Most misquoted quotes...

[Cecil Terwilliger]

One that I was unsure about myself when I was younger was "play it by ear". I was never sure if it was ear or year.

[DropIt]

My mother is an English teacher, so I inherited a few.

The worst is 'stupidest'

The second worst is ' me, tom and steve' instead of ' tom, steve and I'

However I'm not the ***hole that corrects people on it

[DropIt]

Also, 'Literally'

' That is like, literally, the biggest house evar'

[worth]

NSFW!

[flizzenflozz]

'Elevating people on a paddle stool.' (sic)

Which poster uttered those words and was in the signature of another poster? Anyone know?

[burnin_vernon]

Originally Posted by rubecube

"I could care less."

Jesus Christ, people, read what you've just written and try to explain to yourselves how it makes any god damn sense!

MANY people screw this one up. Even people who are otherwise completely credible and/or book-smart make this mistake. I've also heard it in a few songs. The first one that comes to mind is "Jesus of Suburbia" by Green Day.

[MoneyGuy]

Neil Armstrong said, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Apparently, he messed it up. He meant to say, "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." If you think about it, this one makes far more sense. Maybe the excitement of stepping onto the moon got to him. Either that or he was thinking, 'Crap, I hope get off this rock.'

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Neil Armstrong said, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Apparently, he messed it up. He meant to say, "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." If you think about it, this one makes far more sense. Maybe the excitement of stepping onto the moon got to him. Either that or he was thinking, 'Crap, I hope get off this rock.'

I see almost no difference. What he actually said is more of an abstract reference to his step, while the other is more specific.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

I see almost no difference. What he actually said is more of an abstract reference to his step, while the other is more specific.

I see a big difference. Man generally indicates all people, whereas a man means one man.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by DropIt

My mother is an English teacher, so I inherited a few.

The worst is 'stupidest'

The second worst is ' me, tom and steve' instead of ' tom, steve and I'

However I'm not the ***hole that corrects people on it

"Me, Tom and Steve" is correct in they are the object of the sentence.

"Tom, Steve and I" is correct if they are the subject.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

I see a big difference. Man generally indicates all people, whereas a man means one man.

But he didn't mean one small step for all people, he meant a small step for himself.

It wasn't a small step for all man it was a small step for one man.

Adding the "a" just makes it a little more specific, while leaving it as man makes it more ambiguous.

[jar_e]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Neil Armstrong said, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Apparently, he messed it up. He meant to say, "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." If you think about it, this one makes far more sense. Maybe the excitement of stepping onto the moon got to him. Either that or he was thinking, 'Crap, I hope get off this rock.'

I remember watching something on the history channel or PBS or something that said they figured Armstrong actually did say "step for a man" but due to the crappy radio transmissions, it didn't receive properly. I guess its all assumption anyways though.

[Yeah_Baby]

All of this is moot. We didn't really land on the mood anyways.


/tower.

[4X4]

I'm with flip. It makes sense either way.

[Five-hole]

I've got a few.

First, people who say "hunderd" when they mean "hundred". "Yep, got a hunderd dollars fer it." I was watching a highlight package on NHL.com and literally two clips in a row the anchor/PBP-guy said "hunderd".

Speaking of literally, when people say literally and they mean figuratively, which is the exact opposite.

Irregardless. I read that in a published philosophy paper last week.

This new informal language where the subject "I" is omitted from the phrase. Read this one a lot. Related to dropping the definite article in phrases like the dude went home: "Dude went home."

I had a friend who used to say "per batim" when he meant "verbatim". He'd learn something per batim, which I guess means once every batim.

[FlamesAddiction]

There is that famous Al Gore misquote that still persists where people claim that he said he "invented the internet".

What he said was that he took the innitiative in creating the internet... which he did. In the 80s, he sponsored and pushed for legislation to link university, library and other insitutions networks in what became the internet. As Snopes put it, it was no different than Eisenhower saying that he created highway networks... it's totally different than saying he "invented highways".

Not that I want to make it a political debate, but that misquote is bothersome to me.

[stuck_in_chuk]

On the subject of mispronunciations:

My mom says "Sareday" to describe the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. I have never been able to figure that one out, but both of her parents used to say it that way.

I get really annoyed when I hear the word "mischievous", since it is almost always pronounced incorrectly. It has 3 syllables, not 4. However, it is such a common mistake that it has become acceptable to say it with 4 syllables, and those who say it correctly are assumed by everyone else to be an idiot.

Ditto for "lackadaisical". Too many people pronounce it as "laxadaisical".


As for misquotes, there are far too many from the bible. The one I can think of is "Money is the root of all evil", which is a condensed version of the full quote "The love of money is the root of all evil".

I see a big difference. Man generally indicates all people, whereas a man means one man.

I think what you are saying is that, in the context of the quote, 'man' means the same thing as 'mankind', so the way it is quoted suggests that the step was both small and giant for mankind.

[ma-skis.com]

tiny dancer...

it's "tony danza" and he's the damn boss

[rubecube]

Basghetti...SPAGHETTI

[carom]

"Nice guys finish last" from Leo Durocher. He suposably said "Nice guys finish eighth"

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray." is actually from Robert Burns and is interpreted as "The best laid schemes of mice and men go oft astray"

"Rum, sodomy, and the lash" from Winston Churchill. There is no evidence that he ever said this about the British Navy.

"The exception proves the rule"

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism" - was never said by Thomas Jefferson but rather by Howard Zinn in 2002.

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." from Voltaire when he actually said "I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write."

"Survival of the fittest" from Darwin when the closest he actually wrote was "Any variation, however slight...if it be in any degree profitable to an individual of any species...will tend to the preservation of that individual, and will generally be inherited by its offspring"