TV Quote of the Day (‘Maude,’ Giving a Quick English Usage Lesson to Her Husband)

[Walter Findlay doesn’t like his wife’s new male friend.]

Walter Findlay [played by Bill Macy]: “Maude, we are not having dinner with that guy tonight! I told you, I can't stand him! Guy gets some special pleasure reminding me that I didn't graduate high school. Like last time in front of everybody, giving me that lecture on the difference between 'infer' and 'imply,' as if I didn't know.”

Maude Findlay [played by Bea Arthur]: “Come on now, Walter, he just gets impatient with ninnies who constantly misuse those words.”

Walter: “Are you inferring I'm a ninny?”

Maude: “Of course not, sweetheart. I'm implying you're a ninny; you were inferring.”—Maude, Season 3, Episode 12, “Maude's New Friend,” original air date Dec. 2, 1974, teleplay by Rod Parker and Elliot Shoenman, directed by Hal Cooper