This is the sort of misattribution up with which I shall not put (though that’s an entirely different entry—see above).
We see again and again that certain people seem to be quote magnets. They “say” things they’ve never said. But people associate certain types of profundities and witticisms with specific personalities. In fact, the acknowledgments page of this very book honors a gentleman who has lost bits and pieces of fame because samples of his wit and eloquence have been attributed to his peers.
In this particular entry, we’re discussing (for the moment, anyway) the appropriately named Mr. Wilde (first name, Oscar). As Leo Knowles writes on worldwidereference.com, “Oscar Wilde famously declared that Britain and America were two nations divided by a common language. Actually he didn’t quite say that but he should have done, which is why he is always misquoted.” (I hope I quoted Mr. Knowles correctly. . . . )
For the record, Sir Winston Churchill said “Britain and America are two nations divided by a common language.”
No he didn’t. But Churchill is another quote magnet (also see our Churchill Preposition Witticism Generator on page 109), and has been credited with the “two nations divided” quip. Actually, Bertrand Russell said it.
114
Bill Brohaugh
No he didn’t. He did write in 1944 (in The Saturday Evening Post): “It is a misfortune for Anglo-American friendship that the two countries are supposed to have a common language.” Actually, Dylan Thomas said it.
No he didn’t. He did write that we were “up against the barrier of a common language,” as published in The Listener in 1954. Actually, Oscar Wilde said it. You knew it all along, didn’t you?
Except he didn’t. Wilde’s version in the land of Great Minds Quip Alike is from 1887’s The Canterville Ghost: “We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language.” But it definitely was not George Bernard Shaw who said it.
Well, it likely is Shaw, actually, who said “England and America are two countries separated by the same language.” 41 And you can quote him on that, because he also has been credited with saying, “I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation.”
4 ' Does it ever make you wonder why that quote is never mis-attributed to an American? Or an Australian?