HALP!

[m31andy]

Can anyone here help me with a quote? I'm terrible at these (especially exactly how they go - so expect this to be a rather random paraphrase).

Marriage is something people do when they run out of things to say to each other.

As I say, this could be a whole half-hour speech with quoting person playing the part of both parties. Or it could be shorter than that quoted!

cuvalwen was sure it sounded like dear Oscar, but I've got a feeling it might've been a sit-com or similar. Of course, it could've been a sit-com rehashing one of Oscar's lines. Well, they are eminently quotable, after all.

ETA: With many thanks to girlyswot, I can now categorically state that it's from Four Weddings and Funeral. You did all know that I'm hopelessly uncultured, right? The full quote is:

Gareth: I've got a new theory about marriage. Two people are in love, they live together, and then suddenly one day, they run out of conversation.
Charles: Uh-huh.
Gareth: Totally. I mean they can't think of a single thing to say to each other. That's it: panic! Then suddenly it-it occurs to the chap that there is a way out of the deadlock.
Charles: Which is?
Gareth: He'll ask her to marry him.
Charles: Brilliant! Brilliant!
Gareth: Suddenly they've got something to talk about for the rest of their lives.
Charles: Basically you're saying marriage is just a way of getting out of an embarrassing pause in conversation.
Gareth: The definitive icebreaker.

*g*

Comments

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Oscar's the one who said "second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience." It certainly sounds like him. :D

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

Think that was Dr Johnson?

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Egads you're right! Pardon my brain fart. Oscar is the one who said Men marry because they are tired women because they are curious. Both are disappointed. For some reason I always reverse the two.

[m31andy.livejournal.com]

That's one I found last night, when looking for said quote. Considering his own marriage, I've always found it a strange one!!!

[bfrb.livejournal.com]

I've certainly heard this, or rather read.
If not Oscar, then I suspect Plum. It smells of Gally.

[m31andy.livejournal.com]

I really wouldn't be surprised if Plum had said this!

[not-here.livejournal.com]

I've heard variations on it, more about how men end up proposing because they've run out of things to say. Didn't think it was a quote though IYSWIM.

[m31andy.livejournal.com]

As below - not so much a quote as an exchange from a film. IMDB does call it a "quote" though.

[rosathome.livejournal.com]

Isn't it from Four Weddings and a Funeral?

[rosathome.livejournal.com]

From IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109831/quotes):

Gareth: I've got a new theory about marriage. Two people are in love, they live together, and then suddenly one day, they run out of conversation.
Charles: Uh-huh.
Gareth: Totally. I mean they can't think of a single thing to say to each other. That's it: panic! Then suddenly it-it occurs to the chap that there is a way out of the deadlock.
Charles: Which is?
Gareth: He'll ask her to marry him.
Charles: Brilliant! Brilliant!
Gareth: Suddenly they've got something to talk about for the rest of their lives.
Charles: Basically you're saying marriage is just a way of getting out of an embarrassing pause in conversation.
Gareth: The definitive icebreaker.

Is that what you were thinking of?

[anne-l-davies.livejournal.com]

I was also going to say 4W&aF, so I second girlyswot.

[m31andy.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what I was thinking of! Thanks!!!

I suspect it's been said more succinctly by other people over the years, but that was exactly the context I could remember.

[m31andy.livejournal.com]

BTW: Have finally got around to checking your profile. Hi! It was lovely to meet you the other week!

[rosathome.livejournal.com]

?

Did I meet you somewhere? In RL?

[m31andy.livejournal.com]

I think we met outside on the balcony at the John Betjemin about two weeks ago? I was sitting with clanwilliam and my sis and brother-in-law. It was quite brief.

And one day I'm going to learn to type properly!

[rosathome.livejournal.com]

I think you are thinking of someone else. ;)

[m31andy.livejournal.com]

Eeep! Sorry!

*is embarrassed*

[rosathome.livejournal.com]

Not to worry. I must admit that I am now very curious about the person you met who you thought was me!

[sethur.livejournal.com]

"Marriage: a community consisting of a master, a mistress, and two slaves - making in all two." - Ambrose Bierce