Yes, But Is It Apocryphal?

'apocryphal': well known, but probably false

Many well known things can turn out to be apocryphal. It's not unusual at all. It could be as simple as a fraudulent advertising slogan (at least back in the past when people did believe advertising), or a story about a famous statesman's early life, or very commonly a historical point which never actually happened. The apocryphal quote is a classic example, it being a quote which the person or character involved never actually said. For example, these quotes are apocryphal:

"Beam me up, Scotty." -- Captain Kirk;
"Elementary, my dear Watson." -- Sherlock Holmes;
"Markets can stay wrong for longer than you can stay solvent." -- Adam Smith;
"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." -- Sigmund Freud.

Yes, the quotes are wrong, but they're still famous and mean something. So, does it matter if the quote is true or not? Well, it's good to know if they were actually said, but they still function as worthy aphorisms in any case. Oh, those aphorisms are what make the world go around.

The word 'apocryphal' is heavily linked to its original use, in defining the books that were declared 'wrong' and were excised from the Bible as 'The Apocrypha' as a result. Yes, there were bits cut out of that sacred tome, and then re-included in some rare ancient versions! Whatever we might feel about religion, the Bible is one of a small number of books to have been in print for more than a thousand years, and it was censored several times!

Even as a principled agnostic, it can not be denied that the Bible has definite historical importance and immense significance. Why do you think that 'library' is called `bibliotheque' in French? I would be amazed if library didn't have cognates in other languages. What an interesting thought. Would 'library' in Hebrew be based in the word 'Tanakh'?

Ah, it's good to think from time to time, especially after a few hard days. It's also rather nice to be able to break down a blog into something much nice by adapting a text from an English lesson...

O.