Sober tomorrow

by Guest Sat Oct 27, 2018 8:12 am

This joke is now making rounds in Hindi so I decided to google for the original Churchill quote. Turns out it probably wasn’t his or wasn’t his original

https://www.google.com/amp/s/quoteinvestigator.com/2011/08/17/sober-tomorrow/amp/

The English raconteur Augustus John Cuthbert Hare kept a diary and the entry dated July 16, 1882 recounts an incident involving a member of the House of Parliament identified only by the initials A.B. [AJCH]:

The great A.B. was tremendously jostled the other day in going down to the House. A.B. didn’t like it. “Do you know who I am?” he said; “I am a Member of Parliament and I am Mr. A.B.” – “I don’t know about that,” said one of the roughs, “but I know that you’re a damned fool.” – “You’re drunk,” said A.B.; “you don’t know what you’re saying.” – “Well, perhaps I am rather drunk to-night,” said the man, “but I shall be sober to-morrow morning; but you’re a damned fool tonight, and you’ll be a damned fool to-morrow morning.

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Churchill quotation expert Richard Langworth was told that the exchange with Braddock did occur in 1946 by a bodyguard who claimed that he was present. Family members are unconvinced. The vignette is included in “Churchill by Himself: The Definitive Collection of Quotations” [CHDQ]:

Bessie Braddock: Winston, you are drunk, and what’s more you are disgustingly drunk.
Winston Churchill: Bessie, my dear, you are ugly, and what’s more, you are disgustingly ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be disgustingly ugly.

In conclusion, this popular story has been told in various permutations for more than a century. QI believes that most of the retellings are fictional even the versions that purport to be non-fiction. If Churchill did deliver the famous rejoinder he was likely influenced by the long series of previous jokes involving members of the House of Commons.

by Kris Sat Oct 27, 2018 1:12 pm

The version I have heard is tighter. Churchill goes to a party, gets drunk and tells a woman she is ugly. She is outraged and says, “ Sir, I believe you are drunk!” His response, “but I will be sober in the morning’

by MaxEntropy_Man Sat Oct 27, 2018 8:44 pm

She may have been ugly but Churchill was a disgusting racist pig. Too bad the Americans who idolize him never knew this side of him.

by Seva Lamberdar Sun Oct 28, 2018 12:50 pm

A nice quip by Churchill I came across was "The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."

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