Where did the phrase 'boil the ocean' originate?

Question

I'd like to start using this term more, and want to be clear on its origin.

Answer 1

Boil the Ocean Slang for trying to tackle all aspects of an ambitious project at once, rather than getting parts of it done first before adding other parts. In other words, you can boil a pot of water but you can't boil the whole ocean.

As for who originated it, I'm not sure. It has been attributed to both Mark Twain and Will Rogers.

When someone asked Will Rogers what to do about the U-boat menace during World War I, he said, “Boil the oceans. That’ll force all the subs to the surface.” Asked just exactly how to boil oceans, Rogers dismissed the question as mere detail. (retrieved from: http://www.mahughes.org/showarticles.cfm?artid=75 )



Here's an example of how the phrase can be used from "State of Denial" by Bob Woodward on page 478.

Negroponte went around telling an old joke about an admiral who asks a scientist how to deal with the threat posed by submarines. "Figure out how to boil the ocean," the scientist says. "That will solve the submarine problem. I'll leave the implementation to you." (retrieved from:
http://books.google.com/books?id=qvBrQ7n5z-8C&pg=PA478&dq=boil+the+ocean&as_brr=3&sig=tOrSM8mWtIWrD1tlwVAHap9u8BU )

Answer 2

Boil The Ocean

Answer 3

Mark Twain's reply to an inquiry as to what he would do about the submarine menace in the impending World War I. "Boil the ocean ...
Mark Twain said about submarine warfare, all you have to do is boil the ocean. But that’s not possible, someone objected. My dear sir, replied Twain, I’ve given you the solution. It’s your job to figure out the details..........
Where did the phrase 'boil the ocean' originate?
But just Google such with "Twain" who know if he really said such?

But it it the earliest source.

PS
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070910/ap_on_sc/burning_seawater_1

ERIE, Pa. - An Erie cancer researcher has found a way to burn salt water, a novel invention that is being touted by one chemist as the "most remarkable" water science discovery in a century.

so now we can "boil the ocean"!

Answer 4

I"m not sure that such a phrase exists. However, I've often heard of a boiling ocean. It's surface resembling that of a boiling pot.