Hundreds of pithy remarks from "Let them eat cake" to "Elementary, my dear Watson", turn out to be adaptations of comments that were more clumsy or more boring - or which were never said by those thought to have coined them.
The list includes many supposedly historical lines, such as Napoleon's "Not tonight Josephine", but also covers modern icons including Star Trek. No one ever said "Beam me up Scotty",
What they didn't say
James Callaghan, 1979 "Crisis? What crisis?"
What he really said: "I don't think other people in the world would share the view that there is mounting chaos."
Changed by The Sun
Mr Spock "It's life, Jim, but not as we know it."
What he really said: "No life as we know it."
Changed by The Firm in Star Trekkin
We knew some of them and not others. I wonder whether "There's Klingons on the starboard bow" is in there too.
Beam me up Scotty - and misquote me for better effect | News | Guardian Unlimited Books: Filed in: misquotes, quotes
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