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More likely Knuth made an earnest comment about being impressed about reading all his books. That comment was then misinterpreted as sarcasm, which is what the
by jsmith45 8y ago
More likely Knuth made an earnest comment about being impressed about reading all his books.
That comment was then misinterpreted as sarcasm, which is what the folklore author remembered. Later having forgotten the words, and only remembering the mistaken interpretation's overall feel, it was paraphrased, poorly.