"Well he would, wouldn't he?" is an aphorism that is commonly used as a retort to a self-interested denial. It was said by the model Mandy Rice- Davies (pictured) while giving evidence at the 1963 trial of Stephen Ward, who had been accused of living off money paid to Rice-Davies and her friend Christine Keeler for sex: part of the larger Profumo affair. While being cross-examined Rice-Davies was told that Lord Astor, who owned the Cliveden estate on which Ward rented a cottage, had denied an affair with her; she replied: "Well he would, wouldn't he?" Political, communications and psychological experts have interpreted it as a phrase which indicates the speaker believes a person is making a self- interested, obvious or irrelevant denial. They have also stated it functions as a retort to mistruths made by public figures. Linguistically, it has been noted for its use of the modal verb would to create rhetorical effect. The phrase has been included in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations since 1979.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well_he_would,_wouldn%27t_he%3F> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1904: In the worst maritime disaster involving a Danish merchant ship, SS Norge ran aground on Hasselwood Rock and sank in the North Atlantic, resulting in more than 635 deaths. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Norge> 1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a Yugoslav nationalist, sparking the outbreak of World War I. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavrilo_Princip> 1969: In response to a police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, groups of gay and transgender people began demonstrations, a watershed event for the worldwide gay rights movement. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots> 1989: President Slobodan Milošević gave a speech at Gazimestan in which he described the possibility of "armed battles" in the future of Serbia's national development. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gazimestan_speech> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: bisexual lighting: (LGBT, often art, film, television) The simultaneous use of pink, purple, and blue lighting, often to indicate bisexuality. <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bisexual_lighting> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: The red rose whispers of passion, And the white rose breathes of love;O, the red rose is a falcon,And the white rose is a dove.But I send you a cream-white rosebudWith a flush on its petal tips,For the love that is purest and sweetestHas a kiss of desire on the lips. --John Boyle O'Reilly <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Boyle_O%27Reilly> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe write to: [email protected] Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
