Anyone for tennis ? - Wikipedia Anyone for tennis ? This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. ( April 2017 ) This article contains embedded lists that may be poorly defined, unverified or indiscriminate. Please help to clean it up to meet Wikipedia 's quality standards. Where appropriate, incorporate items into the main body of the article. ( April 2017 ) The phrase Anyone for tennis ? is thought to have originated from George Bernard Shaw 's 1914 play Misalliance, in which Johnny Tarleton asks `` Anybody on for a game of tennis ? '' This phrase is often used to typify a particular genre of drawing room comedy about the leisured upper class. This phrase has been used several times in popular culture, including by Daffy Duck in the cartoon shorts The Ducksters, Rabbit Fire, and Drip - Along Daffy, the song `` Beautiful Girl '' in the movie musical Singin ' in the Rain, and as the title of a song by the British blues - rock band Cream. In episode 33 of Monty Python 's Flying Circus, a spoof of Sam Peckinpah 's violent movies begins with a genteel lawn party ; the line `` I say, anyone for tennis ? '' is the ironic cue for an explosion of overblown, horrific violence. It is also mentioned in the popular 1975 song Patricia the Stripper by Chris de Burgh. Other uses of the phrase in pop culture include : As a tagline for a brand of tennis apparel seen in the movie Any Questions for Ben ?, where the lead actor plays the role of a strategic brand manager. In the game EcoQuest 2, the protagonist says the phrase whenever he uses the tennis racket. The stage play Anyone for Denis ?, referring to Denis Thatcher. In June 2012, after the English national football team was eliminated from that year 's European championships, The Sun newspaper announced that Britain could still win Wimbledon, using the headline `` Anyone for Tennis ? '' This headline gained notoriety two weeks later when British hopeful Andy Murray lost the Wimbledon final, and The Sun asked `` Anyone for Ennis ? '' in reference to hopes that English track - and - field athlete Jessica Ennis could take home the gold in that year 's Summer Olympics. References Jump up ^ Bernard Shaw, George. 1914. Misalliance. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anyone_for_tennis%3F&oldid=775745954 '' Categories : English phrases Tennis Tennis culture Hidden categories : Articles that may contain original research from April 2017 All articles that may contain original research Articles needing cleanup from April 2017 All pages needing cleanup Wikipedia list cleanup from April 2017 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from August 2008 Talk About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 16 April 2017, at 20 : 55. About Wikipedia

Question: where did the phrase tennis anyone come from
Answer: George Bernard Shaw's 1914 play Misalliance