Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Mark Forsyth

Quote by Mark Forsyth

“Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it was the sausage-maker who disposed of the body.”

Quote by Mark Forsyth

Create image

Author

Mark Forsyth
Mark Forsyth

Mark Forsyth, born in 1977, is a renowned British writer whose works span across various fields, including language, humor, and literary criticism. He is known for his unique sense of humor and profound insights into language. more

You May Also Like

“The problem with the alphabet is that it bears no relation to anything at all, and when words are arranged alphabetically they are uselessly separated. In the OED, for example, aardvarks are 19 volumes away from the zoo, yachts are 18 volumes from the beach, and wine is 17 volumes from the nearest corkscrew.”

ProblemExampleBearsRelationWineBeachVolumeAlphabetZoosYacht
Book:The Horologicon: A Day's Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language
Create image

“If you are to use Alexander Graham Bell’s product, which is to say the blower, you should, in all courtesy, use it as he would have wished; and Dr Bell insisted that all phone calls should begin with the words ‘Ahoy, ahoy’. Nobody knows why he insisted this – he had no connection to the navy – but insist he did and started every phone call that way. Nobody else did, and it was at the suggestion of his great rival Edison that people took to saying ‘Hello’. This seems unfair.”

PeopleIfsKnowsWayShouldUseSeemsProductsConnectionsPhonesBellsUnfairDrsSuggestionsHelloNavyRivalsCourtesyNobody KnowsPhone CallsSaying HelloGraham Bell
Book:Mark Forysth's Gemel Edition: The Etymologicon and The Horologicon ebook bundle
Create image

“But Shakespeare never drank coffee. Nor did Julius Caesar, or Socrates. Alexander the Great conquered half the world without even a café latte to perk him up. The pyramids were designed and constructed without a whiff of a sniff of caffeine. Coffee was introduced to Europe only in 1615. The achievements of antiquity are quite enough to cow the modern human, but when you realize that they did it all without caffeine it becomes almost unbearable.”

WorldHumansEnoughRealizingHalfModernAchievementEuropeCoffeeCowsUnbearableDrankPyramidsAntiquityCaffeinePerksJuliusLattes
Book:The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language
Create image