Tear Down This Wall: What's Up With the Title?
Tear Down This Wall: What's Up With the Title?
The official title of this speech is "Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate." Sure, that tells us where it happened and gives us a rough idea of what it's about, but that's pretty much the driest, most boring name ever for a speech chock-full of so much awesome.
For the slightly more daring, like those who skip the umbrella when it's drizzling and just bring a light jacket, the speech is better known as "The Speech at the Berlin Wall."
And for those who like to get right to the heart of the matter, it's called the "Tear Down This Wall" speech for its most infamous and memorable line: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" (63).