I
came across the recently published book, Hemingway
Didn’t Say That: The Truth Behind
Familiar Quotations. The author,
Garson O’Toole, founded a website, Quote Investigator that eventually led to
this book. He debunks quotes that were
wrongfully attributed or incorrectly quoted.
In our information era and fake news maelstrom, we need a resource to
correct the record and ensure we operate under a truth-filled Internet.
It’s
interesting to see how errors of quotations a rise. Garson shares a few with us:
1. Misattribution
“A
famous person employs a pre-existing quotation that was originally crafted by a
less famous or anonymous individual. The
quotation is then reassigned to the prominent individual. In essence, the remark is reused and
captured.”
2. Concoctions
“Writers
sometimes do concoct fanciful quotations as colorful asides.”
3. Similar
Names
“An
ascription can jump from one person to another person who shares a similar
name.”
4. Textual
Proximity
“When
a well-known name appears in a book or article, sometimes a nearby quotation
(created by a different person is scooped up and reassigned to the well-known
name. This also occurs when the picture
of a famous person is near a quotation.”
"Over
time things get mistranscribed. Some
purposely change quotes, using poetic license, but some will start quoting that
very incorrect version. Others may shorten quotes or simply misapply them. Our words and texts just get bastardized over
time.”
This
book does a number of things well. It:
·
Highlights some quotes worth repeating.
·
Gives a scrutinizing history of what’s
quoted and shows whether the attribution is correct, the accuracy of the quote,
and in cases where the quote is a result of earlier people saying something
like it we learn exactly how some of the most famous sayings really came to be.
·
Presents other established quotes to
provide a context for judging the quotes in question.
It’s
hard to believe that we may all be misquoting or misattributing these famous
sayings:
“An
eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.
“Behind
every great fortune there is a crime.”
“Better
to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.”
“Genius
is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”
“Life
is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
“Life
is a journey, not a destination.”
“With
great power comes great responsibility.”
“You’ll
worry less about what people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.”
Some
of the biggest names did not say things others claim they did. From Abraham Lincoln and Cicero, to Mark
Twain and Woody Allen, hundreds of quotations circulating today are not exactly
what was said. The Internet can help
correct things – but it also can easily spread misinformation, like a virus
multiplies.
“You
may be shocked by how fragile information is,” says the author, "and I fear
it’s only going to get worse.”
Each
transmission of a quote can sometimes seem to produce cracks in the truth. When familiar quotations and attributions
have been retransmitted over the decades, the text has often changed and the
linkages have shifted. But the modern
age of large-scale databases provides an unprecedented chance to study these
alterations and to correct misinformation.
“The
goal of expunging errors is only one of the attractions, however. Another wonderful aspect of the work involved
in fact-checking attributions of popular sayings is the opportunity to show
other inclined, casual researchers how to set the record right.
“The
textual databases of today are the largest in humankind’s history and they
continue to grow. At the same time,
misinformation can be propagated around the world in milliseconds. Keeping track of who said what is one of the
central tasks of properly recording history. The current generation of
researchers has the tools to correct errors of attribution from the past and
present, but will they respond to the challenge?”
DON”T
MISS THESE!!!
The Fast Book Marketing Start To 2018
Which pros - -not prose -- will you need to succeed this
year?
How can all authors blog with impact?
Big Marketing Lessons From My All-Time Top 10 Blog Posts
Enjoy New 2018 Author Book Marketing & PR Toolkit --
7th annual edition just released
Here are best author-publisher-publishing pro interviews
of 2017
How do authors get on TV?
Study this exclusive author media training video from T J
Walker
Brian Feinblum’s insightful
views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific
blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and
should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him
at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in
the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2018. Born and
raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often
featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.
This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by
Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.