Arthur Conan Doyle

Scottish writer, creator of Sherlock Holmes, 1859–1930. 1 explained quote.

≈ Paraphrase · Start here

“Elementary, my dear Watson.”

Arthur Conan Doyle · 1893

≈ Paraphrase

“Elementary, my dear Watson.”

Arthur Conan Doyle · Not in the Holmes stories; exact phrase in P. G. Wodehouse, Psmith, Journalist · 1893 · Writer

The catchphrase of Sherlock Holmes, which he never says in the original stories. Holmes does say “Elementary” and “my dear Watson,” but never together.

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About Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle trained as a doctor in Edinburgh and began writing stories while waiting for patients. His detective Sherlock Holmes first appeared in A Study in Scarlet in 1887 and went on to star in four novels and fifty-six short stories. Doyle also wrote historical novels, science fiction such as The Lost World, and, in later life, works on spiritualism.

The most famous Holmes line of all, “Elementary, my dear Watson,” never appears in any of the sixty stories Doyle wrote.

More lines by Doyle

Short quotes checked against their sources.

“You see, but you do not observe.”
A Scandal in Bohemia (Sherlock Holmes), 1891
“It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data.”
A Scandal in Bohemia (Sherlock Holmes), 1891
“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
The Sign of the Four (spoken by Sherlock Holmes), 1890