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I wonder why the exact words from Adams and Eliot were modified over time by others. Was it malicious (to serve a narrative) or was it an updated reinterpretati
by throwawaysea 7y ago
I wonder why the exact words from Adams and Eliot were modified over time by others. Was it malicious (to serve a narrative) or was it an updated reinterpretation, given that English is brittle and the meanings and connotations of words change over time, demanding such revisions for precision.
- dang 7y agoI think it's usually because memory is faulty and rewrites things, often into a form that's easier to remember. Basically the quotes get polished into proverbs over the years. And of course the attributions get overwritten with catchier ones as well (Davenport -> Picasso).
- pochamago 7y agoPolishing seems like a big factor to me. The modern version is much snappier than "immature poets imitate; mature poets plagiarize"