Books & Literary Life |

Chapter and verse quotation-citation correspondence site

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

From The November-December 2017 Issue

Tobe Kemp asks if anyone can identify sources for two compliments occasionally used by relatives hailing from East Texas: “upstanding and downsitting” and “ambidextrous as well as bifocal.”

Eve Golden is seeking a source for the phrase about an individual who “shall remain nameless, but his initials are Johann Sebastian Bach [or whoever]”—an expression “in wide circulation in many slight variants, but likely encountered in an old movie, one of the romantic/screwball comedies of the 1930s or ’40s. It’s driving me nuts. Any help?”

Send inquiries and answers to “Chapter and Verse,” Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138 or via email to chapterandverse@harvardmag.com.

Published in the November-December 2017 print issue under the headline “Chapter & Verse,” in the Montage section.

Related topics
Books & Literary Life

You might also like

For This Poet, AI is a Writing Partner

Sasha Stiles trained a chatbot on her manuscripts. Now, her poems rewrite themselves.

These Harvard Mountaineers Braved Denali’s Wall of Ice

John Graham’s Denali Diary documents a dangerous and historic climb.

How Stories Help Us Cope with Climate Change

The growing genre of climate fiction offers a way to process reality—and our anxieties.

Most popular

AI Outperforms Doctors in Emergency Room Tasks, New Harvard Study Shows

Researchers say the technology could help physicians with triage, diagnosis.

Ask a Harvard Professor with Rebecca Henderson

How to reform capitalism to confront climate change and extreme inequality, with economist and McArthur University Professor Rebecca Henderson

Why Is Silicon Valley Turning Conservative?

At the Harvard Kennedy School, Van Jones analyzes how Democrats lost the tech industry’s vote.

House - Email

Explore More From Current Issue

Colorful illustrated map of Colonial Cambridge and the Harvard College campus featuring buildings of the campus, houses, Cambridge Common, and the Charles River

Harvard Celebrates America’s 250th

250 Years Ago, Harvard Was Home to a Revolution

A look at the sights, sounds, and characters that put the University on the frontlines of history

A woman in glasses gestures while speaking to two attentive listeners at a table.

Arts & Culture

How to Cook with Wild Plants

From wild greens spanakopita to rose petal panna cotta, forager and chef Ellen Zachos makes one-of-a-kind meals.

Illustration of two students in Harvard hoodies, one speaking animatedly to a phone, the other reading, looking annoyed.

Undergraduate Column

We’re All Harvard Influencers, Like It or Not

In the digital age, it’s hard to avoid playing into the mythology.