In this case, about war. Here is one person's list of "The 10 Greatest Uses of Trash Talk in the History of War".
The linked web page contains terms not normally used in polite company, and I am not merely referring to "the word of Cambronne".
There is an error, or at least some less than clear writing in the writeup for Quote #9, from French World War One General Robert Nivelle (and the Battle of Verdun). The Germans did not pass, but when the phrase was adopted by units manning the Maginot line it did not quite work its magic, 24 years later, in the Spring of 1940, although the Germans were forced to circumvent the line of defenses. Perhaps Sergeant Maginot fought at Verdun.
The author passed up two good quotes from WWII, "Nuts" and "These are my credentials."
Hat tip to Happy Catholic, who also gives a language warning.
Regards — Cliff
It wasn't wartime or even trash talk per se, but I always liked LBJ's suggestion to Dean Rusk, once DeGaulle had suggested he wanted all US soldiers evicted from France in 1966, that he "ask him about the cemeteries". (Perhaps the bookend to Patton's observation that "I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one behind me").
ReplyDeleteMore recently and to the point of the list, I thought Schwarzkopf had a top 10 good one when he said "It's God's job to forgive Bin Laden--it's ours to arrange a face-to-face meeting".