Whale of a Theory?

I was reading an article for class the other day and I found this rather amusing quote in it. It is from a book called The Geology of Capitol Reef National Park by Michael Collier from 1987. Keep in mind that this book is from 1987, not 1967.


Let me rewrite this one so that is can be searched on the Internet as well:
"The subterranean engine driving this motion is as much a mystery to us as it was to Dutton although geologists and their side-kicks, the geophysicists, have cooked up a whale of a theory lately, called plate tectonics."
Awesome.
Also quote worthy is another quote I found in an article I picked out for my Depositional Environments class to read.
“Forms a smooth or slightly irregular slope, except where it forms a cliff…”

Blakey, R.C. 1973. Stratigraphy and origin of the Moenkopi Formation (Triassic) of southeastern Utah. The Mountain Geologist. v. 10, pp.1-17