I think one of my favorite phrases in English is "Never Let It Be Said," which is a high-falutin' and very defensive way of saying "Oops." Folks only say it when they're caught doing something they perceive as being somehow damaging to their reputation¹, it's something that's said by folks who like to micro-manage the way that people react to them. Folks who make a big deal out of paying back the five bucks they owe you ("Never let it be said that I don't pay back my debts!"). You know the kind of people I'm talking about. Assholes.

I like it because it's a command as well as a damage controlling sentiment. Dudes are all instructing you how to behave in the circumstances where someone says that they don't have a sense of humor. "Never let it be said that I don't have a sense of humor. Go. Spread the law into the land." Then you go off on horseback at full gallop. Carthage must be informed!

This came to mind because, a couple weeks back, I corrected a dude in the middle of a big screw-up. And his response was "Well, never let it be said that I don't own up to my mistakes."

"What if someone does?" I axed.

"What if someone does what?"

"What if someone says that you don't own up to your mistakes?"

"Don't ... don't let them."

"What if they insist? Do you authorize the use of lethal force?"

I guess what I'm saying is that the common phrases in English parlance which I like the best are the ones I'm able to use to screw with dudes' heads. Never let it be said that I don't like to screw with dudes'² heads.


¹You're only sixteen, you don't have a rep yet.
² That was going to be "people" rather than "dude," but I couldn't figure out if it should have been people's or peoples'. Never let it be said that I say dude that much in casual conversation nor that I thoroughly know my possessives. Spread the law into the land. Inform Athens.