I think of what we call “a quote”
And what are it’s component parts
That make it what it is
One: someone thinks some kind of thought
Two: they put it into words
Three: we then repeat it back
Yet oddly, on the Internet
So many quotes presented here
Lack one or more of these attributes
Most commonly, they never said or wrote
What we contend they did
These are “false attributions”
Or we repeat back what they said
But change it in the telling
These are called “misquotes”
Or even that they said something
But weren’t the ones who thought it up
Like actors reading lines
A quote is something someone thought up
Said or wrote, repeated back
If one or more of these things we lack
It’s not that person’s freaking quote
And yes – I’m guilty of it, too
And you can quote me on that
