5. Winston Churchill/Lord Birkenhead (1912) - "Nancy, If You Were My Wife I'd Drink It"
It was perhaps inevitable that former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill would find himself on this list seeing as he loved having the last word in any argument. When the first-ever female MP elected to Parliament, Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, was invited to a dinner party at the Churchill estate in 1912, she became extremely frustrated with the future Prime Minister's politically-incorrect, drunken ramblings. So angered was she by Churchill that she said to him: "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea." To which Churchill calmly replied:
"Nancy, if you were my wife I'd drink it."
Although Churchill's response was still brilliant, it appears the retort was first used by his friend, FE Smith, Lord Birkenhead, and was then borrowed by the future Prime Minister. Either way, it's still genius.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
