# Who asked, "have you stopped beating you wife"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-asked-have-you-stopped-beating-you-wife/261053 "2004-08-23T05:19:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mic84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@mic84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mic84)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-asked-have-you-stopped-beating-you-wife/261053/1 "2004-08-23T05:19:15Z")
I mean, who asked it first? Is it possible to at least date the question somehow? ---
**Author:** ![cedric45](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@cedric45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cedric45)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-asked-have-you-stopped-beating-you-wife/261053/2 "2004-08-23T11:24:01Z")
WAG… Henny Youngman? > [@mic84](#): > > I mean, who asked it first? Is it possible to at least date the question somehow? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-asked-have-you-stopped-beating-you-wife/261053/3 "2004-08-23T12:24:15Z")
I heard it in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. The one where he’s supposed to be Groucho Marx. That would put it in the 50’s sometime. ---
**Author:** ![Hemlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Hemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hemlock)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-asked-have-you-stopped-beating-you-wife/261053/4 "2004-08-23T12:29:00Z")
No-one ever asked it. Someone used it as an example of a supremely loaded question. The question presupposes that you have beaten your wife. Ask someone (eg a politician running for office) such a loaded question, and then you can write a story in the newspaper along the lines of “Candidate denies beating wife”. Next thing, everyone thinks he did. Mud-Slinging 101. ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-asked-have-you-stopped-beating-you-wife/261053/5 "2004-08-23T14:23:52Z")
> [@Hemlock](#): > > Ask someone (eg a politician running for office) such a loaded question, and then you can write a story in the newspaper along the lines of “Candidate denies beating wife”. Next thing, everyone thinks he did. Mud-Slinging 101. Not quite … “Candidate denies he has stopped beating his wife” or “Candidate confirms he has stopped beating his wife”. Either way, he has admitted beating his wife … ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-asked-have-you-stopped-beating-you-wife/261053/6 "2004-08-24T02:12:41Z")
The question is found in print in US papers as early as 1901. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-asked-have-you-stopped-beating-you-wife/261053/7 "2004-08-24T05:51:24Z")
I believe that the asking of an unanswerable question (in that either answer you give makes you look bad) was discussed in ancient Greek dialogs. From either Plato or Aristotle, I think. So it’s considerably older than either Henny Youngman or Bugs Bunny. ---
**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 24, 2004, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-asked-have-you-stopped-beating-you-wife/261053/8 "2004-08-24T06:19:12Z")
Beat my wife…Please. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-asked-have-you-stopped-beating-you-wife/261053/9 "2004-08-25T00:50:10Z")
I credit and quote rjung for the following. I asked a similar question in another thread, and here was his/her answer. “Do you still beat your wife?” “Mu.” (Japanese Buddhist term meaning, “Your question cannot be answered because it is based on false assumptions.” Handy term to keep in your back pocket.) * * *