Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
Not really a joke, but surely one of the great historical put-downs! The following is adapted and edited for this thread from a quote from T. S. Matthews' Great Tom (1973), which I found in The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations edited by Elizabeth Knowles:
The American actress Jean Harlow (1911 – 1937) once mispronounced the first name of British political hostess and wife of Herbert Asquith, Margot Asquith (1864-1945). As Margot explained to the actress, "The t is silent — as in Harlow."
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I think that my favourite historical put-down comes from an interchange between Lady Nancy Astor and Winston Churchill (two of the UK's most famous politicians) during an argument:
Lady Nancy Astor: "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea."
Churchill: "Nancy, if I were your husband, I'd drink it.”