Denial is not a river in Egypt

[ravenhair]

Can anyone help me trace the exact meaning, etymology and any attestations of this saying; is it used in British English or in North American English only? If anyone can help, this will make my job much easier!

[artisan]

I'm not sure how you can trace etymology out of a pun but here goes. It's more than obvious that the saying works in either British or US English. It seems like broken English (de is like das or der, the German for the). The fact that it's the word "Denial" is simply to make the pun work.

[ravenhair]

Yip, what I meant was in what contexts was it first used; was it coined for a particular purpose? Did someone say it first? Thanks for your help, though!

[geofbob]

The Americans are convinced that "Denial ain't just a river in Egypt" was first said by the writer and humorist Mark Twain. There are hundreds of website pages with the quotation and attribution, but I can't find a date or location for the quote. (This is similar to the many humorous remarks attributed to Oscar Wilde, on this side of the Atlantic.)

[incitatus]

Im not going to be much help, but it sounds much more like Schnozzle Durante than Mark Twain! Or Groucho.