# First example of "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 8, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-example-of-i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you/367923 "2006-08-08T21:43:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-example-of-i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you/367923/1 "2006-08-08T21:43:44Z")
A wide-eyed neophyte asks a seasoned spy/soldier/bureaucrat a question about something secret, and this is the hackneyed response. But who said it first, in what movie, TV show, book, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-example-of-i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you/367923/2 "2006-08-08T22:26:18Z")
Tom Cruise said it Top Gun so someone has to beat 1986 now. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-example-of-i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you/367923/3 "2006-08-08T22:29:17Z")
Well, I _could_ tell you… ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-example-of-i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you/367923/4 "2006-08-08T22:29:38Z")
There are posts online linking to Dr. No and the MASH TV series, but no cites. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-example-of-i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you/367923/5 "2006-08-08T22:33:19Z")
IMDB brings up a couple more movie results in a search of their quotes database but both were released after Top Gun. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-example-of-i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you/367923/6 "2006-08-08T22:50:13Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > There are posts online linking to Dr. No and the MASH TV series, but no cites. It’s a perfect line for the Col. Flagg character from MASH, it wouldn’t surprise me if it were written for him. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-example-of-i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you/367923/7 "2006-08-09T06:01:54Z")
I don’t have an exact date, but I clearly remember hearing Jan-Michael Vincent say that line in the TV pilot of “Airwolf.” I think it was in 1984, but I am positive it was before “Top Gun.” So, moved only a couple of years back, but that’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-example-of-i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you/367923/8 "2006-08-09T06:59:57Z")
It’s a standard \*\*magician’s \*\* line. Probably rooted in the unwritten rule of magicians not telling anyone outside of the craft their secrets. **Spectator:** Wow! How did you do that? **Magician:** I could tell you. But then I’d have to kill you. **Spectator** : Okay, then just tell my wife. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-example-of-i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you/367923/9 "2006-08-09T13:58:25Z")
I also believe it was Colonel Flagg on M_A_S\*H. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-example-of-i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you/367923/10 "2006-08-09T15:44:27Z")
I think it was the same movie that had the line, “That’s the beauty of it–It doesn’t DO anything.” ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-example-of-i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you/367923/11 "2006-08-09T16:05:46Z")
I could kill you, but I’d have to tell you. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-example-of-i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you/367923/12 "2006-08-09T17:37:05Z")
Why are the Google ads in this thread about drug detox and “dope” ringtones? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-example-of-i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you/367923/13 "2006-08-09T18:40:28Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > I also believe it was Colonel Flagg on M_A_S\*H. I can’t find that quote from him anywhere. The closest I can find is, “I can kill you with one finger.” ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-example-of-i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you/367923/14 "2006-08-10T18:24:26Z")
I do know that it was pre-Top Gun. I got mad that he was getting such mileage out of something that had been used quite frequently previous to that. Don’t know where, tho. hh