Oh Winston!

We ran across this anecdote at Vocabula Review in an article about euphemisms. We recall hearing it before, but it's worth reproducing in case any of our readers haven't seen it:

At a Richmond, Virginia, reception in his honor, Winston Churchill, then a Member of Parliament, was served cold fried chicken. When he reached the buffet table, the great man asked his hostess for a breast. The woman, a lady of considerable Victorian sensibility and maternal endowment, gently chided him: "We southern ladies use the term 'white meat.'"

The day after the event, the ever chivalrous Churchill sent his hostess a corsage, with a card attached: "I hope you will display these flowers on your delicate white meat."