I Wish I Hadn't Said That: Over 3,000 Famous Foot-in-Mouth Moments

by Geoff Tibballs

Many of the funniest jokes are unintentional – slips of the tongue or typographic errors. This book delves into the worlds of sports commentary, classified advertising, church bulletins and, of course, Prince Philip to present more than 3,000 faux pas, from the 1631 Bible that proclaimed ‘Thou shalt commit adultery’ to a US newspaper informing its readers that ‘Homicide victims rarely talk to the police.’

352 pages, Paperback

Published December 24, 2019

Reviews

[David Lai · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite a few of the quotes in this book seemed oddly familiar, and this was explained at the end of the book, when I saw the "Sources" page. It seems that you can write a book of funny quotations by cannibalizing other books of funny quotations, and that copyright isn't an issue. To say this book is eclectic would be an understatement -- there are quotations from various centuries earlier than the 20th, and some actual Spoonerisms (many only "attributed") from the Rev. Spooner himself, which are disappointingly unfunny. Perhaps the excessively disparate origins and randomness of presentation within each section accounts for much of the book being unfunny. That numerous Yogi Berra sayings were included suggests that the author lacks a sense of irony. However, I did laugh a lot at the sections on apologies & corrections, and foreign signs.

[Louise Hubbard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. Went in the bin in brand new condition.

[Beverley Lennon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing

[Haley Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll give it 3.5 stars.. we really should be able to give half a star on here by now!!

Anyhow.. I got this book from the works for £3 (RRP £9.99) and I'm so glad I didn't pay the original RRP.. the first part of the book wasn't that great, unless you're a sports fan. Many of the comments where made by some form of sports professional or commentators and for someone who isn't really into sport it was hard to make sense of some of the comments.

The 2nd part of the book was much better and did give me quite a few giggle along the way. It wasn't an awful book but I wouldn't go out of my way to read it again and I am not sure if I'll remember it in the future like I have with so many others