bon-mot

More than one “prosateur” has affected to despise poetry; in reference to which propensity, we may call to mind the bon-mot of Montaigne: “We cannot attain to poetry; let us revenge ourselves by abusing it.”

A Philosophical Dictionary 2007

Isabella in Castile, Elizabeth in England, and Maria Theresa in Hungary, have, however, proved the falsity of this pretended bon-mot, attributed to Cardinal Mazarin; and at this moment we behold a legislatrix in the North as much respected as the sovereign of

A Philosophical Dictionary 2007

He had the choicest stories of all the clubs and coteries — the very latest news of who had run away with whom — the last bon-mot of Mr. Selwyn — the last wild bet of March and Rockingham.

The Virginians 2006

Even from the eutrapelia which might signify a bon-mot, literally, and which certainly is not "scurrility," unless the apostle was ironical, reflecting on jokes with heathen considered

ANF01. The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus 1819-1893 2001

_ Those who held him were disarmed, the bon-mot flew through the croud, and the Abbe escaped while they were applauding it.

A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Complete Described in a Series of Letters from an English Lady: with General and Incidental Remarks on the French Character and Manners An English Lady

_ Those who held him were disarmed, the bon-mot flew through the croud, and the Abbe escaped while they were applauding it.

A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Part I. 1792 Described in a Series of Letters from an English Lady: with General and Incidental Remarks on the French Character and Manners An English Lady

And yet, though we thus justify contemporary writing, we can but think, that, after long ages of piecemeal and _bon-mot_ literature, we shall at length return to serious studies, vast syntheses, great works.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 83, September, 1864 Various

The French are becoming very grave, and a bon-mot will not now, as formerly, save a man's life.

A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Part I. 1792 Described in a Series of Letters from an English Lady: with General and Incidental Remarks on the French Character and Manners An English Lady

But the fact is, that the wit so often depends upon both, as to leave the best _bon-mot_ comparatively flat in the recital.

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 55, No. 340, February, 1844 Various

The French are becoming very grave, and a bon-mot will not now, as formerly, save a man's life.

A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Complete Described in a Series of Letters from an English Lady: with General and Incidental Remarks on the French Character and Manners An English Lady