Oh, the embarrassment!

[thymidinekinase]

I need help remembering the source of a quote. Bartlett's can't help, and neither can Google or Wikipedia. Perhaps my Google-fu is weak. Let's say you've misspelt something and must admit it. I might type: "Oh, the embarrassment. I blush so fiercely that the papers on my desk ignite and all of Tennessee burns. This blots out the sun for a decade. All die. Oh, the embarrassment." I remember reading this sort of "oh the embarrassment" tag in a science fiction novel probably 15-20 years ago, and that's the earliest source I know of. I can't recall it, though! Does anyone know where this sort of thing originated?

Comments

[thymidinekinase.livejournal.com]

Haldeman has been suggested, but I don't think I read Haldeman until college.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Googling suggests the origin of "All die. O! The embarrassment!" is "A !Tangled Web", a novellette by Joe Haldeman:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written/browse_frm/thread/8189789059566c9

This post has a quote and searching Google groups shows that lots of people can't remember where the quote is from:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written/msg/41469fde3cef18af

I was surprised that it does not appear to be in the RASFW FAQ.

[thymidinekinase.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I guess I must have read that short story before reading Haldeman's novels.