It started with a book that I was reading in which the author used the
phrase, “to mulch it over” in describing the contemplation by a character.
Suffice it to say that this writer will never win an award as the world’s best
author. The phrase she was trying to use was “to mull it over.” This got me to
thinking of some of the most common literary misquotes that I know.
Here’s a few.
See if you can give the
actual quote. Answers can be found at the very end of this blog.
1.
"Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to
drink!” resulted from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s
Rime
of the Ancient Mariner meaning that the speaker was at sea with salt water
surrounding them but none of the water is fit to drink.
2.
"Pride cometh before a fall” originated from
The
Bible Psalms 16:18 meaning that a person who becomes so full of pride
becomes arrogant which often leads to disappointment due to wrong decisions.
3.
“Elementary, my dear Watson” attributed to the
fictional character, Sir Sherlock Holmes, in reply to his assistant, Watson.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s
The
Return of Sherlock Holmes is the key to this misquote.
4.
“Find a penny, pick it up” stems from the first line of
a poem in the children’s book,
The
Real Mother Goose. This simplistic misquote is actually a
mondegreen, meaning that the phrase is misheard, thus misspoken.
5.
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” is derived
from William Congreve’s play,
The
Mourning Bride. Angering a lady could be trouble!
6.
"At one fatal swoop” is a misquote from
Shakespeare’s
MacBeth.
The phrase is about a hawk diving to kill its prey, and is not about a death
fall. What’s the real quote?
7.
"Abandon hope, all ye who enter here” developed
from Dante’s
Inferno
where the inscriptions on the gates of Hell have the slightly changed, but
greatly different literary inscription.
8.
“Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast” arose
from William Congreve’s play,
The
Mourning Bride where one would have trouble finding that musically
inclined monster.
9.
“Theirs but to do or die” is a subtle change from
Alfred Lord Tennyson’s
The
Charge of the Light Brigade. This poem is a memorial to a suicidal
military charge by British soldiers during the Crimean War. Given this
information, can you guess what the correct quote is?
10. “Open
says-a-me!” seems a reasonable phrase for Ali Baba to use to open the cave of
treasures in
Ali
Baba and the Forty Thieves, however the correct phrase might make you
hungry. What’s the phrase?
Answers:
1.
“Water, water
everywhere, nor any drop to drink.
2.
“Pride goeth before
destructions and an haughty spirit before a fall.” KJV
3.
“Excellent!” I cried
“Elementary” said he.
4.
“Find a penny and pick
it up.”
5.
"Heaven has a rage
like love to hatred turned. / Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.”
6.
“At one fell swoop”
7.
“Abandon all hope, ye
who enter here.”
8.
“Music hath charms to
soothe the savage breast.”
9.
“Theirs but to do and
die.”
10. Open sesame!”
