Top 10 most famous political misquotes

[viper37]

Interesting

Sarah Palin didn't see Russia from her backyard and Al Gore never invented the internet.  Shocking!

[BuddhaRhubarb]

The Brain is one of those, something to do with Machiavelli...

[Razgovory]

I actually knew all of these.  Except the Deng one (which I never heard of the original quote to begin with).  I thought everyone knew that these were misattributed. 

The only Deng quote I know of regards cats.

[grumbler]

I have only heard the Stalin and Marie Antoinette sayings actually attributed to those speakers.  The rest are pretty widely known to be untrue, except for the Kennedy quote, which the paper desperately tries to call "bogus" when, in fact, one could, indeed interpret Kennedy as saying he was a jelly doughnut if one ignored context.  The speechwriter who have him the phrase was from Berlin and so had forgotten that, outside Berlin, ein Berliner was, indeed, a jelly doughnut!

[CountDeMoney]

For Christ's sake g, the man's dead.  Leave it be.

[Martinus]

I have only heard the Stalin and Marie Antoinette sayings actually attributed to those speakers.  The rest are pretty widely known to be untrue, except for the Kennedy quote, which the paper desperately tries to call "bogus" when, in fact, one could, indeed interpret Kennedy as saying he was a jelly doughnut if one ignored context.  The speechwriter who have him the phrase was from Berlin and so had forgotten that, outside Berlin, ein Berliner was, indeed, a jelly doughnut!

I fail to see how that is relevant in the context of the explanation offered by the article. "Polka" in Polish means both a female Pole and (when written in low cap) a type of song/music piece originating from the Czech republic, but when we have "Instytut Matki Polki" it is quite clear it means the "Institute of Polish Mothers", and not an institutes of your mother's Czech songs. If a racist panslavist said "I'm a white Russian", it would be obvious he was not referring to a cocktail, etc.

It's just another example of your complete inability to grasp context and nuance in interpersonal communication.

[Slargos]

Why do you let him bait you into argument?

Whatever you do, don't look into his eyes. 

[Martinus]

Why do you let him bait you into argument?

Whatever you do, don't look into his eyes. 

I am not baited really - I just find it funny how when you actually figure out his shtick, it seems like this is less of a trolling pose, and more of a character/personality flaw.

[Zanza]

I have only heard the Stalin and Marie Antoinette sayings actually attributed to those speakers.  The rest are pretty widely known to be untrue, except for the Kennedy quote, which the paper desperately tries to call "bogus" when, in fact, one could, indeed interpret Kennedy as saying he was a jelly doughnut if one ignored context.  The speechwriter who have him the phrase was from Berlin and so had forgotten that, outside Berlin, ein Berliner was, indeed, a jelly doughnut!

As homonyms are pretty obvious to figure out for native speakers, I never got why the English speaking world thinks that he might have said that he is a jelly donut. It was perfectly clear what he wanted to express for Germans, even without context. It's the only interpretation of the sentence that makes sense.

[Slargos]

I have only heard the Stalin and Marie Antoinette sayings actually attributed to those speakers.  The rest are pretty widely known to be untrue, except for the Kennedy quote, which the paper desperately tries to call "bogus" when, in fact, one could, indeed interpret Kennedy as saying he was a jelly doughnut if one ignored context.  The speechwriter who have him the phrase was from Berlin and so had forgotten that, outside Berlin, ein Berliner was, indeed, a jelly doughnut!

As homonyms are pretty obvious to figure out for native speakers, I never got why the English speaking world thinks that he might have said that he is a jelly donut. It was perfectly clear what he wanted to express for Germans, even without context. It's the only interpretation of the sentence that makes sense.

Don't! By striking him down you're making him more powerful than you can ever imagine!

[The Brain]

It's too bad we don't know the exact wording of Hitler's order for the final solution that he never gave.

[grumbler]

I have only heard the Stalin and Marie Antoinette sayings actually attributed to those speakers.  The rest are pretty widely known to be untrue, except for the Kennedy quote, which the paper desperately tries to call "bogus" when, in fact, one could, indeed interpret Kennedy as saying he was a jelly doughnut if one ignored context.  The speechwriter who have him the phrase was from Berlin and so had forgotten that, outside Berlin, ein Berliner was, indeed, a jelly doughnut!

I fail to see how that is relevant in the context of the explanation offered by the article. "Polka" in Polish means both a female Pole and (when written in low cap) a type of song/music piece originating from the Czech republic, but when we have "Instytut Matki Polki" it is quite clear it means the "Institute of Polish Mothers", and not an institutes of your mother's Czech songs. If a racist panslavist said "I'm a white Russian", it would be obvious he was not referring to a cocktail, etc.

It's just another example of your complete inability to grasp context and nuance in interpersonal communication.

Amusingly, I think this is a perfect example of your inability to read and desperate need to attack when hysterical, as well as your complete inability to grasp context and nuance in interpersonal communication

I said that "one could, indeed interpret Kennedy as saying he was a jelly doughnut if one ignored context"  Clearly, in the context his wording made complete sense, and meant that he was, metaphorically, a Berliner like his audience.  He wasn't making a joke, which would be the only context in which "I am a Jelly doughnut" would have made any sense whatever.

[grumbler]

As homonyms are pretty obvious to figure out for native speakers, I never got why the English speaking world thinks that he might have said that he is a jelly donut. It was perfectly clear what he wanted to express for Germans, even without context. It's the only interpretation of the sentence that makes sense.

The word Berliner doesn't mean a jelly doughnut in English, so I think this is likelier a German joke than an English or American one.

No one believes that Kennedy meant that he was a jelly doughnut, insofar as I know.

[Zanza]

The word Berliner doesn't mean a jelly doughnut in English, so I think this is likelier a German joke than an English or American one.

Must be one of those infamous unfunny German jokes then.

[grumbler]

Must be one of those infamous unfunny German jokes then.

I thought "unfunny" was redundant when applied to "German jokes."