misquote

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Many catchphrases and allusive expressions are based on altered forms of literary quotations. The proverb Every dog has his day is based on a 16th century adage translated from the Dutch humanist Erasmus (1500) and was given currency by a line spoken by Shakespeare's Hamlet:

Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat shall mew, and dog will have his day—Shakespeare, Hamlet, v.i.286.

The idiom to escape by the skin of one's teeth is an altered form of the Authorized Version of Job 19:20: I am escaped with the skin of my teeth. Idiom and allusion go their own way in language; however, it is important to give the correct form when the allusion is given as a quotation. The following table lists the correct forms of some of the more common literary extracts, with the popular versions alongside:

quotation	popular form	source
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread	by the sweat of one's brow	Bible, Genesis 3:19
I am escaped with the skin of my teeth	to escape by the skin of one's teeth	Bible, Job 19:20
To gild refined gold, to paint the lily	to gild the lily	Shakespeare, King John
A goodly apple rotten at the heart	rotten at the core	Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice
But yet I'll make assurance double sure	doubly sure	Shakespeare, Macbeth
Tomorrow to fresh woods and pastures new	fresh fields and pastures new	Milton, Lycidas
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way	the even tenor	Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard
A little learning is a dangerous thing	a little knowledge	Pope, Essay on Criticism
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft a-gley	the best-laid plans	Burns, 'To a Mouse'
Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink	And not a drop to drink	Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat	blood, sweat, and tears	Winston Churchill, Hansard, 1940

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See words rhyming with "misquote."

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr., -
v. intr. - fejlcitere
n. - fejlcitat

Nederlands (Dutch)
verkeerd citeren

Français (French)
v. tr. - citer à faux, citer inexactement, citer (un auteur) inexactement
v. intr. - citer inexactement, citer à faux
n. - inexactitude, citation inexacte

Deutsch (German)
v. - falsch zitieren
n. - etw. ungenau zitieren

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - αλλοιώνω λεχθέντα ή γραφέντα, αποδίδω ή παραθέτω ανακριβώς

Italiano (Italian)
citare erroneamente

Português (Portuguese)
v. - citar (texto) incorretamente

Русский (Russian)
неправильно цитировать

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - citar incorrectamente
v. intr. - citar incorrectamente
n. - cita falsa o equivocada

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - felcitera

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
误引, 引错, 引用错误

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 誤引
v. intr. - 引錯
n. - 引用錯誤

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 잘못 인용하다
v. intr. - 잘못 인용하다
n. - 잘못된 인용

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 誤った引用
v. - 間違って引用する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يسيء في الاقتباس,‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮טעה בציטוט‬
v. intr. - ‮ציטט לא נכון‬
n. - ‮טעות בציטוט‬

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