# "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you"--origin?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you-origin/205606>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 4, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you-origin/205606 "2003-10-04T21:50:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![BF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5ac83/32.png) [@BF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BF)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you-origin/205606/21 "2003-10-05T15:29:04Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by dtilque \*  
> \*\*Didn’t Colonel Flagg say it on MASH? \*\*

I thought so too.

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**Author:** ![Iacob\_Matthew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Iacob\_Matthew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iacob_Matthew)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-tell-you-but-then-id-have-to-kill-you-origin/205606/22 "2003-10-05T20:21:26Z")

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I’m flashing back to a memory of one of the Summer Roadtrips with my father…

In the middle of a rather boring book on tape…  
Me: “Hey Dad, do you know what Hotdogs are made of?”  
Dad: “Well… Kosher hot dogs are made of pure beef, according to the package.”  
Me: “And the rest?”  
Dad: “I could tell you, but then you’d have to kill yourself.”

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