Repartee

Dr. Mardy Grothe is the author of a number of delightful books. One is titled, I never metaphor I didn’t like. Another is titled, neverisms: a quotation lover’s guide to things you should never do, never say, or never forget. And another is titled viva la repartee: clever comebacks & witty retorts from history’s great wits & wordsmiths.

In the introduction to viva la repartee, Dr. Grothe defines “repartee” (and “retort”) with several examples. The first is from Winston Churchill.

At a 1912 dinner party in Blenheim Palace—the Churchill family estate—Lady Astor became annoyed at an inebriated Churchill, who was pontificating on some topic. Unable to take any more, she finally blurted out, “Winston, if you were my husband, I’d put poison in your coffee.” Without missing a beat, Churchill replied:

Nancy, if you were my wife, I’d drink it.

Dr. Grothe continues:

Retorts do not occur in a vacuum, but in social interaction, and usually in response to some kind of critical remark. In a pressure-filled situation like this, some exceptional individuals are able to remain calm. But even more important, they’re somehow able to use their wit and their verbal skills to formulate a reply that turns the tables on the aggressor. When most of us regular people are thrust into a similar situation, we don’t perform nearly so well. Many of us crumble, or become tongue-tied. Or we just blurt out some expletive or other unsatisfying remark. Yes, we may eventually come up with a great reply, but it usually comes to our mind far too late, well after it was needed.

Much of what Dr. Grothe writes has cross my mind when reading some of the verbal debates others tried pulling Jesus into. For example, when Jesus was in the temple days prior to His death, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” When they discussed the question amongst themselves, it dawned on them that they had been placed on the sharp horns of a dilemma. They finally responded, “We do not know.” (See Matt. 21:23-27.)