The Rules of Misquotation

[q]

From chapter 2, "The Rules of Misquotation" in Ralph Keyes _Nice Guys
Finish Seventh: False Phrases, Spurious Sayings, and Familiar
Misquotations._ 1992.

Axiom 1. Any quotation that can be altered will be.

Corollary 1A: Vivid words hook misquotes in the mind.

Corollary 1B: Numbers are hard to keep straight.

Corollary 1C: Small changes can have a big impact (or: what a difference
an a makes).

Corollary 1D: If noted figures don't say what needs to be said, we'll say
it for them.

Corollary 1E: Journalists are a less than dependable source of accurate
quotes.

Corollary 1F: Famous dead people make excellent commentators on current
events.

Axiom 2. Famous quotes need famous mouths.

Corollary 2A: Well-known messengers get credit for clever comments they
report from less celebrated mouths.

Corollary 2B: Particularly quotable figures receive more than their share
of quotable quotes.

Corollary 2C: Comments made about someone might as well have been said by
that person.

Corollary 2D: Who you think said something may depend on where you live.

Corollary 2E: Vintage quotes are considered to be in the public domain.

Corollary 2F: In a pinch, any orphan quote can be called a Chinese proverb.

Bill Thomas Got the Keyes book for $2.98, remaindered
libl...@cerf.net at Barnes and Noble recently.

[Ed Ftz]

>>From chapter 2, "The Rules of Misquotation" in Ralph Keyes _Nice Guys
Finish Seventh: False Phrases, Spurious Sayings, and Familiar

Misquotations._ 1992. <remainder snipped> <<

Nice set of rules, but you've neglected the Usenet specific rule that says
any quote which sounds vaguely appropriate to do so will sooner or later
be attributed to H.L. Mencken, Mark Twain or Albert Einstein.

Ed Fitzgerald
##################################

[Tom]

Ed Ftz (ed...@aol.com) wrote:

: Nice set of rules, but you've neglected the Usenet specific rule that says

: any quote which sounds vaguely appropriate to do so will sooner or later
: be attributed to H.L. Mencken, Mark Twain or Albert Einstein.

...or Oscar Wilde.

--
--
Tom Parsons | Never let your sense of morals
D.T.L. | prevent you from doing what's right.
| --Isaac Asimov

[Michael McMullin]

t...@panix.com (Tom) wrote:
>Ed Ftz (ed...@aol.com) wrote:
>
>: Nice set of rules, but you've neglected the Usenet specific rule that says
>: any quote which sounds vaguely appropriate to do so will sooner or later
>: be attributed to H.L. Mencken, Mark Twain or Albert Einstein.
>
>...or Oscar Wilde.
>

.. or was that GB Shaw? ;-)

[Diane Hamilton]

Michael McMullin (mcmu...@iol.ie) wrote:

: t...@panix.com (Tom) wrote:
: >Ed Ftz (ed...@aol.com) wrote:
: >

: >: Nice set of rules, but you've neglected Usenet specific rule that says

: >: any quote which sounds vaguely appropriate to do so will sooner or later
: >: be attributed to H.L. Mencken, Mark Twain or Albert Einstein.
: >
: >...or Oscar Wilde.
: >
: .. or was that GB Shaw? ;-)

..Will Rogers, I think...

[Cidermills]

It would really piss me off if my own quotes get atttirbuted to these guys
later...but like I've always said..."it doesn't matter who ithe author is,
if the quote is good enough"

[Ed Ftz]

"It doesn't matter who ithe author is, if the quote is good enough"
- Mark Twain

Ed Fitzgerald
##################################

[Colin R. Leech]

Ed Ftz (ed...@aol.com) writes:
> "It doesn't matter who ithe author is, if the quote is good enough"
> - Mark Twain

Are you sure it wasn't Wilde or Shaw? :-) :-)
--
##### |\^/| Colin R. Leech ag...@freenet.carleton.ca
##### _|\| |/|_ Civil engineer by training, transport planner by choice.
##### > Canada < Opinions are my own. Consider them shareware if you want.
##### >_./|\._< "If you can't return a favour, pass it on." - A.L. Brown

[Jeffrey Manson]

"Misquotation is, in fact, the pride and privilege of the learned. A
widely-read man never quotes accurately, for the rather obvious reason that
he has read too widely.
- Hesketh Pearson (1887-1964) _Common
Misquotations_ (1934) introduction