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Author Topic: The sincerest form of flattery  (Read 2419 times)

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pmcd9

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« on: March 22, 2005, 03:28:52 am »
I believe I've stumbled across a case of Achewood plagiarism.  I was listening to either Fresh Aire or All Things Considered yesterday morning [ain't I the coolest?] and David Edelstein was reviewing the new Woody Allen movie Melinda and Melinda.  The online version of the review is here.  He summed up his review with this little tidbit "he still can't bring himself to regard comedy as anything but a diversion on the way to the grave."  I seem to recall he said "mirthful diversion" on the radio, but whatever.  Is David Edelstein plagiarizing Chris Onstad?

~Paul
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Bozack

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« Reply #1 on: March 22, 2005, 03:48:06 am »
Hmmmm. I googled "diversion on the way to the grave," and it only brought up two articles, both by Edlenstein, both about Allen. I'm not going to say it's plagiarism or borrowing, but it's not a common phrase.
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jough

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« Reply #2 on: March 22, 2005, 05:34:18 am »
A momentary diversion on the road to the grave was something that Mark Twain wrote about... somethingorother.  Poker maybe?

Anyway, it is definitely NOT an Onstad coinage.
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miles

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« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2005, 06:49:17 am »
Quote from: "jough"
A momentary diversion on the road to the grave was something that Mark Twain wrote about... somethingorother.  Poker maybe?

Anyway, it is definitely NOT an Onstad coinage.


It sounded so familiar to me too when I read it on the site, but I can't find anything much like it on the web.  Really, really familiar though.
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Beatrice

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« Reply #4 on: March 22, 2005, 04:30:35 pm »
Twainage.
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wombat

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« Reply #5 on: March 22, 2005, 05:40:21 pm »
I just searched half a dozen Twain web sites (I'm home sick from work - great thing to do the first week on the job, sigh) and didn't find anything like this.
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pmcd9

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« Reply #6 on: March 22, 2005, 06:16:43 pm »
I've only heard that expression from Onstad, but it does sound very Twainlike and we know Onstad is a fan.  I think the salient point though is did David Edelstein steal it from Twain directly or did he steal it via Onstad?

~Paul
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Franz.

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« Reply #7 on: March 22, 2005, 07:44:35 pm »
It may sound Twainlike, but I can't find any evidence that Twain ever said it or anything close to it, and I was an English major with ways of finding such things.

Anyone?

[ Franz. ]
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slink

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« Reply #8 on: March 22, 2005, 07:49:30 pm »
I had come across it pre-Onstad's usage, but not from any particular source as far as I can recall, only as a phrase used occasionally.
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« Reply #9 on: March 23, 2005, 01:44:06 am »
This is all pointless speculation when a certain person should just stop playing with the new screaming booger and tell us the answer already.
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