Words Used Well - No. 4: I Never Said That

Writers like to quote the classics and the famous. Often, though, through misinformation or poor research, they end up misquotingand sometimes misinforming. In some cases, they attribute a statement to someone who never made it. Because theyve heard the quotation misquoted so often, they dont bother checking the authenticity. Everyone pretty much knows by now that Marie Antoinette never said, Let them eat cake, even though she gets the blame. And Sherlock Holmes, in the books, never said, Elementary, my dear Watson. (But, then, he never smoked a calabash pipe, either.) Beatrice Hall, who wrote a biography of Voltaire admitted that he never said, I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. He did say, Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too, but that doesnt imply anything to die for.

In other instances, a common way to misquote is to attribute a statement to the author when it was something said by a character in a play, poem, or book. Famously, Shakespeare didnt say, First, lets kill all the lawyers. It was Dick the Butchers line in Henry VI, Part 2. Greta Garbos character in Grand Hotel said, I want to be alone, but Garbo never did. There are sources that quote her as saying, I want to be left alone, but theres a world of difference. Anyone who hates dogs and little children cant be all bad, wasnt said by W.C. Fields. It was said about him by Leo Rosten. [For other good examples, Google Words Used Right No. 5: An Accurate Quote Can Be a Misquote.]

Probably the most frequent way to misquote is to change the wording slightly as in Winston Churchills We have nothing to give but blood, sweat, and tears. [The line: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.] or Alfred Hitchcocks Actors are cattle. [The line: Sometimes, actors need to be treated like cattle.] Lines from movies are notoriously misquoted. Many of the misquotes have become part of the culture. Bogarts Play it again, Sam. [The line: You played it for her. You can play it for me. If she can stand it, I can. Play it! Play it, Sam.], Cagneys "You dirty rat, you." [The line: Mmm, that dirty, double-crossin' rat.], Weissmullers Me Tarzan. You Jane. [The line: Jane. Tarzan. Jane. Tarzan.], and Dumbrilles "We have ways of making you talk." [The line: We have ways of making men talk.] get cited all the time, but theyre close to the actual lines and dont change the intent of what was being said.

When the original intent is changed along with the words, it becomes a question of intellectual honesty. This is often what happens when writers quote the Bible without actually having read it. Money is not the root of all evil. [1 Tim. 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil.] And pride doesnt go before a fall. [Prov. 16: 18-19 Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.]. Sparing the rod has nothing to do with spoiling the child. [Prov. 13:24 He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.]

This kind of misquoting also happens often when historic sources or persons are used to shore up an argument. Does power corrupt as Lord Acton is quoted as saying? Not quite. [The line: Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.] Marx wasnt really comparing religion to drugs, so he didnt call it the opiate of the masses. [The line: Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.] This statement is a bit more subtle than the misquote and not as damning.

The Bard certainly gets his share of being misquoted. Juliet never asked about Romeos location. [The line: Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?] In this usage, wherefore means why, and putting a comma before the last Romeo totally messes with what Shakespeare meant. All Hamlet said was that he was acquainted with Yorick but not how well. [The line: Alas poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio.] And Macbeth didnt need a guide, so he didnt say, Lead on, Macduff. He wanted the fight to start [The line: Lay on, Macduff, and damned be he who first cries, Hold! Enough!]. Sometimes, the misquote seems a bit silly. Shakespeare never mentioned gilding a lily. [The line: To gild refined gold, to paint the lily.] Whats really accomplished by dropping the middle four words? In the same vein, theres Falstaffs actual line, The better part of valour is discretion, not Discretion is the better part of valour, and Gertrudes real words, The lady doth protest too much, methinks, being rendered, Methinks the lady doth protest too much. Why bother to rewrite Shakespeare if youre going to say the same thing?

So, why do writers do it? For political correctness as when Congreves Music has charms to soothe savage breast gets cleaned up to soothe the savage beast? Or could it simply be ignorance and indifference? I dont know, and I dont care. I do know, though, that if you want to be taken seriously as a writer, you need to check your sources and not rely on hearsayno matter how many times you hear someone say it. Who knows, we may discover some day that Nathan Hales last words were actually, I was misquoted.

Bill Moore is the author of Write Rite Right. This compendium of homophones, homonyms, and frequently misapplied words is a necessary resource for anyone who writes for others to read. (Available on backoftheroom.com, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com)Chantal Blog73242
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