Talk:Boris Johnson

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Unsourced

• I thought it was a 50-50 ball.
  • On a rough tackle on a German player during the England vs Germany legends match.

• She's a method columnist, isn't she. She believes it while she's writing it. It's fantastic!
  • On Room 101, talking about Lynda Lee-Potter.

• I'm making absolutely no comment...and no, I did not.
  • When asked if he intentionally misled Michael Howard, leader of the Conservative Party.

• Ken [Livingstone] doesn't think he's got anything to say sorry for and if that's really his feeling, then I think that he should stick to his guns.

• I think they get a fair squeeze of the sauce bottle.
  • Questioned by Michael Crick on his dedication to his political career and the Conservative Party, 2005.

• Will I throw my hat into the ring? It depends on what kind of ring it is and what kind of hat I have in my hand.
  • When asked by the Oxford Mail if he will stand for leader of the Conservative Party.

• I'm kicking off my diet with cheeseburger — whatever Jamie Oliver says McDonalds are incredibly nutritious and, as far as I can tell, crammed full of vital nutrients and rigid with goodness.
  • While campaigning at McDonalds in Botley, Oxford, May 2005.

• Ian [Hislop] keeps telling me to sack him. It puts me in an impossible position.
  • On Taki, a contentious columnist in the Spectator

• I’d want to get Blair and really interrogate the guy. I’d really want to pin him up against a palm tree and slap him around and get the truth out of him about a few things we need a bit of elucidation.

• "I could not fail to disagree with you less." This quote is not original to Boris Johnson. I first heard this quote in 1987, attributed to Eisenhower, which I now believe to be incorrect. Later I found some attribution, since demoted to the bottom of search engines, to some member of the US House of Representatives, I think during Eisenhower's administration at least. I can't find it at all anymore, it's that far gone.

'Have I Got News for You' (unsourced)

• I'm batting for an ideology which has been burgled by someone else.

• There may be a reason I can't think of but the problem with that reason is that I can't think of it now.

• Do I have to do this?
  • When told he was taking part in a special Mastermind round with questions on his leader, Iain Duncan Smith, during an episode of Have I Got News For You.

• I've never seen this on this show before!
  • When told he was taking part in a special Mastermind round with questions on his leader, Iain Duncan Smith, during an episode of Have I Got News For You.

• We're moving irresistably towards a conclusion.

• Men women love love women.

• I think it would be wrong for me to take the you know to block the path of the a needy badger.

• Why are they called quad-bikes?

• Is he [George Best] sleeping with Miss Jamaica.

• Well, basically because of, for the money.
  • On why he came back on the show.

• I paint myself.

• What transaction happened here? Have I just bought your house?

• I've walked straight into a massive elephant trap.

• How do you know we can't deliver coconuts?
  • Replying to Ian Hislop's taunts regarding the Tories' apparent inability to deliver their promises.

• I think I was once given cocaine but I sneezed so it didn't go up my nose. In fact, it may have been icing sugar.

• Coconuts from the party that keeps its promises!
  • On Have I Got News For You

• I'm in charge here!
  • When things on HIGNFY threatened to get out of hand.

• Well he cheated death, and death is the one thing you're allowed to cheat.

• I think the term is recklessly honest
  • When Paul Merton commented that he was refreshingly honest

• The field in which the rabbits and the bunnies exist is lexically co-terminous.

= Quotes about Johnson (unsourced)

• He may seem like a lovable buffoon but you know he wouldn't hesitate to line you all up against a wall and have you shot.
  • Jeremy Hardy on Radio 4.

• Boris Johnson [is] known as the thinking man's idiot.
  • Humphrey Lyttleton on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue

• He's the sort of person who 200 years ago would have died aged 30 leading a cavalry charge into a volcano.
  • Frankie Boyle on Mock the Week

• Some people have gaps in their knowledge, Boris Johnson has small gaps of knowledge in his ocean of ignorance.
  • Eamonn McCann interviewed on C4, August 2019, referring to Boris Johnson's knowledge of Northern Ireland politics.

"Um"s and "er"s

Is it standard on Wikiquote to include all the "um"s and "er"s in an extemporaneous quotation like this one? I would think we ought to give the quote as something more like "It is obviously possible to make more money by not being a full-time politician. I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but you have to make sacrifices sometimes." Mx. Granger (talk) 02:12, 22 July 2019 (UTC)

Your edited form would give the impression of a dedicated public servant making a cogent argument. Watch the video - would that really be an accurate representation? 82.132.217.58 23:36, 22 July 2019 (UTC)

I'm not concerned with how Boris Johnson appears from the quote. I'm asking what Wikiquote's standard practice is. If standard practice is to include all the "um"s and "er"s, by all means include them. I just want to make sure we're not treating Boris Johnson differently from anyone else who has a Wikiquote article.

Either way, I don't think an inarticulate and fairly contentless quote is appropriate as the caption for the lead image. Mx. Granger (talk) 05:01, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

WQ:MoS encourages accuracy and precision. It says nothing about emending quotes to make everyone sound the same. When someone takes over a minute to answer a simple question, struggling to find a politic form of words which, if edited down, could be recited in a quarter of the time, then their verbosity and incoherence is noteworthy. But if the um's and er's are a point of contention, they can be removed without turning the quote into an inaccurate whitewash. 82.132.213.78 00:26, 18 January 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for removing the "um"s and "er"s. What about the repeated words like "I, I, I" and "you have to, you have to, you have to"? I haven't seen those in other Wikiquote articles either, even though they are very common in unplanned speech. I think they detract from the content of the quote, and frankly, I doubt anyone would include them except for the purpose of making the speaker sound bad. Mx. Granger (talk) 11:15, 18 January 2020 (UTC)

The words um, er and pfft are words found in different dictionaries and literary works. Here in Wikiquote we strive for maintain neutrality and accuracy in how the quotes are presented. If the consensus is that the quote lacks quality WQ:Q it should be removed instead of modified it to express something that the author did not original expressed, or like in this case omit something that was expressed but makes "the speaker sound bad". That fails WQ:NPOV. Rupert Loup 01:50, 19 January 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for the help. I think a lot of other Wikiquote articles need work to make sure they adhere to this rigorous standard. I'll try to keep this in mind in the future. Mx. Granger (talk) 01:55, 19 January 2020 (UTC)

"Where the author is highly notable, the inclusion of less literate statements by that author may be justified." Wikiquote:Quotability#Artfulness factor. As I said, consensus can be made on if it's justified for the quote to stay or not. Rupert Loup 02:46, 19 January 2020 (UTC)

Also, I think that this discussion should take place in Wikiquote talk:Manual of style, that policy should address this issue. Rupert Loup 03:43, 19 January 2020 (UTC)