• tiramichu@sh.itjust.works
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    10 hours ago

    This article in The Guardian suggests a story where the butler did it earlier than that - The Strange Case of Mr Challoner in 1921.

    Even so “the butler did it” is still a great example of a cliché that hardly ever actually happens.

    I could easily believe the cliché originated independently from any particular book, purely as a piece of writing advice meaning “don’t be obvious!”