Re: No idea but...

Posted by Bruce Kahl on November 13, 2001

In Reply to: No idea but... posted by Alex on November 13, 2001

: : I would like to know the origin of the phrase
: : "No answer came the stern reply"

: It's quite similar to a line from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven":
: '...Stern Despair returned, instead of the sweet Hope he dared adjure - / That sad answer, "Never - nevermore."'

Maybe Lewis Carroll from "Through the Looking Glass":
"But answer came there none."

Nigel Rees (author of "Phrases and Sayings", Bloomsbury, and "As We Say in
our House", Robson) writes
"I have come to the conclusion that it is NOT a quotation but just a
popular catchphrase, known since the 1930s at least."

• Re: No idea but... masakim 11/13/01