Unattributed quote? misquote?

[maradnu]

I hit the following as an unattributed quote:

"Water, water everywhere...but not a drop to drink "
— Unattributed

This is a misquotation from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

[smoochie222]

Depends

It could be right, it depends on who translated it. There are so many times that it says unattributed and I know who may have first said it

[maradnu]

Depends?

Translate? Depends on how you define that.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was English and wrote "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" in English, albeit sometimes archaic English.

Actually the 1798 version, according to one website, had the verse:

Water, water every where,
Ne any drop to drink.

Most versions will now render the "ne" as "nor".

The title from 1798 was rendered as: "The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere".

[smoochie222]

Yes, Translation

It's like Bible versions.

[maradnu]

Translation?

You do understand that the Bible was not written in English?

It was written in ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. The Bible indeed must be translated, and while there is a great deal of research and commentary to guide those translations, they are true translations from one language to another.

Coleridge, like Shakespeare, wrote in semi-modern English, sometimes using words that are no longer in common use in the present day. One may substitute the occasional modern word for the archaic one, but I would not think of that as a translation. Chaucer is a different matter, since he wrote in middle English and his word forms, words, etc are materially different from modern English.

[smoochie222]

The Last Word

You can now have the last word.

[cayot]

Another

Today I came across the following:

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
- Unattributed

I realize this is not the complete bible verse (John 8:7, I think). Translations vary, but this seems a contracted version of a very well known verse.

[munchlet]

One may substitute the occasional modern word for the archaic one, but I would not think of that as a translation.

Maradnu,

Would you call it a paraphrase then?

Water, water everywhere... but not a drop to drink.

My grandmother often spoke these words, exactly as quoted above. Most likely she heard the expression in her youth (early 20th century).

So I think this unattributed version gained a life of its own, long ago, independent of its source.

Then again... I never knew the exact quotation or whence it came. Only the vernacular corruption.

Thank you!

Andrea

[maradnu]

misquote

Paraphrase is a fair description.

Being old enough to have studied Rime of the Ancient Mariner in school, I remembered the source.

[munchlet]

Being old enough to have studied Rime of the Ancient Mariner in school, I remembered the source.

Old enough, too, not to dangle your participles or misplace modifiers.

We must be a dying breed.

I learned grammar but somehow missed English lit.

If only I could have foreseen how memorizing literary classics would prove advantageous 40 years later while solving cryptograms...

[MrsWheezer]

Thought I'd jump in with another unattributed quote.

'Jam tomorrow and jam yesterday - but never jam today' is a Lewis Carroll quote from Through the Looking Glass.

Complete quote:

`The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday -- but never jam
today.'

[impededredwood]

What the

That seems to be quite a contradiction, since yesterday's jam was today's jam yesterday, and tomorrow's jam will be today's jam tomorrow. But such contradiction seemed to be the rule for many of the characters of Wonderland, and the intention of Lewis Carroll. Here's a quote that I've encountered on this site that seems to contradict:

"Love conquers all, but if love doesn't do it, try hard work "
— Unattributed

If love conquers all, then naturally there would be no instances where "love doesn't do it." Unlike Lewis Carroll, this quote seems to be poorly said unintentionally. That's probably why it's unattributed--s/he doesn't seem to have been a great thinker. Can anyone else contribute to this thread a contradictory quote they have seen on this site?

[bansaisequoia]

Huh

Take a look at this misattribution I just found:

"Source: Pope John Paul XXIII"



Only twenty-one more to go!

[bansaisequoia]

Misquote

And how about this one:

"Whoever said Marriage is a 5-5 proposition laid the foundation for more divorce fees than any other short sentence in our language."
— Austin Elliot



No wonder there are so many divorces. People are really slacking off if all they give is 5 instead of 50.



I definitely don't want a spouse who will just give me five.

[smoochie222]

Wondering

"Dream the impossible dream, Fight the unbeatable foe, Strive with your last ounce of courage To reach the unreachable star. "

This was listed as unattributed, isn't it by Cervantes or is it lyrics from Man of La Mancha? Then it should be attributed to Joe Darion. Just wondering...