Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Attribution ·263 of 348
"The British are coming!"
They never said that.
What people say
"The British are coming!"
What was actually said
"The Regulars are coming out." Paul Revere — Massachusetts, 18 April 1775 (as recalled by Revere, 1798)
Why it stuck
Colonists in 1775 considered themselves British. Revere used "Regulars" — British Army regulars, as opposed to militia. "British are coming" is a post-independence retroactive framing.
Revere's 1798 letter to Jeremy Belknap gives the exact language. The "one if by land, two if by sea" couplet is Longfellow (1861), not Revere.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.