famous catchphrase from the show: “I love it when…
“I’m mad as hell” — the misquote of a movie line that is itself a misquote!
During almost every recent election season, political commentators seem to talk about “angry voters” of one kind or another. These disgruntled voters are usually said to be angry about certain…
Two famous quotes launched by Captain John Paul Jones…
The quotation most people associate with American Navy Captain John Paul Jones is “I have not yet begun to fight.” According to legend, Jones said that defiant line during a…
Spiro Agnew vs. the “effete intellectuals” and “nattering nabobs”…
Nowadays, Conservative provocateurs like Donald Trump, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter get lots of media attention for coming up with snarky, quotable insults aimed at Liberals. But the way was…
“Say it ain’t so, Joe!”
One of the most famous quotes in sports history is linked to the date September 28, 1920. On that day, “Shoeless Joe” Jackson supposedly admitted during testimony to a grand…
Hanging … It concentrates the mind wonderfully.
Many of the famed witticisms uttered by British writer, lexicographer and wit Samuel Johnson were recorded for posterity in a journal kept by his admirer and friend James Boswell. Boswell…
“Our long national nightmare is over.”
In August of 1974, faced with Congressional hearings, a mountain of bad press and the looming threat of impeachment over the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon became the first president in…
“Kill them all and let God sort them out.”
In 1209, Pope Innocent III decided it was time to crack down on followers of a religious sect that had become popular in Southern France. Originally called Albigensians, they came…