apocryphal = archetypal? unbelievable?

[Garson O'Toole]

I think Roger A. Beaumont was attempting to say the following:
Sergeant York is an historical figure, and Hollywood told his story in
a film; however, they altered the story. The inaccuracies in the
Hollywood version heighten the drama and sharpen the didacticism in a
way that is reminiscent of apocryphal storytelling. Yet, the framework
of the story has an accurate historical base. Hence, the Hollywood
version of Sergeant York is "almost apocryphal".

I am not trying to justify the use of the phrase "almost apocryphal".
I am simply but presenting one interpretation. I believe this
interpretation is similar to what Laurence Horn is saying. The
Hollywood film version is "almost too good to be true". It also fits
James Harbeck's comment somewhat: the movie version is the "legendary"
version.

Garson

On Sun, Feb 7, 2010 at 11:28 PM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: apocryphal = archetypal? unbelievable?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Good enough for me, James. "Legendary" (in the sportscaster sense) is almost
> midway between "unbelievable" and "archetypal."
>
> If "infamous" can switch polarity, "apocryphal" can go sidewise
>
> JL
>
> On Sun, Feb 7, 2010 at 11:19 PM, James Harbeck <jharbeck at sympatico.ca>wrote:
>
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       James Harbeck <jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA>
>> Subject:      Re: apocryphal = archetypal? unbelievable?
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Perhaps tangentially (or perhaps relevantly), I've recently seen
>> "apocryphal" used of incidents known by the user to have occurred to
>> mean "famous" or "legendary" or similar; Google "is now apocryphal",
>> "is now almost apocryphal", "has become apocryphal", and similar to
>> get some possibles for this. I didn't happen to record the specific
>> instance I saw it in most recently, alas.
>>
>> James Harbeck.
>>
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>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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