At This Time There Are Plenty Of Misused Popular Sayings

By Felice Greenidge


Anyone with a regular Internet presence loves utilizing famous quotes in their status updates and video comments. Unfortunately, it is all too common that these armchair intellectuals fail to research the quote they post, and they have either misquoted, or given credit for the quote to the wrong person. This frequently ignites flame wars among complete strangers.

Not only does it spark absurd controversy, but it creates opportunities for bullies to harass and embarrass others. The Internet culture has come to regard these people as trolls, and they can be difficult to ignore at times. When a troll goes trolling, it is their absolute goal to make people look foolish or stupid, or to otherwise bully someone they view as weak or intellectually inferior.

Many quotations are simply quoted incorrectly, and some of these have been done wrong for so long people do not even realize it. A good example comes from the Wizard of Oz where what is attributed to the character Dorothy is not exactly what she said in the movie. These misquotes are frequently seen where one is quoting a book which states something slightly different than the movie.

Using statements made by famous people in history can, at times, express a thought more clearly than a person is able to on their own. These statements become part of the myth of the culture, even when they are misquoted. At times, the statement changes with the culture, as the misquote is more pertinent to modern life than the original statement.

This happens often when people quote philosophers or scientists from ancient times. Sometimes a misquote comes from a simple loss of meaning the translation from their original language to modern languages. There is truly no harm in these misquotes, although trolls will start endless drama on the Internet over even the most simple misstatement.

Their behavior is generally simply bullying, and the only thing a person can do is ignore them. Over the years, many people have turned away from social networking or making commentary on the Internet in order to avoid these bullies. Trolls are usually pathetic individuals who have nothing better to do than go out of their way to humiliate and argue with strangers.

The problem of bullying has become so great that some groups are attempting to change the rules, requiring that people give their real names. They are attempting to remove the anonymity which has for so long allowed for bullying. This can certainly lesson some of the trolling that has become so commonplace.

For those wanting to avoid giving the trolls something to feed on, simply doing a quick search before using famous quotes can prevent some problems. Not only is it important to make certain to get the quote correct, but it is helpful to make certain that credit for the quote is given to the correct person. Better to put the trolls in their place than to be embarrassed by them.




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