We use the phrase That Old Chestnut to describe an old joke or excuse, something that has been heard many times before. The saying dates back to 1816 when William Diamond’s play The Broken Sword was staged in Covent Garden, London. One of the characters in the play, Captain Xavier, often repeats the same joke about a cork tree, with small variations each time. At one point in the play another character, Pablo, interrupts with the punchline and says, “It's a chestnut. I have heard you tell the joke 11 times and it's a chestnut.” Some time later, the American actor William Warren was playing the part of Pablo. One night, while he was being entertained at a society dinner, another guest began to recite an old, well-known joke, and Warren interrupted and said, 'It's an old chestnut, that's what it is,' much to everyone’s amusement. The phrase then passed into the English language.