“Play it again, Sam". Isn't this the famous line from the film ‘Casablanca’?
No. It's not. Or that's what I came to know.
This line, though supposedly from that film, was never a part of its script. And it was never uttered on screen. The actress Ingrid Bergman actually said something slightly different. But, people just kept misquoting it, to fame!
I had watched the original classic, the black-and-white movie, ‘Casablanca’ five times, maybe twenty five years ago. But I could have sworn I heard her say - "Play it again, Sam."
But now, thanks to YouTube, I searched and found the film’s video clip. And I now know the minor difference, and the correct phrase, from the original.
I quickly did some investigation into 'famous misquotes', and was startled to find many many more!
Lines from books and movies, politics and literature, can be altered completely out of shape, and sometimes be even misattributed to a wrong person.
"Elementary, My Dear Watson", is a misquote! Yes. You heard me right. It is not in any of those Sherlock Holmes' books! The creator of this famous fictional detective, Sir Arthur Canon Doyle had not, in any of his books, used that phrase. Even once!
But how did this line become so famous? Well, such is the mystery of misquotation. It is said that the phrase "Elementary, My Dear Watson", first appeared in a film review in the New York Times, on October 19, 1929. And people have been using it ever since.
Star Trek fans would say "Beam me up, Scotty" was a great line too. But that's another misquote. The closest that Captain Kirk, the head of ‘Starship Enterprise’ ever came to it was an occasional, "Beam us up, Mr Scott".
Many people believe that Mahatma Gandhi said: "If someone slaps you on one cheek, show him the other". But they are unaware that Gandhi himself was quoting Jesus Christ who said it in the Sermon on the Mount. The correct quote was actually this: "If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:39)
But, hang on. There are more historical misquotes. Did you know that Queen Marie Antoinette never said: "If they have no bread, let them eat cake!" And that Machiavelli never said: "The ends justify the means" but it was the Roman poet Ovid who did. Or that Murphy - of Murphy's law - never said, "If anything can go wrong, it will"?
Even the quote attributed to Mark Twain, "The only two certainties in life are death and taxes," should correctly be attributed to Benjamin Franklin who said it first.
Misquotations and misattributions can be primarily ascribed to journalists and speakers who don't always get their facts right.
Unlike in the olden days when word-of-mouth and passing-on-of-information-from-person-to-person was prevalent, today's editors and journalists can actually verify things, more easily. And they should.
With the plethora of web content now available, one cannot simply believe everything in cyberspace.
Of late, I am receiving Whatsapp picture forwards with quotations by famous people. But a bit of research showed me that they never said those lines; in any of their verifiable books, speeches or interviews.
Integrity is a beautiful word. And it must be applied in writing too. Just having good Google search skills, excellent Adobe Photoshop skills, and a huge social media network, does it give anyone the licence to distort Truth?
After all, “Social media like Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp will make our new generation immoral and irresponsible,” said Mahatma Gandhi.
Oh, Did he? Or didn’t he?
No. It's not. Or that's what I came to know.
This line, though supposedly from that film, was never a part of its script. And it was never uttered on screen. The actress Ingrid Bergman actually said something slightly different. But, people just kept misquoting it, to fame!
I had watched the original classic, the black-and-white movie, ‘Casablanca’ five times, maybe twenty five years ago. But I could have sworn I heard her say - "Play it again, Sam."
I quickly did some investigation into 'famous misquotes', and was startled to find many many more!
Lines from books and movies, politics and literature, can be altered completely out of shape, and sometimes be even misattributed to a wrong person.
"Elementary, My Dear Watson", is a misquote! Yes. You heard me right. It is not in any of those Sherlock Holmes' books! The creator of this famous fictional detective, Sir Arthur Canon Doyle had not, in any of his books, used that phrase. Even once!
But how did this line become so famous? Well, such is the mystery of misquotation. It is said that the phrase "Elementary, My Dear Watson", first appeared in a film review in the New York Times, on October 19, 1929. And people have been using it ever since.
Star Trek fans would say "Beam me up, Scotty" was a great line too. But that's another misquote. The closest that Captain Kirk, the head of ‘Starship Enterprise’ ever came to it was an occasional, "Beam us up, Mr Scott".
Many people believe that Mahatma Gandhi said: "If someone slaps you on one cheek, show him the other". But they are unaware that Gandhi himself was quoting Jesus Christ who said it in the Sermon on the Mount. The correct quote was actually this: "If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:39)
But, hang on. There are more historical misquotes. Did you know that Queen Marie Antoinette never said: "If they have no bread, let them eat cake!" And that Machiavelli never said: "The ends justify the means" but it was the Roman poet Ovid who did. Or that Murphy - of Murphy's law - never said, "If anything can go wrong, it will"?
Even the quote attributed to Mark Twain, "The only two certainties in life are death and taxes," should correctly be attributed to Benjamin Franklin who said it first.
Misquotations and misattributions can be primarily ascribed to journalists and speakers who don't always get their facts right.
Unlike in the olden days when word-of-mouth and passing-on-of-information-from-person-to-person was prevalent, today's editors and journalists can actually verify things, more easily. And they should.
With the plethora of web content now available, one cannot simply believe everything in cyberspace.
Of late, I am receiving Whatsapp picture forwards with quotations by famous people. But a bit of research showed me that they never said those lines; in any of their verifiable books, speeches or interviews.
Integrity is a beautiful word. And it must be applied in writing too. Just having good Google search skills, excellent Adobe Photoshop skills, and a huge social media network, does it give anyone the licence to distort Truth?
After all, “Social media like Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp will make our new generation immoral and irresponsible,” said Mahatma Gandhi.
Oh, Did he? Or didn’t he?
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