"I wrote it three times - with a Thesaurus"
About this Quote
The brag is the joke, and the joke is the brag. "I wrote it three times - with a Thesaurus" turns the supposedly invisible labor of writing into a spotlight act, the way Gypsy Rose Lee turned the mechanics of striptease into theater. She’s not confessing insecurity so much as weaponizing it: yes, the words took work, yes, she used a prop, and yes, she still got the line to land.
The specific intent is to puncture the romantic myth of effortless genius. Lee’s dash is doing the heavy lifting - a little flourish that mimics a punchline rimshot, collapsing time (three drafts) and technique (the Thesaurus) into one rhythmic beat. It’s also a sly class signal. A thesaurus implies aspiration, polish, and a self-conscious relationship to "proper" language. By naming it, she makes that aspiration funny instead of sanctimonious.
Subtextually, it’s a defense and a flex aimed at a world that treated entertainers, and especially women whose bodies were their brand, as unserious. Lee was famous for wit and for writing (including mystery novels), yet had to keep proving she wasn’t just a clever costume. The line says: I revise. I craft. I hustle. And if the gatekeepers want to sneer at the tool, fine - I’ll turn their sneer into my punchline.
Context matters: in mid-century show business, being "authored" was power. Lee’s joke claims authorship while admitting artifice, and that honesty is exactly what makes it feel modern.
The specific intent is to puncture the romantic myth of effortless genius. Lee’s dash is doing the heavy lifting - a little flourish that mimics a punchline rimshot, collapsing time (three drafts) and technique (the Thesaurus) into one rhythmic beat. It’s also a sly class signal. A thesaurus implies aspiration, polish, and a self-conscious relationship to "proper" language. By naming it, she makes that aspiration funny instead of sanctimonious.
Subtextually, it’s a defense and a flex aimed at a world that treated entertainers, and especially women whose bodies were their brand, as unserious. Lee was famous for wit and for writing (including mystery novels), yet had to keep proving she wasn’t just a clever costume. The line says: I revise. I craft. I hustle. And if the gatekeepers want to sneer at the tool, fine - I’ll turn their sneer into my punchline.
Context matters: in mid-century show business, being "authored" was power. Lee’s joke claims authorship while admitting artifice, and that honesty is exactly what makes it feel modern.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
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