Elementary , my dear Watson! Museum title: The Line That Holmes Never Said

Type of proper name: anthroponyms (literary characters). Source: literature and cinema. Why precedent: Holmes and Watson are not just fictional characters: their names symbolise brilliant logic and a clever expert with his admiring friend. Historical or cultural background: The phrase is popularly connected with the detective Sherlock Holmes, but it does not appear in this exact form in Conan Doyle's stories. In the story "The Crooked Man" , W atson says "Excellent!" and Holmes replies "Elementary . " The exact phrase is first recorded in P . G. W odehouse's novel Psmith, Journalist (1915), and later it became f amous through Sherlock Holmes films, especially The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1929). So it is a f amous misquotation. Linguistic explanation: Modern figurative meaning: said when something is obvious or easy to explain, often humorously or ironically . Structural type: formula, a complete phrase used in a particular communicative situation. Cultural associations: logic, deduction, intelligence, detective stories, a clever expert and his admiring friend. Modern example: "How did you know I was late?" "Elementary, my dear Watson! Your coat is wet and your hair is a mess."