Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.
| NUMBER: | 2004 |
| AUTHOR: | False story by George Thayer |
| QUOTATION: | Lady Nancy Astor:If I were your wife I’d put poison in your coffee. Winston Churchill:If I were your husband I’d drink it. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Exchange described as a false story by George Thayer in a review of a book about Churchill.—The Washington Post, April 27, 1971, p. B6. Thayer spent a year as research assistant to Randolph Churchill on the biography of his father, Sir Winston Churchill. Another story Thayer declared false has Lady Astor reproaching Churchill, “Winston, you are drunk,” to which he replied, “Indeed, Madam, and you are ugly—but tomorrow I’ll be sober.” |
| SUBJECTS: | Wives |