When insults had class

Player

Player

When Insults Had Class​


These glorious insults are from an era before the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words.

The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor:
She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison."
He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease."

"That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." Clarence Darrow

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." - Oscar Wilde

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston ChurchillChurchill, in response - "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second.... if there is one."

"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop

"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb

"He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson

"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating

"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand

"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker

"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts -- for support rather than illumination. " - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx

:p
 
When words actually meant something...and were carefully chosen and thought out before they left your lips.

It is one of the greatest reasons I love to watch period classics like Emma, Wuthering Heights, Little Woman and at the movies on Sunday: Jane Eyre.

Words ARE literal and actually mean something. There was such a thing as manners and when you did have a problem with someone, the words you used had such strength that they were more "cutting" than the base way we curse nowadays.

Regards JO
 
Player said:
The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor:
She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison."
He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it.''
Click to expand...

love Churchill. So clever - and nasty :D. I don't think he and Lady Astor got on at all. Here's my all time favourite from him, to her:
Lady Astor: "Mr. Churchill, you're drunk!"
Winston Churchill: "Yes, and you, Madam, are ugly. But tomorrow, I
shall be sober."
 
josko said:
When words actually meant something...and were carefully chosen and thought out before they left your lips.
Click to expand...
I went to boarding college for a year and then spent a few in the services while single so "language" is nothing to me, but I am shocked how easily it rolls of the tongues of babes today.

By comparison my father went to war, survived the depression and was a keen sportsman, especially if there was a social side but he never swore.

Years ago some diggers were invited to the premiere of a movie on the Kokoda Track, when asked about it they replied: But we didn't swear like that! It would be nice if we treated our language with respect still.
 
I am also amazed how profanity has been normalized in the last 20 years.
Obviously progressive media have played their role against stodgy conservative values.

When I hear young groups of kids letting it out without a hint of concern, in front of young families, I can only wonder what world the parents of such grubs are from.
 
StefanA said:
I am also amazed how profanity has been normalized in the last 20 years.
Obviously progressive media have played their role against stodgy conservative values.

When I hear young groups of kids letting it out without a hint of concern, in front of young families, I can only wonder what world the parents of such grubs are from.
Click to expand...

A lot of them, beleive it or not are from good normal families.

Even us older adults, on this page, we've all referred to times before OUR OWN generations as examples fo the way "it should be"

I'm amazed how often all I hear is scarcasm, personal insults and over the top swearing I hear between colleagues on our floor fo sales people - nothing to do with generation Y here folks... you're a lose loser.. fkin loser.. I'm only joking.... loser.
 
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Thanks a heap, Player. They made my day!

I'd personally be lost without Somersoft, were it not for the likes of StefanA pointing the way out of the wilderness.
 
I have a friend who will let you know how bad his experience was by saying the following, "It was so good I went there twice in the same day... the first and last time".
 
This one from Player seems particularly appropriate for some of the discussions about housing stats on this forum.. not saying who's right or wrong.. LOL, thanks for sharing

""He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
 
I read a great one today

"Do not be distracted by criticism. Sometimes the only success others will taste is when they take a bite out of someone successful."
 
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Belbo said:
I'd personally be lost without Somersoft, were it not for the likes of StefanA pointing the way out of the wilderness.
Click to expand...

obviously this is your first exposure to Churchill's wit.....My goodness, what a wilderness it must have been. hope you didn't leave your kids behind for someone else to sort out. that's if you have kids, though so many don't seem able to handle the stress and commitment of kids....poor confused dears. :D
 
you lot would love this one

“If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no brain.”

-churchill

clearly he had no idea :p
 
A few others of Winston's quotes (that are particularly relevant re Carbon Tax etc):

We contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.

There is no such thing as a good tax.
 
Propertunity said:
A few others of Winston's quotes (that are particularly relevant re Carbon Tax etc):

We contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.

There is no such thing as a good tax.
Click to expand...

what about the GST?
 
I'd rather the GST had been implemented as it was supposed to be done ... getting rid of, and replacing, every other unseeable tax such as various combinations of sales tax etc.
 
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