Talk:Dorothy Parker

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Autochthony writes:

1 I understand the reasons for deletion of the previous version of this page.

2 I appreciate the need for verifying quotes (from Dorothy Parker or otherwise).

I have heard the following attributed to Parker:

One Martini, I'm able;

Or two at the very most.

After three I'm under the table.

After four, under my host. 01 March 2009 - 2035z 81.157.223.75 20:37, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Here's a risqué one

I've heard this attributed to Dorothy Parker on many occasions, but haven't been able to find a very reliable source. (Probably because newspapers won't print it in full.)

“

Too fucking busy. And vice versa.

”

This is allegedly a telegram she sent in reply to her editor, reminding her of a deadline, while on her honeymoon. Does anyone have a reliable source for it? Moxfyre 17:08, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I recall this as something Parker said of someone else. A writer offered this excuse to an editor for a late MS, Parker overheard him say it, and muttered 'or vice versa'. It seems out of character for her to be foul-mouthed. I seem to connect it with her New Yorker days, but it may have been Vanity Fair BTW : how could anyone back then manage to send a telegram which had the F-word in it? Bluedawe (talk) 02:53, 29 December 2012 (UTC)

I actually read this quote as having been given to Irving Thalberg's secretary, after she left when he kept her waiting for hours. When Thalberg finally arrived and there was no Dorothy, the secretary phoned her, and this was noted as her reply.

A to B

I added the Cinema Arts reference because I just came across the 1937 article, which added substantiation to the quote. I wasn't registered when I added it. Perhaps the reference should be included outside of the Woolcott section. Danchall 5 May 2010

"What Fresh Hell Is This?"

I have often heard it claimed that this was how Dorthy Parker responded to a ringing telephone. It is also the name of a biography of her."Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This?" Can anyone source this quotation? MisterJayEm 15:02, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

Bennet Cerf

May I humbly suggest that Bennett Cerf is an unreliable source when trying to make a definite Parker attribution? In the Foreword of Try and Stop Me Cerf says outright that he is not always able to say who originally said what, or when they said it, and it would seem Cerf made no great efforts with research if there was any danger of his killing a good anecdote with a sober fact. S. J. Perelman had a low opinion of Cerf, classing him along with the 'Don't Get It Right, Just Get It Written' style of journalist. Bluedawe (talk) 02:48, 29 December 2012 (UTC)

...aside lightly

(... with great force, etc.) The original source of this, if written rather than a memory of a conversation, seems to be quite elusive... see Snopes conversation. 22:46, 8 March 2013 (UTC) (Schissel @ Wikipedia)

hunny not hummy

That is what the Winnie the Pooh books have. MaxwellPerkins (talk) 05:35, 8 March 2014 (UTC)

Yes, but in the passage Parker was talking about, the word in question is in fact "hummy." Pooh and Piglet are discussing Pooh's "hum" (i.e., a verse they're chanting), and Pooh talks about making it more "hummy." So it's nothing to do with "honey," in this instance. This per the Constant Reader collection published in 1970, which I have in front of me. Jcejhay (talk) 18:32, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Cecil Brown

The Cecil Brown hyperlink in the Misattributed section leads to Wikipedia's Cecil Brown disambiguation page rather than the appropriate Cecil Brown - or Cecil Browne, not in the disambiguation list but mentioned in The Yale Book of Quotations and The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations as well as the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations and Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations where "1932- American businessman" follows the name. Mcljlm (talk) 13:14, 26 May 2021 (UTC)