Did Puzo Steal The Godfather's Most Famous Line?
"I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." Many phrases from The Godfather film (or book) are not only highly memorable, but are often articulated in daily affairs, I'd wager; perhaps mostly in jest, though it is not inconceivable that some lines also could be used occasionally against more formal backdrops. I myself used an expression -- "It's business; nothing personal" -- during tense negotiations over certain revenue owed to me (and still owed to me) for services rendered: the writing of several labyrinthine, tortuously dull financial news stories, coupled with the copy editing of many additional ones. I was told "the check was in the mail" about three-four times before I made inquiries regarding said check. Such a thing had never happened to me before in my entire professional career . I kept hearing: "I'm cutting the check now; it'll be in the mail this afternoon."