Peanuts by Charles Schulz for April 22, 1997

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    jtyroler  over 7 years ago

    From Wikipedia -

    The phrase had earlier been used by Washington Irving in his 1809 “A History of New York.” Its status as a catchphrase for bad writing comes from the opening sentence of Bulwer-Lytton’s novel Paul Clifford:

    It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.

    There’s a bad novel contest based on this.

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