Famous last words.

My assumption always was that it came form situations in which a person would proclaim that they were going to accomplish something both bold and dangerous. When they ultimately failed and paid the price with their lives, their proclamation became their ironic "famous last words."

Again, I'm not sure of this, but that's where I always supposed the pharse had its origins.

I would guess that it derives from collections of famous people's 'last words'. Brewer in his Dictionary of Phrase & Fable gives an exhaustive few pages of such utterances.

As YC suggests, it's a jocular way of expressing doubt that someone will succeed in a proclaimed course of action.

MrP

Thank you and YoungCalifornian very much.

Is it also possible to think that the phrase is implying "You wanna bet on your life? If you do, what you have just said will be famous last words"?

Scarecrow

Hello Scarecrow

The phrase is always used in a jocular context, e.g.

"I don't know what the matter is with my PC. It keeps hanging."

"Let me take a look. I'll soon fix it."

"You? What do you know about PCs?"

"Don't you worry. I'll soon have it fixed."

"Famous last words..."

MrP

Hello Mr Pedantic,

I see. Thank you for the great example.