# William Pitt quote "Can he speak nonsense?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 28, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-pitt-quote-can-he-speak-nonsense/758651 "2016-06-28T22:17:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-pitt-quote-can-he-speak-nonsense/758651/1 "2016-06-28T22:17:42Z")
There is a somewhat famous quote by William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham: “Don’t talk to me about a man’s being able to talk sense; everyone can talk sense – can he talk nonsense?” Does anyone know what the context of this remark? Was he a leader of some sort choosing his assistants? Exactly what did he mean by “talk nonsense”, joke around? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-pitt-quote-can-he-speak-nonsense/758651/2 "2016-06-28T22:27:49Z")
There’s a quote often attributed to David “Davy” Crockett while in Congress, though I’ve also seen it attributed to George Hearst while in Congress and to humorist Josh Billings (etymology of “you’re joshing me”) while describing Congress: “That don’t make good sense. It don’t even make good nonsense.” All of these attributions may be apocryphal, but I’m wondering if the joke might be borne of this statement. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-pitt-quote-can-he-speak-nonsense/758651/3 "2016-06-29T00:46:09Z")
I know that I can speak in proper scientific jargon (that is, talking sense), but I have a difficult time coming up with technobabble that sounds right (that is, talking nonsense). That’s what I picture the quote as referring to. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-pitt-quote-can-he-speak-nonsense/758651/4 "2016-06-29T00:58:56Z")
_'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves_ ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-pitt-quote-can-he-speak-nonsense/758651/5 "2016-06-29T02:15:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I know that I can speak in proper scientific jargon (that is, talking sense), but I have a difficult time coming up with technobabble that sounds right (that is, talking nonsense). That’s what I picture the quote as referring to. This confuzzles me. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-pitt-quote-can-he-speak-nonsense/758651/6 "2016-06-29T03:46:43Z")
OK, watch any episode of _Star Trek_, where they’re talking about some technical issue. They’ll say a bunch of impressive-sounding multisyllable words. Those words don’t actually make any sense, but they make for good TV. They are, in that sense, good nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-pitt-quote-can-he-speak-nonsense/758651/7 "2016-06-29T08:40:47Z")
If this were a genuine quote by Pitt it would be simple to find it referenced on the net and sourced historically. Instead the only sites which mention it are the countless quote sites. This is usually a reliable indicator that it’s completely bogus. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-pitt-quote-can-he-speak-nonsense/758651/8 "2016-06-29T12:30:33Z")
I seem to recall that this one was attributed to Nils Bohr, reviewing another physicist’s paper: _“This isn’t right. It isn’t even wrong.”_ ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-pitt-quote-can-he-speak-nonsense/758651/9 "2016-06-29T12:37:59Z")
C’mon **Chronos** , lay on us some of that techno-babble … ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-pitt-quote-can-he-speak-nonsense/758651/10 "2016-06-29T14:23:02Z")
Here’s the earliest reference to the quote I can find, 1861, and unsourced. > **[The National Review](https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Ae4RAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA202&dq=pitt%2B%22talk%2Bnonsense%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiqmuutps3NAhXJuBQKHcxBDkYQuwUINTAE#v=onepage&q=%22can%20he%20talk%20nonsense%22&f=false)** ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-pitt-quote-can-he-speak-nonsense/758651/11 "2016-06-29T15:07:31Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I seem to recall that this one was attributed to Nils Bohr, reviewing another physicist’s paper: _“This isn’t right. It isn’t even wrong.”_ Well, [Pauli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_even_wrong). And only maybe. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-pitt-quote-can-he-speak-nonsense/758651/12 "2016-07-01T20:37:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, watch any episode of _Star Trek_, where they’re talking about some technical issue. They’ll say a bunch of impressive-sounding multisyllable words. Those words don’t actually make any sense, but they make for good TV. They are, in that sense, good nonsense. _Rather_ good nonsense, as it usually makes at least superficial sense–the words you hear sound like the words that would fit. You usually have to actually know the science to pick it out. And it actually makes pretty good sense if you construct a fictional science around it. As in, they try to obey Magic A is Magic A. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-pitt-quote-can-he-speak-nonsense/758651/13 "2016-07-01T23:03:43Z")
What’s that YouTube of a scientific demonstration to end all scientific demonstrations, performed by the universally recognized (in America) voice of technical documentary? From the 60s, I think. I’m pretty sure **Chronos** brought it up once. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-pitt-quote-can-he-speak-nonsense/758651/14 "2016-07-02T03:06:07Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > What’s that YouTube of a scientific demonstration to end all scientific demonstrations, performed by the universally recognized (in America) voice of technical documentary? From the 60s, I think. > > I’m pretty sure **Chronos** brought it up once. Are you thinking of the [Turbo-encabulator](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLDgQg6bq7o)? ETA: [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turboencabulator)