“Well he would, wouldn’t he?” by Mandy Rice-Davies in court
E545748
“Well he would, wouldn’t he?” is Mandy Rice-Davies’s famously sardonic courtroom remark during the Profumo affair, encapsulating public skepticism toward establishment denials in the 1960s British political scandal.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| "Well he would, wouldn’t he?" | 0 |
Statements (35)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
courtroom remark
ⓘ
quotation ⓘ |
| addressedToTestimonyAbout | Lord Astor NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
British political scandal
ⓘ
Christine Keeler NERFINISHED ⓘ John Profumo NERFINISHED ⓘ Lord Astor NERFINISHED ⓘ sexual scandal ⓘ |
| become | one of the most quoted lines of the Profumo affair ⓘ |
| capturedIn | court transcripts of the Profumo affair era ⓘ |
| expresses |
distrust of establishment
ⓘ
irony ⓘ skepticism ⓘ |
| hasCulturalImpactOn |
British political culture
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
British popular culture ⓘ |
| hasSubject | credibility of a denial ⓘ |
| implies |
a person’s denial is self‑serving
ⓘ
interest-based bias in testimony ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| laterRecognizedAs | iconic line of 20th‑century British legal history ⓘ |
| notedFor |
encapsulating 1960s social change
ⓘ
undermining credibility of establishment witnesses ⓘ |
| occasion |
Profumo-related trial
ⓘ
court testimony ⓘ |
| referencedIn |
British media and journalism
ⓘ
histories of the Profumo affair ⓘ later commentary on political scandals ⓘ |
| spokenBy | Mandy Rice-Davies NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| spokenInContextOf | Profumo affair NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| spokenInCountry | United Kingdom NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| spokenInDecade | 1960s ⓘ |
| tone |
sardonic
ⓘ
witty ⓘ |
| usedAs |
expression of public skepticism
ⓘ
shorthand for disbelief of official denials ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.