Quote: It is difficult to predict, especially the future (variant in English 1956) (attrib Neils Bohr 1971); Question about Danish text

[Garson O'Toole]

Douglas G. Wilson wrote
> I will just note that the 1918 citation in the blog lacks the
> "especially" (Danish "især" or "navnlig") and therefore is presumably
> irrelevant since the sentence is then just "It is difficult to predict
> the future" or so, which is unremarkable and doubtless said many times
> in various languages long before. E.g., here is a Danish example from 1897:
>
> <<Det er vanskeligt at spaa om Fremtiden.>>
>
> http://tinyurl.com/435ym4n
>
> (p. 108)
>
> The 1930's story seems to be simply an assertion by K. K. Steincke. The
> Steincke book is apparently _Farvel og Tak_ (1948).

Thank you very much Doug. It appears that Steincke's 1948 book is
still the key reference in Danish.

Here is another citation detailing the transition to English from
Danish. This 1961 version uses the word "difficult" instead of
"dangerous" or "hazardous".

Cite: 1961 December, The Journal of Medical Education, "Medical
Education in Denmark" by H. H. Wandall, Start Page 1059, Quote Page
1069, Column 2, Volume 36, Association of American Medical Colleges.
(Verified on paper)

"It is difficult to prophesy, particularly about the future," as one
of our humorists once expressed himself.

The author of the article is identified as Director of Institute for
Experimental Research in Surgery, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Garson

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org