From “Childless Cat Lady” to “They’re eating the cats,” Yale University’s list of 2024’s most notable quotations delves into the worlds of presidential politics, entertainment and conspiracy theories while saving room for sports, business and protests against the war in Gaza.
Pop superstar Taylor Swift topped this year’s list by signing an Instagram post in September as “Taylor Swift Childless Cat Lady” while endorsing Democrat Kamala Harris for president.
The remark was a reference to three-year-old comments made by JD Vance, the Republican vice president-elect, as he described Democrats as beholden to “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.”
President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump took the next two spots on the list. Biden came in at No. 2 with his recent announcement that he was pardoning his son Hunter.
Trump followed with his false claim that, “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in. They’re eating the cats” during his September debate against Harris.
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Trump’s comment about Springfield, Ohio, amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants were abducting and eating pets, repeating inflammatory and anti-immigrant rhetoric he promoted throughout his campaigns.
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Trump also came in at No. 5 with “Fight! Fight! Fight!” after an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The notable quotations list, compiled each year by Fred Shapiro, an associate director at the Yale Law Library, is a supplement to The New Yale Book of Quotations, which is edited by Shapiro and published by Yale University Press.
“Please note that the items on this list are not necessarily eloquent or admirable quotations, rather they have been picked because they are famous or important or particularly revealing of the spirit of our times,” Shapiro said.
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The list
1. “Taylor Swift Childless Cat Lady” — Taylor Swift, signing off on an Instagram post, Sept. 10, 2024.
2. “Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter.” — President Joe Biden, official statement, Dec. 1, 2024.
3. “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in. They’re eating the cats.” — President-elect Donald Trump, presidential debate, Sept. 10, 2024, repeating a debunked conspiracy about Haitian immigrants in Ohio.
4. “I’ve become friends with school shooters.” — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, vice presidential debate, Oct. 1, 2024, misspeaking while referring to befriending shooting survivors.
5. “Fight! Fight! Fight!” — Trump after an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.
6. “Yes they can control the weather.” — Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, posting on the social media platform X, Oct. 2, 2024, endorsing a conspiracy theory that the government used weather control technology to aim Hurricane Helene at Republican voters.
7. “Some of you (women) may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.” — Kansas City Chiefs football player Harrison Butker, commencement address at Benedictine College, Atchison, Kansas, May 11, 2024.
8. “Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s rules on bullying and harassment?” — New York U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, House of Representatives Education and Workforce Committee hearing, Dec. 5, 2023, questioning now-former Harvard President Claudine Gay on how the university responded to instances of antisemitism on campus.
9. “OMG.” — New York Mets baseball player José Iglesias, title of song released in 2024.
10. “The court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist.” — U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2024, ruling in an antitrust lawsuit by the U.S. Justice Department against Google.
