Sherlock Holmes
The template for every brilliant, prickly detective who solves crimes by spotting what everyone else missed.
Origin
Arthur Conan Doyle's consulting detective, introduced in A Study in Scarlet (1887). Lives at 221B Baker Street with his patient friend Dr. Watson, plays the violin, takes cocaine, and solves cases through 'deduction' (technically abduction). His arch-enemy is Professor Moriarty. The character has been continuously adapted for over a century โ Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett, Robert Downey Jr., Benedict Cumberbatch, House M.D. (a medical Sherlock).
Modern usage
'Sherlock' is shorthand for any unusually observant person ('no shit, Sherlock' is sarcasm for stating the obvious). 'Elementary, my dear Watson' โ never actually said in the books โ is one of the most quoted misquotations in English.
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