E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Non mi Recordo,
a shuffling way of saying “I don’t choose to answer that question.” It was the usual answer of the Italian courier and other Italian witnesses when on examination at the trial of Queen Caroline, wife of George IV., in 1820.
1
“The Italian witnesses often created amusement, when under examination, by the frequent answer, ‘Non mi recordo.’”—Cassell’s History of England, vol. vii. iv. 16.
