History News Network Ralph Keyes Our national conversation is filled with historical allusions: Ponzi schemes, smoke-filled rooms, talking turkey, even Harry and Louise (to say nothing of Thelma and Louise). Those who know the history of these allusions tend to assume everyone else does. But everyone doesn’t. Younger inquiring minds want to know: Who was …
Library Journal
By Mirela Roncevic Who is credited for saying “You are what you eat?” Karl Marx? According to this amusing A-to-Z compendium of famous sayings, it was actually philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach who in 1850 said “Man is what he eats,” but it was French politician Anthelme Brillat-Savarin who a whole quarter century earlier wrote “Tell me …
Editor & Publisher
In mid-April Editor & Publisher – the leading trade publication for journalists – ran an op-ed about retroterms used by journalists. This ignited a firestorm of response, pro, con, and somewhere in between. Here is the op-ed itself, followed by responses on and offline.
Author Digs for Phrases that Linger
Columbus Dispatch, March 29. 2009
Sher-endipity
Sher-endipity Many expressions we use as adults originated in the playgrounds, classrooms, and empty lots of our childhood. “Say uncle,” “connect the dots,” “stay within the lines,” and “stuck-up” are just a few. The term hoodwink is left over from another children’s game, blindman’s buff (not “bluff”). In this traditional English game, the it person …
Saturday Evening Post
“Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!” “History is bunk.” “We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.” Almost every American knows these famous quotations and who said them. Or do we? That’s the big question Ralph Keyes addresses in his new book, The Quote Verifier. “Discovering who actually said what, …