You Come at the King, You Best Not Miss!

You Come at the King, You Best Not Miss! — The is one of the most famous lines from the George Pellicanos / David Simon series The Wire. Originally spoken by Street King and “drug dealer robber” Omar Little to the drug gang hit man Roland “Wee-Bey” Brice after Brice unsuccessfully tries to collect the bounty on Omar’s head in an ambush.

After the Brice is wounded and his crew is killed, Omar leaves Wee-Bey conspicuously alive uttering the famous words:

“Yo Bey, the lesson here is: You Come at the King, You Best Not Miss!”

Amazingly years after The Wire series ran, this line is now being quoted verbatim by the American News Media in the general direction of lawmakers attempting to bring Donald J. Trump to justice.

I don’t know which is more paradoxical: hearing a White woman say this while affecting a Baltimore Black-cent; or, that this warning is being given to lawmakers about a former president of the United States.

Wow…now, y’all got the briefcase AND the gun.

One of Omar Little's best lines. He's the king of West-Baltimore and warns his enemies that they only have one shot or else they're gone.

An expression to concede victory to or acknowledge the accomplishments of an opponent or ally. As a reference to a king’s surrender in chess its origin is unknown but is most notable as an “ode des jours” in the rivalry between Edmond Dantes and Fernand Mondego in the film adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. It was initially used as a gesture of respect between friends and concluded as a gesture of revenge between enemies- often accompanied by the exchange of a black king’s chess piece.

In a modern context, it can be used more broadly in casual forms of rivalry like discourse, sports and courtship when either person outperforms the other in an undeniable or extravagant way.