Paul Revere is famously attributed with shouting "The British are coming!" during his midnight ride on April 18, 1775, to warn American colonists of approaching British troops before the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

Historical Myth

This iconic phrase stems largely from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1860 poem "Paul Revere's Ride," which dramatized the event for patriotic effect. In reality, Revere likely said something quieter and more precise, like "The Regulars are coming!" or "The Regulars are out!" to avoid alerting British patrols, as colonists still saw themselves as British subjects at the time.

Eyewitness Accounts

Historical records, including depositions from riders like Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott, describe warnings whispered or called out discreetly to minutemen homes. One later account mentions a Lexington man shouting "The British are coming!" upon spotting bayonets, but this came decades after the event. Revere himself focused on alerting leaders like John Hancock and Samuel Adams without raising a public alarm that might tip off the enemy.

Cultural Legacy

Longfellow's poem turned Revere into a solo hero yelling the phrase through towns, influencing Schoolhouse Rock and pop culture, despite the mission requiring stealth. Modern discussions on forums like Reddit often reference it as a fun historical mix-up, with memes playing on British stereotypes in American narratives.

TL;DR: No one definitively "said it" as popularly imagined—it's a poetic invention pinned on Paul Revere, who warned of "the Regulars" instead.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.