# Phrases normally associated with people, that they in fact never uttered. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 10, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254 "2007-07-10T20:11:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/1 "2007-07-10T20:11:16Z")
Taking my lead from [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8765282&postcount=9) How many well “known” phrases are people famous for uttering, when in fact they never did? “Play it again, Sam” is a good example for Bogie. ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/2 "2007-07-10T20:21:20Z")
Sherlock Holmes never spoke the exact words “Elementary, my dear Watson” (at least in the stories). ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/3 "2007-07-10T20:23:30Z")
Its universally thought that James Cagney never said “you dirty little rat” in a movie, but rent Taxi (1932), and you will see he did, or came darn close. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/4 "2007-07-10T20:31:03Z")
“Judy, Judy, Judy” - Cary Grant (probably came from the impressionist Frank Gorshin) “Badges, we don’t need no stinkin’ badges” - Gold hat from _Treasure of the Sierra Madre_, it’s said in _Blazing Saddles_ and others, but not the original “Beam me up, Scotty” - Kirk, never said by him in TOS I’d always heard the Cagney line as “You dirty rat”, no “little”. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/5 "2007-07-10T20:48:08Z")
[Yogi Berra](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yogi_Berra) ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/6 "2007-07-10T20:49:12Z")
John Lennon never said “You’ve got a lucky face.” He had a bad hangover and was having hair of the dog, and he mumbled something like “Thank you very much” into the mic and then wobbled back to his chair. It was misheard by everyone, and reproduced as something entirely different. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/7 "2007-07-10T20:57:24Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] I’d always heard the Cagney line as “You dirty rat”, no “little”. [/QUOTE] I think it’s something like “dirty yellow-bellied rat.” The term “rat” does come up at least one other time in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/8 "2007-07-10T21:01:42Z")
Clint Eastwood didn’t exactly say, “Do you feel lucky, punk?” in Dirty Harry. The exact line was “you’ve got to ask yourself a question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/9 "2007-07-10T21:01:43Z")
In the entire run of **Cosmos** , Carl Sagan never said “billions and billions.” ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/10 "2007-07-10T21:07:41Z")
The greatest minds the SDMB can field have tried valiently to tie “This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown aside with great force.” to Dorothy Parker’s tail, to no avail. [One attempt](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=147953) [Follow-up](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=170984) Apropos of nothing, the search for these threads using “Dorothy Parker” as the search string turned up [many entertaining threads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=2680712), most of which made me pine mightily for **Eve**. Come back, Eve! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/11 "2007-07-10T21:13:53Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] “Badges, we don’t need no stinkin’ badges” - Gold hat from _Treasure of the Sierra Madre_, it’s said in _Blazing Saddles_ and others, but not the original [/QUOTE] Close, though – the _bandidos_ posing as a _federales_ responded to Bogie’s challenge with, “We don’t got to show you no stinking badges!” See [this book](http://www.amazon.com/They-Never-Said-Misleading-Attributions/dp/0195055411) for a compendium of misquotes and misattributions. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/12 "2007-07-10T21:36:29Z")
[QUOTE=Earl Snake-Hips Tucker] I think it’s something like “dirty yellow-bellied rat.” The term “rat” does come up at least one other time in the movie. [/QUOTE] This is closer to what I meant. Its in the scene where two taxis box Cagney in and he gets out to give them a beating- for all those who have a copy handy 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/13 "2007-07-10T21:55:02Z")
I once saw a documentary (hosted by Michael J. Fox) on the life and career of James Cagney. There’s a clip from an appearance Cagney made late in life at some sort of awards ceremony. He told the audience, “For the record, I never said, ‘You dirty rat!’ [laughter and applause] But I **did** say, ‘Judy-Judy-Judy!’ [more l&a]” That same documentary flatly asserts that when Cagney was departing from his appearance before HUAC, he said to one of his people, "We are going to make the most patriotic movie **ever!"** And the result was [_Yankee Doodle Dandy_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee_doodle_dandy) – but the Wiki article say that’s a myth, “or at least a stretching of the truth.” The article on [Cagney](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cagney) mentions no HUAC testimony, saying of Cagney’s politics only: > [@](#): > > Although he said he was never further to the political left than “a strong FDR Democrat,” Cagney lost the role of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne in Knute Rockne, All American to his friend Pat O’Brien because Cagney had signed a petition in support of the anti-clerical Spanish Republican government in the then-ongoing Spanish Civil War.[citation needed] The Notre Dame administration, which controlled all aspects of the filming, denied Cagney the role.[citation needed] This was a major career disappointment for Cagney, who had hoped that playing the football legend would help break him out of gangster roles. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/14 "2007-07-10T22:02:19Z")
I see this mostly involves movie stars, but the first thing I thought of was Marie Antoinette and her infamous cake. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/15 "2007-07-10T22:22:17Z")
Samuel Goldwyn probably said very few of the [Goldwynisms](http://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/goldwynisms_kanin.htm) attributed to him. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/16 "2007-07-10T23:00:34Z")
Mark Twain never said, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco” although it’s a clever line. Edited to add that I found a page of such misattributed quotes on Snopes [here](http://www.snopes.com/quotes/quotes.asp). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/17 "2007-07-10T23:24:38Z")
“I don’t think we’re in Kansas any more” is the commonly cited though incorrect version of Judy Garland’s line “I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/18 "2007-07-10T23:28:29Z")
W.C. Fields (who left his estate to endow an orphanage) never said, “Anyone who hates dogs and small children can’t be all bad.” Nor does his tombstone read, “On the whole, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/19 "2007-07-10T23:36:06Z")
“The only thing blacks can do for me is buy my records and shine my shoes.” –attributed to Elvis Presley [but Snopes says false.](http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/presley1.asp) A black man angry at an Elvis-loving Steve Buscemi in the movie _Coffee and Cigarettes_ similarly misattributes the quote. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254/20 "2007-07-10T23:44:01Z")
Ava Gardner and her [“infamous” remark](http://150.theage.com.au/view_bestofarticle.asp?straction=update&inttype=1&intid=659) about Melbourne when she was shooting the film _On the Beach_ there in 1959. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-normally-associated-with-people-that-they-in-fact-never-uttered/411254.md?page=2)