Welcome to the World of Repartee

I've been interested in comebacks and retorts for more than forty years. I'm not absolutely certain, but the first great repartee story I recall hearing came when I was an undergraduate at the University of North Dakota in the 1960s. Told by one of my psychology professors, it was the classic tale about Winston Churchill and Lady Astor. Nancy Astor, you will recall, was an American socialite who married a wealthy Englishman, and then used her marriage as a springboard into the top tier of English society (she holds the distinction of being the first woman to take a seat in Parliament). At a 1912 dinner party, Lady Astor became annoyed at an inebriated Churchill, who was pontificating on some topic. Reaching the end of her patience, she blurted out, "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd put poison in your coffee." Churchill famously replied:

"Nancy, if you were my wife, I'd drink it."

Stories about swift and witty replies have been told for many centuries, and some wonderful stories go way back into antiquity. One of my favorites was told by the Greek writer Plutarch in Parallel Lives, a book he wrote in the first century A.D. One charming story involved a Greek nobleman named Antigonus. One day, after learning that his adult son Demetrius was ill, Antigonus decided to pay a home visit. Arriving at the front door of his son's house, the concerned father ran head-on into a beautiful young woman, who brushed quickly by as she was leaving. Slightly puzzled, Antigonus went straight to his son's bedroom. As he placed his hand on his son's forehead, he asked, "How are you feeling?" The son looked up weakly and said in a soft voice, "The fever has just left me, I think." Antigonus replied knowingly:

"Yes, I know. I met it going out the door."

Happily, clever replies are not a thing of the past. Indeed, clever new examples are being documented every day—some of them coming from the most famous names of our time. A few years ago, Jennifer Lopez was asked what she got on her SATs. She cleverly dodged the question and earned the admiration of all within earshot when she answered:

"Nail polish."

These anecdotes are perfect examples of repartee, which the Oxford English Dictionary defines this way:

1. A ready, witty, or smart reply; a quick and clever retort.
2. Sharpness or wit in sudden reply; such replies collectively;
   the practice or faculty of uttering them.

We'll talk more about the word in key terms and concepts, but the word originally comes from a French fencing term meaning "an answering blow or thrust."

Repartee stories pay homage to those rare individuals who, often under duress, are able to keep their heads and deliver a swift and witty reply. Most of us admire wit under pressure because we don't fare nearly so well in such pressure-filled situations. Many of us stammer or get tongue-tied and, if we do think of a clever response, it comes to mind long after the moment it was needed. This phenomenon, called "staircase wit," comes from the French expression esprit de l'escalier, and is examined in more detail in the key terms section.

The word repartee often conjures up an interaction marked by the quick exchange of clever remarks. And when it comes to repartee, nobody did it better than the members of that legendary collection of wits known as The Algonquin Round Table (a chapter of my book is devoted to "Algonquin Round Table Wit"). For many decades, a delightful story has been told about one member of the group, the playwright Marc Connelly. One evening, Connelly was dining with friends when another member of the group snuck up from behind, placed his hands on top of Connelly's bald head, and said to the amusement of the other guests, "Marc, your head feels as smooth as my wife's ass." Connelly raised his hands to his head, began rubbing his own scalp, and with a wry smile, said:

"So it does, so it does."

I've been a word and language lover most of my life and have been an avid quotation collector for over forty years. Just as some people collect coins or stamps or butterflies, I collect quotations. I estimate that I have well over a hundred thousand quotations in my personal collection, organized into many different categories (about 5,000 quotes fall into the repartee category). You can find over 600 of the best replies in my Viva la Repartee book. You will find many more in the pages of this site.

Learn More About Repartee

You can choose to go anywhere from here, but a logical next place to go might be key terms and concepts. There I define and discuss key terms, like repartee, retort, riposte, and rejoinder. Our discussion of these terms will take us to related concepts, like ad-lib, badinage, banter, bon mot, off-the-cuff, persiflage, quip, raillery, and staircase wit.

In blurbs and reviews, I'll present some of the things my fellow verbivores have said about the book, as well as some of the reviews that have appeared in the media.

In history's greatest repartee, you will find a sampling of the greatest replies in world history, from such diverse fields as politics, sports, stage & screen, and literature. I'll also sample the very best comebacks from such legendary wits as Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, Groucho Marx, Oscar Wilde, and Mae West.

In real life repartee, you will find examples of inspired repartee submitted by subscribers to Dr. Mardy's Quotes of the Week, a weekly e-newsletter I send out every Sunday morning to many thousands of people all around the world. Here you will discover that truly extraordinary replies can sometimes come from ordinary people like you and me.

In repartee research group, I formally acknowledge the help of many people who provided me with new examples of repartee during my research on the book. If you are a member of this distinguished group, your name will appear here. And if you provide me with new examples of repartee in the future, your name will be posted in the future.

In about Dr. Mardy Grothe, you get a chance to find out more about me and I get a chance to engage in a bit of shameless self-promotion.

In About the Book, I'll tell you about my Viva la Repartee book, provide an inside glimpse into the Table of Contents, and provide you with online ordering information.

Welcome to the world of repartee!