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Quote, misquote

(38 Posts)
Nonu Sun 02-Sept-12 15:48:29

Me neither , what book was that in ? I have most of his .

Anagram Sun 02-Sept-12 15:46:56

That's interesting, johanna, about PG Wodehouse. I've never heard of an alternative source for the phrase before.

johanna Sun 02-Sept-12 15:41:03

"Elementary my dear Watson" is from P.G Wodehouse.

The closest to " Beam me up Scotty " is " Beam us up Mr. Scott " , by Gene Rodden berry, creator of Startrek.

" We really have everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language". Oscar Wilde.

Greatnan Sun 02-Sept-12 14:50:07

'Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?' is usually quoted correctly but with the wrong emphasis. Juliet is not asking where he is, but why he belongs to the wrong family, so no pause is required before the final word.

Hamlet does not say 'Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well' but 'Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio'.

Nelliemoser Sun 02-Sept-12 14:08:55

Just Googled "two nations divided". It it seems most widely attribited to GBS. It probably wasn't in any of his published works. From what I understand about him he wasnt one to ever resist the opportunity to make a cynical pronouncement of any sort.

Nelliemoser Sun 02-Sept-12 14:02:32

I thought "two nations divided by a common language" was George Bernard Shaw!

dorsetpennt Sun 02-Sept-12 13:48:32

I thought it was Winston Churchill who said 'countries divided by a common language' thingmy.

feetlebaum Sun 02-Sept-12 13:23:41

Credited in a 1905 biography to James McNeil Whistler.

jeni Sun 02-Sept-12 13:15:14

Does anyone know?

Mamie Sun 02-Sept-12 13:12:55

I think it was the other way round. Oscar said "I wish I had said that" and the friend said "You will, Oscar, you will."
Whether it is true or not I have no idea.

jeni Sun 02-Sept-12 13:08:37

Was it Oscar Wilde who replied to a friends comment ' I wish I'd said that' with 'you will'?

NfkDumpling Sun 02-Sept-12 12:54:22

Good quotes to quote though. Somebody should have said them.

absentgrana Sun 02-Sept-12 12:45:33

We've just been having jolly japes about Edmund Burke on the thread about Who is god? strangely enough. A few more common misquotations or misattributions spring to mind.

Probably the best-known misquote in the English language is "Elementary, my dear Watson, elementary." Conan Doyle didn't write it and Sherlock Holmes didn't say it.

Captain Kirk never said "Beam me up Scotty".

"England and America are two countries divided by a common language" does not appear anywhere in any of George Bernard Shaw's works.