> as lemmas

a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) v. iv. 71 He sent me word, if I said his beard was not cut well, hee was in the minde it was: this is call'd the retort courteous . View more context for this quotation

1762 North Briton (1763) I. xv. 138 The Duke of Bedford will now have the retort courteous of Newfoundland..in return for what his Grace may say of Quebec.

1795 N. B. Halhed Speech in House Commons 15 Our author, therefore, should not have incurred the risk of the retort discourteous.

1810 S. Green Romance Readers I. 147 She would be an absolute divinity..if she was not so cursed satirical... By heaven, I think I'll go down and..advise her to the retort courteous!

1884 Cent. Mag. Jan. 362/2 This last was the retort direct of the ‘nightmare painter’, and it seemed to be barbed with truth.

1908 J. H. Shinn Pioneers Arkansas xxxii. 258 The idea is always to do the other fellow before he does you, and if he does get his oar in first, come back with remark called for brevity, ‘The Retort Courteous’.

1928 A. Huxley Point Counter Point iv. 64 The question..fairly invited the retort discourteous.

1957 Salt Lake Tribune 5 Nov. 14/3 [He] came up with an excellent example of the ‘retort polite’ when a discussion..of the Home Rule issue switched to that of the pronunciation of surnames.

2007 Augusta (Georgia) Chron. (Nexis) 17 Nov. a4 One possibility lies in the Retort Courteous: ‘Pardon me?’ Or there's the Reply Churlish: ‘Who wants to know?’