"Nice Guys Finish Seventh": False Phrases, Spurious Sayings, and Familiar Misquotations.Keyes has written a fascinating text which takes a critical look at many familiar quotations that have become commonplace in our daily conversations. Working from the premise that "misquotes drive out real quotes," the author has discovered three types of misquotations A famous misquotation is a well-known phrase attributed to someone who either did not actually say it in that form of words, or did not say it at all. It may not be known how these phrases came about, but when possible, their type of origin is noted in this way: Quotations that we have taken for granted Adj. 1. taken for granted - evident without proof or argument; "an axiomatic truth"; "we hold these truths to be self-evident" axiomatic, self-evident obvious - easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind; "obvious errors" such as: "The bigger they are, the harder they fall," "Win one for the Gipper," "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated," and "Damn the torpedoes Damn the torpedoes is a well-known quotation that has passed into popular culture. The original quotation was by U.S. Navy Admiral David Farragut during the Battle of Mobile Bay, during the American Civil War. -- full speed ahead," are a few of the hundreds of quotations dissected dis·sect·ed adj. 1. Botany Divided into many deep, narrow segments: dissected leaves. 2. Geology Cut by irregular valleys and hills. Adj. 1. by Keyes which for one reason or another aren't accurate or are falsely attributed. This is a readable and enjoyable book. W. E. C. |
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