I first heard this phrase in 1996 from a friend at a party. When I looked it up to use it as this week's quote, the internet told me that Terry Wogan had said it.

I forwarded the quote to Production Manager Amanda Reed for placement on the editorial pages. She immediately responded that Wogan was not the one who coined the phrase. 

In searching a bit more I found that some surmise that the quote is misattributed to Terry Wogan, due to his long career as a witty and quick-thinking BBC radio and television broadcaster. It's possible that Wogan, known for his dry humor, love of wordplay, and frequent engagement with quirky listener contributions, repeated the joke on air. With his distinctive comedic voice, many things he said or popularized were remembered as "his" regardless of origin.

The phrase is also misattributed to Groucho Marx, the American comedian known for his clever wordplay and puns. However, there's no definitive record of him saying it in a film or published work. Some surmise that it is a phrase inspired by his style of humor.

It's funny that in this age of an overabundance of information, sources and documentation, that so much of what we think of as fact is actually a complex game of telephone.

As for me, back in 1996, I used it as the final humorous line for a tongue-in-cheek song that I was writing that explored deep psychological realities of a long-time marital breakup. 

Maybe in time, it will be attributed to me. 

Speaking of researching and documenting what we read, the River Reporter is hosting a one-hour media literacy workshop at 5 p.m. on August 6 at the Western Sullivan Library - Jeffersonville Branch. We'll repeat the workshop at the Wayne County Public Library - Bethany branch on August 8 at 1:30 p.m.