Russian quotation practice

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Liv Bliss wrote:

> Here's a thought, Paul, that is probably fit for public consumption
> and polite society: Is it possible that your Russian source text
> quoting a published translation from German into Russian, or was your
> author making it up as s/he went along? I often find my authors
> (academics and professional critics all) merrily quoting published
> texts without reference to the original, when it turns out that the
> translation was... errr... highly imaginative. And may well contain
> punctuation horrors of the kind that fatally injured your camel. This
> doesn't help you one bit, really, but for me knowing -- or guessing
> -- what the problem is helps me cope with the fallout.

Well, one of my insightful correspondents pointed out that the distorted 
version of the Kant quote is the one that has become widely known in 
Russian culture. We have similar apocryphal "quotes" that never happened 
or that happened differently in American culture.

Elementary, my dear Watson. (attributed to Sherlock Holmes)

There's a sucker born every minute. (attributed to P.T. Barnum)

A lady came up to me one day and said "Sir! You are drunk," to which I 
replied, "I am drunk today madam, and tomorrow I shall be sober but you 
will still be ugly." (attributed to Winston Churchill)

More here:
<https://learni.st/users/60/boards/83580--let-them-eat-cake-and-other-apocryphal-quotes>
and elsewhere if you google "apocryphal quotes."

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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