"For your information, I would like to ask a question"
About this Quote
Goldwyn’s line is the kind of linguistic pratfall that lands because it’s delivered with the confidence of a mogul who’s used to rooms bending around him. “For your information” is a verbal lapel-grab: it announces authority, implies the listener is behind, and frames what follows as a correction. Then he immediately undercuts himself: “I would like to ask a question.” Information and inquiry collide. The joke isn’t just that the sentence is illogical; it’s that it reveals how power can mistake itself for clarity.
As a producer, Goldwyn lived in an ecosystem where speed, certainty, and dominance were currencies. Meetings weren’t seminars; they were contests of momentum. In that context, the phrase reads like an attempt to maintain control even while seeking it. He wants the floor and the upper hand, even as he admits he doesn’t have the answer yet. That’s Hollywood’s managerial paradox in miniature: the boss must be omniscient, but the work requires constant not-knowing.
The line also captures a specific immigrant-inflected English that became part of Goldwyn’s legend: the so-called “Goldwynisms,” where malapropism turns into brand. Whether intentional or not, the subtext is performance. He’s signaling toughness, impatience, and seriousness, but the syntax betrays the artifice. The result is comedy with an edge: a reminder that rhetoric is often less about communicating truth than about staging status.
As a producer, Goldwyn lived in an ecosystem where speed, certainty, and dominance were currencies. Meetings weren’t seminars; they were contests of momentum. In that context, the phrase reads like an attempt to maintain control even while seeking it. He wants the floor and the upper hand, even as he admits he doesn’t have the answer yet. That’s Hollywood’s managerial paradox in miniature: the boss must be omniscient, but the work requires constant not-knowing.
The line also captures a specific immigrant-inflected English that became part of Goldwyn’s legend: the so-called “Goldwynisms,” where malapropism turns into brand. Whether intentional or not, the subtext is performance. He’s signaling toughness, impatience, and seriousness, but the syntax betrays the artifice. The result is comedy with an edge: a reminder that rhetoric is often less about communicating truth than about staging status.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
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