Laconic phrase

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Examples

Spartan

• A witticism attributed to Lycurgus
  Lycurgus (Sparta)
  
  Lycurgus was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta, who established the military-oriented reformation of Spartan society in accordance with the Pythia....
  , the legendary lawgiver of Sparta, in a response to a proposal to set up a democracy
  Democracy
  
  Democracy is a form of government in which power is held directly or indirectly by citizens under a free electoral system. It is derived from the Greek language d?????at?a , "popular government" which was coined from d???? , "people" and ???t?? , "rule, strength" in the middle of the 5th-4th century BC to denote the political syst...
   there: "Begin with your own family."
• On another occasion, Lycurgus was reportedly asked the reason for the less-than-extravagant size of Sparta's sacrifice
  Sacrifice
  
  Sacrifice is commonly known as the practice of offering food, objects , or the lives of animals or people to the deity as an act of propitiation or worship....
  s to the gods. He replied, "So that we may always have something to offer."
• Being asked what sorts of exercise
  Physical exercise
  
  Physical exercise is any bodily activity that raises the heart rate above its resting level and enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health....
  s and martial arts
  Martial arts
  
  Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for combat. While they may be studied for various reasons, martial arts share a single objective: to physically defeat other persons and to defend oneself or others from physical threat....
   he approved of, Lycurgus responded, "All types, except those in which you stretch out your hand."
• When he was consulted on how Spartans might best forestall invasion of their homeland, Lycurgus advised, "By remaining poor, and each man not desiring to possess more than his fellow."
• When asked whether it was advisable to build a defensive wall
  Defensive wall
  
  A defensive wall is a fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements....
   enclosing the city, Lycurgus answered, "A city is well-fortified which has a wall of men instead of brick."
• King Charilaus
  Charilaus
  
  Charilaus, also given as Charillus, was a legendary Monarch of Sparta in the early-mid 8th century BC. He is generally shown as the successor of his grandfather Eunomus , though Pausanias implies that Charilaus' father Polydectes preceded Charilaus....
  , explaining why the list of Spartan laws was so short, said: "Men of few words require few laws."
• King Demaratus
  Demaratus
  
  Demaratus was a king of Sparta from 515 until 491 BC, of the Kings of Sparta#Eurypontid, successor to his father Ariston . As king, he is known chiefly for his opposition to the other, co-ruling Spartan king, Cleomenes I....
  , being annoyed by someone asking him who the most exemplary Spartan was, answered "He that is least like you."
• When someone tried to engage him in conversation at a time and place he thought inappropriate, King Leonidas
  Leonidas I
  
  Leonidas was a king of Sparta, the 17th of the Agiad line, one of the sons of King Anaxandridas II of Sparta, who was believed to be a descendant of Heracles, possessing much of the strength and bravery that made his ancestor famous....
   responded, "Much to the purpose, elsewhere."
• When the Persians
  Achaemenid Empire
  
  The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire was amongst the first Persian Empires that ruled over significant portions of Greater Iran, and followed the Ancient Iranian peoples Median Empire....
   sent envoys to the Spartans demanding the traditional symbol of surrender, an offering of soil and water, the Spartans threw them into a deep well, suggesting that upon their arrival at the bottom, they could "Dig it out for yourselves."
• On her husband Leonidas
  Leonidas I
  
  Leonidas was a king of Sparta, the 17th of the Agiad line, one of the sons of King Anaxandridas II of Sparta, who was believed to be a descendant of Heracles, possessing much of the strength and bravery that made his ancestor famous....
  's departure for battle with the Persians at Thermopylae
  Thermopylae
  
  Thermopylae is a location in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in classical antiquity. It derives its name from several natural hot water springs....
  , Gorgo, Queen of Sparta asked what she should do. He advised her: "Marry a good man and bear good children."
• When Leonidas
  Leonidas I
  
  Leonidas was a king of Sparta, the 17th of the Agiad line, one of the sons of King Anaxandridas II of Sparta, who was believed to be a descendant of Heracles, possessing much of the strength and bravery that made his ancestor famous....
   was in charge of guarding the narrow mountain pass at Thermopylae with just 7,000 Greek men in order to delay the invading Persian army, Xerxes
  Xerxes I of Persia
  
  Xerxes the Great, also known as Xerxes I of Persia, was a Persian Empire of the Achaemenid Empire. X?rxes is the Greek language form of the Old Persian throne name X?ayar?a, meaning "Ruler of heroes"....
   offered to spare his men if they gave up their arms. Leonidas replied "Molon Labe
  Molon labe
  
  The Greek language phrase Molon labe! , meaning "Come and take them!", is a classical expression of defiance reported by Plutarch in response to the Persian Army's demand that the Spartans surrender their weapons....
  " (Greek: "????? ?aß?"), which translates to "Come and take them". Today this is, among other things, the motto of the Greek 1st Army Corps.
• When he was asked why he had come to fight such a huge host with so few men, Leonidas answered, "If numbers are what matters, all Greece cannot match a small part of that army; but if courage is what counts, this number is sufficient." On being again asked a similar question, he replied, "I have plenty, since they are all to be slain."
• Herodotus
  Herodotus
  
  Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greeks historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture....
   recounted another incident that preceded the Battle of Thermopylae
  Battle of Thermopylae
  
  The Battle of Thermopylae [th?r m?pp?lee] took place over three days during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Battle of Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the pass of Thermopylae ....
  . The Spartan Dienekes
  Dienekes
  
  Dien?kes was a Spartan officer present at the Battle of Thermopylae. He was acclaimed the bravest of all the three hundred Spartiates selected to fight in that battle....
   was told the Persian archers were so numerous that when they fired their volleys, their arrows would blot out the sun. He responded with “So much the better, we'll fight in the shade”. Today Dienekes's phrase is the motto of the Greek 20th Armored Division
  Hellenic Army XX Armored Division
  
  The Twentieth Armored Division is the only armored division of the Hellenic Army. It is headquartered in Kavala, Macedonia ....
  .
• On the morning of the third and final day of the battle, Leonidas, knowing they were being surrounded, exhorted his men, "Eat well, for tonight we dine in Hades
  Hades
  
  Hades refers both to the ancient Greek underworld, the abode of Hades, and to the god of the underworld. Hades in Homer referred just to the god; the genitive case , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades"....
  ."
• Leonidas asked a Spartan to take a final communication about the battle home; the man declined, saying "I came here to fight, not to act as a messenger." He made the same request of another Spartan, and received the reply: "I shall do my duty better by staying here, and in that way the news will be better."
• After the Greeks ended the threat of the second Persian invasion
  Second Persian invasion of Greece
  
  The second Achaemenid Empire invasion of Ancient Greece occurred during the Greco-Persian Wars, as King Xerxes I of Persia sought to conquer all of Greece....
   with their victory at Plataea
  Battle of Plataea
  
  The Battle of Plataea was the final land battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place in 479 BC near the city of Plataea in Boeotia, and was fought between an alliance of the Ancient Greece city-states, including Sparta, History of Athens, Corinth, Megara and others, and the Achaemenid Empire of Xerxes I....
  , the Spartan commander Pausanias
  Pausanias (general)
  
  Pausanias was a Spartan general of the 5th century BC. He was the son of Cleombrotus and nephew of Leonidas I, serving as regent after the latter's death, since Leonidas' son Pleistarchus was still under-age....
   ordered that a sumptuous banquet the Persians had prepared be served to him and his officers. "The Persians must be greedy," he remarked, "when, having all this, yet they come to take our barleycakes."
• When asked by a woman
  Age of Pericles
  
  The Golden Age is the term used to denote the historical period in Ancient Greece lasting roughly from the end of the Persian Wars in 448 BC to either the death of Pericles 429 BC or the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC....
   from Attica
  Attica
  
  Attica is a Peripheries of Greece in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece. Attica is subdivided into the prefectures of Greece of Athens Prefecture, Piraeus Prefecture, East Attica and West Attica....
  , "Why are you Spartan women
  Sparta
  
  Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
   the only ones who can rule men?", Gorgo
  Gorgo, Queen of Sparta
  
  Gorgo was the daughter and the only child of Cleomenes I, King of Sparta during the 6th and 5th centuries BC. She was the wife of King Leonidas I, Cleomenes' half-brother, who fought and died in the Battle of Thermopylae....
   replied, "Because we are also the only ones who give birth to men."
• Also from Herodotus
  Herodotus
  
  Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greeks historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture....
  : "When the banished Samians reached Sparta, they had audience of the magistrates, before whom they made a long speech, as was natural with persons greatly in want of aid. Accordingly at this first sitting the Spartans answered them that they had forgotten the first half of their speech, and could make nothing of the remainder. Afterwards the Samians had another audience, whereat they simply said, showing a bag which they had brought with them, 'The bag wants flour.' The Spartans answered that they did not need to have said 'the bag'; however, they resolved to give them aid."
• Polycratidas was one of several Spartans sent on a diplomatic mission to some Persian generals, and being asked whether they came in a private or a public capacity, answered, "If we succeed, public; if not, private."
• One famous example comes from the time of the invasion of Philip II
  Philip II of Macedon
  
  Philip II of Macedon,...
   of Macedon
  Macedon
  
  Macedon or Macedonia was the name of a monarchy centred in the northernmost part of ancient Greece. The homeland of the ancient Macedonians, it was bordered by the kingdom of Epirus to the west and the region of Thrace to the east....
  . With key Greek city-states in submission, he turned his attention to Sparta
  Sparta
  
  Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
   and sent a message: "If I win this war
  War
  
  ...
  , you will be slave
  Slavery
  
  Slavery is a form of forced labor where a person is compelled to Labor for another . Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive Remuneration in return for their labor....
  s forever." In another version, Philip proclaims: "You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people, and raze your city." The Spartan ephor
  Ephor
  
  An ephor was an official of ancient Sparta. There were five ephors elected annually, who swore each month to uphold the rule of the two Kings of Sparta, while the kings swore to uphold the law....
  s sent back a one word reply: "If." Subsequently, both Philip and Alexander
  Alexander the Great
  
  Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
   would avoid Sparta entirely.
• Demetrius I
  Demetrius I of Macedon
  
  Demetrius I , called Poliorcetes , son of Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Stratonice , was a king of Macedon . He belonged to the Antigonid dynasty....
   of Macedon
  Macedon
  
  Macedon or Macedonia was the name of a monarchy centred in the northernmost part of ancient Greece. The homeland of the ancient Macedonians, it was bordered by the kingdom of Epirus to the west and the region of Thrace to the east....
   was offended when the Spartans sent his court a single envoy, and exclaimed angrily, "What! Have the Lacedaemonians
  Laconia
  
  Laconia , also known as Lacedaemonia, is a prefecture in Greece. Laconia has the legal status of a Prefectures of Greece, with Sparti its administrative capital....
   sent no more than one ambassador?" The Spartan responded, "Aye, one ambassador to one king."
• After being invited to dine at a public table, the sophist
  Sophism
  
  Sophism can mean two very different things: In the modern definition, a sophism is a confusing or illogical argument used for deceiving someone....
   Hecataeus was criticized for failing to utter a single word during the entire meal. Archidamidas answered in his defense, "He who knows how to speak, knows also when."
• Spartan mothers or wives gave a departing warrior his shield with the words: "With it or on it!" (Greek: S?? ta? ? ep? ta?! Syn tai i epi tai! or ? ta? ? ep? ta?! E tan i epi tas!), implying that he should return (victoriously) with his shield, or (his cremated body in an urn) upon it, but by no means after saving himself by throwing away his heavy shield and fleeing.
• The king of Pontus
  Pontus
  
  Pontus or Pontos is a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in modern-day northeastern Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region in Antiquity by the Greeks who colonized the area, and derived from the Greek name of the Black Sea: Pontos Euxeinos , or simply Pontos....
   engaged a Spartan cook to prepare their famous black broth
  Black soup
  
  The Spartan melas zomos, or black soup, was a Staple food soup made of boiled pigs' blood, pork, and vinegar. It is thought that the vinegar was used as an emulsifier to keep the blood from clotting during the cooking process....
   for him, but found it distasteful. The cook explained, "To relish this dish, one must first bathe in the Eurotas
  Eurotas River
  
  The Eurotas or Evrotas is a river in the Peloponnese in southern Greece. The river rises in the Taygetos mountains and flows for 82 km....
  ."
• Upon being asked to come hear a person who could perfectly imitate a nightingale
  Nightingale
  
  The Nightingale , also known as Rufous and Common Nightingale, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the Thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae....
  , a Spartan answered, "I have heard the nightingale itself."
• When asked what dowry
  Dowry
  
  A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her new husband. Compare bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage....
   she was giving her bridegroom, a poor Spartan girl said: "My father's common sense."
• After an Athenian
  History of Athens
  
  The History of Athens is one of the longest of any city in Europe and in the world. Athens has been continuously inhabited for over 4,500 years, becoming the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC; its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of western culture....
   accused Spartans of being ignorant, the Spartan Plistoanax agreed: "What you say is true. We have learned none of your evil ways."

Other historical examples

• When news of the death of Philip II
  Philip II of Macedon
  
  Philip II of Macedon,...
   reached Athens in 336 BC, the strategos
  Strategos
  
  The term strategos is used in Greek language to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor....
   Phocion
  Phocion
  
  Phocion was an Athens statesman and strategos, and the subject of one of Plutarch's Parallel Lives.Phocion was a successful politician of Athens....
   banned all celebratory sacrifice, saying: "The army which defeated us at Chaeronea
  Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC)
  
  The Battle of Chaeronea 338 BC, fought near Chaeronea, in Boeotia, was the greatest victory of Philip II of Macedon. There, Philip defeated the combined forces of Classical Athens and Ancient Thebes and initiated Macedonian hegemony in Greece....
   has lost just one man."
• The heavy price of defeating the Romans
  Ancient Rome
  
  Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
   in the Battle of Asculum (279 BC)
  Battle of Asculum (279 BC)
  
  The Battle of Asculum took place in 279 BC between the Roman Republic under the command of Consul Publius Decius Mus and the combined Taranto, Osci, Samnite, and Epirotes forces, under the command of the Greeks king Pyrrhus of Epirus....
   prompted Pyrrhus
  Pyrrhus of Epirus
  
  Pyrrhus or Pyrrhos was a Greeks general of the Hellenistic civilization. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house , and later he became King of Epirus and Macedon ....
   to respond to an offer of congratulations with "One more such victory
  Pyrrhic victory
  
  A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with devastating cost to the victor....
   and the cause is lost" (In Greek: ?? ?t? µ?a? µ???? ????s?µe?, ?p????aµe? Án eti mían máchin nikísomen, ápolólamen).
• After the execution of the Catiline
  Catiline
  
  Lucius Sergius Catilina , known in English language as Catiline, was a Roman Republic politician of the 1st century BC who is best known for the Catiline conspiracy, an attempt to overthrow the Roman Republic, and in particular the power of the aristocratic Roman Senate....
   conspirators in 62 BC, Cicero
  Cicero
  
  Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Ancient Rome philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Constitution of the Roman Republic. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest rhetoric and prose stylists....
   announced "Vixerunt" - "they have lived."
• Julius Caesar
  Julius Caesar
  
  'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
   memorialized his swift victory over King Pharnaces II of Pontus
  Pharnaces II of Pontus
  
  Pharnaces II was the son of the great Mithridates VI of Pontus, a famed enemy of the Roman Republic....
   in the Battle of Zela
  Battle of Zela
  
  The Battle of Zela was a battle fought in 47 BC between Julius Caesar and Pharnaces II of Pontus....
   in 47 BC with the words "Veni, vidi, vici" ("I came, I saw, I conquered").
• According to a legend recorded in the Primary Chronicle
  Primary Chronicle
  
  The Primary Chronicle , or Russian Primary Chronicle, is a history of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110, originally compiled in Kiev about 1113....
   for year 6472, Sviatoslav I
  Sviatoslav I of Kiev
  
  Sviatoslav I of Kiev was a warrior prince of Kievan Rus'. The son of Igor, Grand Prince of Kiev and Olga of Kiev, Sviatoslav is famous for his incessant campaigns in the east and south, which precipitated the collapse of two great powers of Eastern Europe—Khazars and the First Bulgarian Empire; he also subdued the Volga Bulgaria, th...
   of Kiev
  History of Kiev
  
  The History of Kiev , the largest city and the Capital of Ukraine, is long and remarkable.The exact time of city foundation is hard to determine....
   (circa 962–972 AD) sent a message to the Vyatich
  Vyatichs
  
  The Vyatichs or more properly Vyatichi or Viatichi were a tribe of Early East Slavs who inhabited a part of the Oka River drainage basin....
   rulers, consisting of a single phrase: "I come at you!" (Old East Slavic: "??? ?? ??!" Idu na vi!). The chronicler may have wished to contrast Sviatoslav's open declaration of war to stealthy tactics employed by many other early medieval conquerors. This phrase is used in modern Russian to denote an unequivocal declaration of one's intentions.
• In Chapter 76 of Njál's saga
  Njál's saga
  
  Nj?ls saga is arguably the most famous of the Sagas of Icelanders. Among Icelanders, the saga is most often referred to simply as Nj?la....
  , Thorgrim and a few other grudge-bearing men were scouting around Gunnar Hámundarson
  Gunnar Hámundarson
  
  Gunnar H?mundarson was a 10th century Icelandic chieftain. He lived in Hl??arendi in Flj?tshl?? and is probably better known as Gunnar of Hl??arendi ....
  's house. Gunnar woke up and stabbed Thorgrim through a gap with an atgeir (a type of spear). Thorgrim returned to his comrades, who asked if Gunnar was home. "Find that out for yourselves, but this I am sure of, that his atgeir is at home," he said, and fell down dead.
• After the humiliation of his envoys in 1219, Genghis Khan
  Genghis Khan
  
  Genghis Khan , born , was the founder, Khan and Khagan of the Mongol Empire, the World's largest empires contiguous empire in history....
  's response to the Shah of the Khwarezmid Empire
  Khwarezm
  
  Khwarezm were a series of states centered on the Amu Darya river delta of the former Aral Sea, in Greater Iran , extending across the Ust-Urt plateau and possibly as far west as the eastern shores of the northern Caspian Sea....
   was "You have chosen war."
• When asked to surrender the Imperial Guard
  Imperial Guard
  
  The Imperial Guard was originally a small group of elite soldiers of the La Grande Armee under the direct command of Napoleon I, but grew considerably over time....
   during the Battle of Waterloo
  Battle of Waterloo
  
  In the Battle of Waterloo forces of the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte and Michel Ney were defeated by those of the Seventh Coalition, including a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard Leberecht von Bl?cher and an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington....
  , General Cambronne is recorded as replying: La Garde meurt, elle ne se rend pas - "The Guard dies, it does not surrender". Some sources also record his response as the single word Merde (shit
  Shit
  
  Shit in its literal meaning is usually considered a vulgarity and profanity in English language. As a noun it refers to feces matter and as a verb it means to defecation or defecate in; in the plural it means diarrhea....
  ).
• During the early 19th century struggle for central Arabia between the families of Al Rashid and Al Saud
  House of Saud
  
  House of Saud is the royal family of the Saudi Arabia. The modern nation of Saudi Arabia was established in 1932, though the roots and influence for the House of Saud had been planted in the Arabian Peninsula several centuries earlier....
  , Shaykh Abdul Aziz Al Rashid wrote to King Abdul Aziz Al Saud suggesting that rather than having their armies battle, the two leaders should settle the matter through single combat. The King replied with a one-line letter "From Abdul Aziz the living to Abdul Aziz the dead."
• In 1809, during the second siege of Saragossa
  Siege of Saragossa (1809)
  
  The Second Siege of Saragossa was the French capture of the Spain city of Zaragoza during the Peninsular War.It is particularly noted for its brutality....
  , the French demanded the city's surrender with the message "Peace and Surrender" ("Paz y capitulación"). General Palafox's reply was "War and knife" ("Guerra y cuchillo").
• In 1843, British
  United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
  
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name and the state form of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927....
   forces led by General Charles Napier
  Charles James Napier
  
  General Sir Charles James Napier Order of the Bath was a British Empire general and Commander-in-Chief in India, famous for conquering Sindh province in present-day Pakistan....
   conquered the province of Sindh
  Sindh
  
  Sindh is one of the four Subdivisions of Pakistan of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. Different cultural and ethnic groups also reside in Sindh including Urdu-speaking Muslim refugees who migrated to Pakistan from India upon independence as well as the people migrated from other provinces after independence....
   in India
  India
  
  India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
  . On his conquest he was supposed to have sent a one word message in Latin
  Latin
  
  Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
   to his commander, Peccavi, meaning "I have sinned" ("I have Sindh"), making it not only a laconic phrase, but also a bilingual pun
  Bilingual pun
  
  A bilingual pun is a pun in which a word in one language is similar to a word in another language. Typically, use of bilingual puns results in in-jokes, since there is often a very small overlap between speakers of the two languages....
  . In fact this message was suggested by Punch
  Punch
  
  Punch can refer to:...
   at the time, since Napier had been acting against orders.
• During the era of westward expansion in the United States of America a group of thieves, bandits and outlaws began terrorizing a small community in the state of Texas
  Texas
  
  Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
  , killing several citizens. The townsmen quickly requested help from the Texas Rangers
  Texas Ranger Division
  
  The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a police with statewide jurisdiction based in Austin, Texas, the capital of Texas, in the United States....
  . When Ranger Pat Dooling arrived, the townsmen could not believe that only one man had been sent. In response to their question about the arrival of other Rangers, Dooling famously responded "You've only got one riot, haven't you?"
• Shortly after taking command of the French 9th Army during the early stages of the First World War, then-Lieutenant General Ferdinand Foch
  Ferdinand Foch
  
  Ferdinand Foch . Order of Merit List of honorary British knights was a France soldier, military theorist, and writer credited with possessing "the most original and subtle mind in the French Army" in the early 20th century....
   summarised his situation with the words "My center is giving way, my right is in retreat. Situation excellent. I attack." (see also Chesty Puller
  Chesty Puller
  
  Lieutenant general Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller was an Mustang in the United States Marine Corps and the only Marine to receive five Navy Crosses, the United States Navy's second highest decoration after the Medal of Honor....
  , below)
• On October 27, 1917, violinist Mischa Elman
  Mischa Elman
  
  Mikhail Saulovich 'Mischa' Elman was a Ukraine-born violinist, famed for his passionate style and beautiful tone....
   and pianist Leopold Godowsky
  Leopold Godowsky
  
  Leopold Godowsky , was a famed Poland-United States pianist, composer, and teacher. He has sometimes been described as the "Pianist of Pianists"....
   listened in Carnegie Hall
  Carnegie Hall
  
  Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue , occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street , two blocks south of Central Park....
   as sixteen-year-old violin prodigy Jascha Heifetz
  Jascha Heifetz
  
  Jascha Heifetz was a Jewish violin virtuoso born in Lithuania . He is hailed as the greatest violinist of the 20th century.Early life ...
   gave his first U.S.
  United States
  
  The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
   performance. At intermission, Elman wiped his brow and remarked "It's awfully hot in here", to which Godowsky retorted, “Not for pianists!”
• On October 28, 1918 the Austrian-Hungarian ruler Charles I of Austria tried to persuade the Slovene leader Anton Korošec
  Anton Korošec
  
  Anton Koro?ec was a Slovenian political leader, a prominent member of the conservative People's Party, a priest and a noted orator.Following the end of World War I, and subsequent dissolution of the Austria-Hungary, he was involved in the creation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, where he served as president of its Nationa...
   not to join an independent Yugoslav
  Yugoslavia
  
  File:LocationYugoslavia2.pngYugoslavia is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century....
   State by offering him to establish an autonomous United Slovenia
  United Slovenia
  
  United Slovenia is the name of a political program of the Slovenes national movement, formulated during the Spring of Nations in 1848. The program demanded unification of all the Slovene Lands into one single kingdom under the rule of the Austrian Empire, equal rights of the Slovene language in public, and strongly opposed the planned in...
   within the Habsburg Monarchy
  Habsburg Monarchy
  
  The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austria branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918....
  . Korošec replied in German: Es ist zu spät, Majestät ("It is too late, your Majesty") and then, according to his own account, slowly left the room. The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
  State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
  
  File:Austria Hungary ethnic.svgThe State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs was a short-lived state formed from the southernmost parts of the Austria-Hungary after its dissolution at the end of the World War I by the resident population of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs....
   was declared the next day with Korošec as its de facto leader.
• American President Calvin Coolidge
  Calvin Coolidge
  
  John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States . A Republican Party lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state....
   had a reputation in private of being a man of few words and was nicknamed "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker
  Dorothy Parker
  
  Dorothy Parker was an American writer and poet, best known for her caustic wit, wisecracks, and sharp eye for 20th century urban foibles.From a conflicted and unhappy childhood, Parker rose to acclaim, both for her literary output in such venues as The New Yorker and as a founding member of the Algonquin Round Table, a group she later...
  , seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His reply: "You lose."
• Nobel Prize
  Nobel Prize
  
  The Nobel Prize , established in the 1895 will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel; it was first awarded in Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize in Literature, and Nobel Peace Prize in 1901....
  -winning British physicist Paul Dirac
  Paul Dirac
  
  Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, Order of Merit , Royal Society was a United Kingdom theoretical physicist. Dirac made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics....
   was notoriously taciturn. During the question period after a lecture he gave at the University of Toronto
  University of Toronto
  
  The University of Toronto is a public university research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated a mile north of the city's Financial District, Toronto on grounds that surround Queen's Park ....
  , a member of the audience remarked that he hadn't understood part of a derivation. There followed a long and increasingly awkward silence. When the host finally prodded him to respond, Dirac simply said, "That was a statement, not a question."
• Physicist Wolfgang Pauli
  Wolfgang Pauli
  
  Wolfgang Ernst Pauli was an Austrian theoretical physicist noted for his work on spin , and for the discovery of the Pauli exclusion principle underpinning the structure of matter and the whole of chemistry....
   (also a Nobel Prize winner), shown a young physicist's paper, lamented, "This is not even wrong
  Not even wrong
  
  An apparently science argument is said to be not even wrong if it is based on assumptions that are known to be incorrect, or alternatively, theories which cannot possibly be Falsifiability or used to predict anything....
  ."
• Early in his career, Irish author Samuel Beckett
  Samuel Beckett
  
  Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish people writer, dramatist and poet. Beckett's work offers a bleak outlook on human culture and both formally and philosophically became increasingly minimalism....
   worked for a brief spell as a teacher in Campbell College
  Campbell College
  
  Campbell College is a voluntary grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The College educates boys from ages 11-18. It is one of the eight Northern Irish schools represented on the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference....
   in Belfast
  Belfast
  
  Belfast is the capital city of Northern Ireland and the seat of Devolution#United Kingdom Northern Ireland Executive and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly in Northern Ireland....
  , Northern Ireland
  Northern Ireland
  
  conventional_long_name = Northern Ireland|native_name= Tuaisceart ?ireannNorlin Airlann|motto =|image_map = Europe location N-IRL2.png...
  . The college headmaster criticised Beckett for his acerbic comments on student's papers, reminding him that the students' families represented the "cream of Ulster". Beckett replied "Yes, I know - rich and thick."
• During World War II
  World War II
  
  World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
   when Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas
  Ioannis Metaxas
  
  General Ioannis Metaxas was a Greece general and the Prime Minister of Greece during the 4th of August Regime, from 1936 until his death in 1941....
   refused Axis
  Axis Powers
  
  The Axis powers were those countries that were opposed to the Allies of World War II during World War II. The three major Axis powers - Nazi Germany, Kingdom of Italy , and Empire of Japan - were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers....
   demands for occupation of Greek territory under threat of war, he was supposed to have replied with a single word - ??? (Ochi)- "No." The anniversary of his refusal is today celebrated as Oxi Day. In fact, his response was in French - Alors, c'est la guerre - "it is war, then".
• During the Battle of the Bulge
  Battle of the Bulge
  
  The Ardennes Offensive was a major German offensive launched towards the end of World War II through the forested Ardennes of Belgium , France and Luxembourg on the Western Front ....
   General Anthony McAuliffe
  Anthony McAuliffe
  
  General Anthony Clement McAuliffe was the United States Army general who commanded the defending 101st Airborne troops during the Battle of Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II....
  , acting commander of the 101st Airborne, refused to surrender to the German
  Germany
  
  Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
   forces with a note on which he wrote one word: "NUTS!"
• In the Korean War, after U.N. forces under American command were attacked by Chinese forces in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir
  Battle of Chosin Reservoir
  
  The Battle of Chosin Reservoir was a battle in the Korean War, in which 30,000 United Nations Command troops under the command of American General Ned Almond faced approximately 120,000 People's Volunteer Army....
  , U.S. commander Chesty Puller
  Chesty Puller
  
  Lieutenant general Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller was an Mustang in the United States Marine Corps and the only Marine to receive five Navy Crosses, the United States Navy's second highest decoration after the Medal of Honor....
   made the remark, "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." He also reportedly said, "All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time", and "Great. Now we can shoot at those bastards from every direction." In the same battle, Major General Oliver P. Smith was widely quoted as saying, "Retreat? Hell, we're attacking in a different direction!", but that is apparently an abbreviation of his actual explanation.

See also

• One-liner joke
  One-liner joke
  
  A one-liner is a joke that is delivered in a single line. Many comedians have adopted this comedic method in their act. Some, including Rodney Dangerfield, Steven Wright, Emo Philips, Henny Youngman, Mitch Hedberg, Dan Mintz, Zach Galifianakis, Demetri Martin, Jimmy Carr and Milton Jones have used one-liners to make up a significant portion...
  

Footnotes