“Elementary, Watson!” It is a literary quote attributed to Sherlock Holmesthe famous detective conceived by the pen of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and appeared for the first time in 1887, which went down in history and common use to define a fact that is basically expected And it does not surprise. Still, it is a false literary. As Treccani also highlights Conan Doyle He never wrote these words. Despite being a perfect expression for the character of Sherlock, who often turns to Dr. John Watsonformer officer of the British army and his right arm as well as roommate to 221b of Baker Street In London, with irony and with a certain arrogance, there is not only one dialogue in which this quote is located.
The origin of the iconic “Elementary, Watson!”
Both Sherlock Holmes and Watson use in several cases the “elementary word“In Conan Doyle’s novels and stories to understand that a deduction it is obviousbut we never find the expression as we know it as a way of saying. The phrase actually originates from a true work, but not from the original stories of Conan Doyle: it seems, in fact, that the first time ever in which “Elementary, Watson!” It appears both in the novel Psmith, Journalist Written by Pgwodehouse in 1909. The protagonist Psmith pronounces the phrase as a direct reference to Sherlock Holmes, and the expression likes so much that it is resumed in the following Theatrical and cinematographic adaptationsthen move on to history. Sherlock Holmes’s return1929 film by Basil Dean, is the first film transposition of the adventures of Baker Street’s detective, and here is the exchange of jokes:
What Sherlock Holmes really says to Watson in novels and stories
By making text research on the Mondadori edition All the novels and all the stories of Sherlock Holmes (2018, several translators), using the term “elementary” It appears in a series of jokes between the detective and its collaborator, to be precise for a total of 8 times. In none of these occasions Sherlock is aimed at his collaborator with the sentence “Elementary, Watson!”but several times he turns to his friend expressing this conceptof which the common speech has appropriates itself, however with view, because it is perfectly plausible in talking about our Sherlock.
From The sign of the four – Arthur Conan Doyle (1890):
«The thing is of simplicity elementaryHolmes replied, giving up my amazement. “It is so ridiculously simple that every explanation is superfluous, however it will be able to use the limits between observation and deduction (…)”
«Off, my friend, is so elementary! But I don’t want you to judge me a histrion. I will explain to her and she will see that it is a clear and evident thing like sunlight (…) “
From The Baskerville Mastiff – Arthur Conan Doyle (1901):
«Interesting, even if elementary“
From A case of identity – Arthur Conan Doyle (1891):
“All this is fun, but enough elementaryand I, dear Watson, have to put myself at work “
From The deformed man, Sherlock Holmes’ memories – Arthur Conan Doyle (1893):
“Magnificent!” I exclaimed.
“ElementaryHe replied. “It is one of those examples in which the reasoner can obtain an effect that seems extraordinary to the listener, since the latter escaped the small detail that constitutes the basis of any good deduction (…)”
From The secret of the glasses in PINCE-NEZ – Arthur Conan Doyle (1904):
«I guarantee you that my deductions are of simplicity elementaryHe said.
From The Secret of Glasses to PINce-Nez
From The disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax – Arthur Conan Doyle (1911):
“The thread of reasoning is not very dark, Watson,” Holmes said, squeezing my eye with a mischievous air. «It belongs to the same deduction class elementary that I would illustrate if I asked her who shared the car with her in her scarrozzati this morning “
From The adventure of the soldier with a lands facenarrated firsthand by Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle:
«This was therefore the problem that my visitor subjected me. He presented, as the astute reader will have already noticed, few difficulties of solution, since to reach the core of the mystery there was a very limited series of alternatives. However, however much elementaryoffered some new and interesting ideas that may perhaps justify the fact of understanding it in this collection. Then proceed, following the logical deduction method that is familiar to me, to restrict as much as possible the field of any solutions “
Who is John Watson, collaborator and roommate of Sherlock Holmes
The figure of Dr. John Watson – I narrating most of the events of Sherlock Holmes – appears for the first time in A study in red (1887), Conan Doyle’s first novel dedicated to the adventures of the London detective. In this work Watson says that he has just returned to London and is looking for a house but the high prices of the rent lead him to look for a roommate, and that’s how he moved to 221b of Baker Street Together with the bizarre Sherlock Holmes.
The two meet thanks to Stamford, a nurse who had worked with Watson and who knows that they both look for a roommate: the young Stamford, therefore, speaks to Dr. Watson of “Such a man who works at the hospital chemical analysis laboratory”. And it is he who, for the first time, pronounces the name of Sherlock Holmes.
And so they begin i 10 years Collaboration, partnership and profound friendship that bind Sherlock to the very loyal Watson, whose medical knowledge will often be essential to resolve cases. John Watsonpresumably, continues to practice the profession of doctor, gets married to Mary Morstan – who knows during the events told in the sign of the four – leaves the home of Baker Street, but when he remains a widower he will then return to live with Sherlock. Defined by critics as theAlter ego of the authoralso a doctor, Watson is undoubtedly an unforgettable right arm.
