Top Ten Literary Put Downs of All Time

When it comes to slapping down an insult, which author takes top honors?

UKTV’s Drama Channel recently commissioned a survey asking 2000 people just that. The results offered up some surprises with Margaret Mitchell, Oscar Wilde (who made the list twice) and Terry Pratchett among the contenders for author of the best literary put down of all time. Here’s are the top 10 greatest literary put-downs:

1. “My dear, I don’t give a damn.” -- Gone With The Wind, Margaret Mitchell (charachter: Rhett Butler)

2. “To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune, Mr Worthing, to lose both looks like carelessness” -- The Importance Of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde (character: Lady Bracknell)

3. “May your genitals sprout wings and fly away.” — Small Gods, Terry Pratchett (character: Om)

4. “If you will forgive me for being personal, I do not like your face.” — Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie (character: Hercule Poirot)

5. “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me.” — Pride And Prejudice, Jane Austen (character: Mr Darcy)

6. “You are the last man in the world I could ever be prevailed upon to marry.” — Pride And Prejudice, Jane Austen (character: Elizabeth Bennett)

7. “If looks could kill, you’d soon find out that yours couldn’t.” — After Claude, Iris Owens (character: Harriet)

8. “The tartness of his face sours ripe grapes.” — Coriolanus, William Shakespeare (character: Menenius)

9. “The simplicity of your character makes you exquisitely incomprehensible to me.” — The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde (character: Gwendolen)

10. “I misjudged you... You’re not a moron. You’re only a case of arrested development.” — The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway (character: Harvey Stone).