No comment

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For other uses, see No comment (disambiguation).
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No comment is a phrase used as a response to journalistic inquiries which the respondent does not wish to answer. Public figures may decline to comment on issues they are questioned about if they wish to avoid having a stated opinion about the matter on the record, or if they simply have nothing to say about the issue at the time.

[edit] Notable uses of No comment

  • "No comment" is a splendid expression. I am using it again and again. - Winston Churchill, unknown date[1]
  • No comment.... in glorious Technicolor! - Harold Wilson, 1963, When asked for a statement on an unfolding scandal.
  • I don't believe in that "no comment" business. I always have a comment. - Martha Beall Mitchell[2]

[edit] Fictional references

From the film Notting Hill:

Max: You haven't slept with her, have you?
William: That is a cheap question and the answer is, of course, "no comment".
Max: "No comment" means "yes".
William: No, it doesn't.
Max: Do you ever masturbate?
William: DEFINITELY no comment.
Max: You see? It means "yes".

[edit] References

  1. ^ Winston Churchill Quotes. BrainyQuote. Retrieved on 2006-06-10.
  2. ^ Quoted by Nigel Rees in his book Why Do We Say ...? (1987), ISBN 0-7137-1944-3
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