The History Of What We're Saying Phrased And Confused From Eli Burnstein

Eli Burnstein's PHRASED & CONFUSED: The Curious Meanings of Timeless Quotations explores the fascinating stories behind the world's most famous quotes: above all, those we commonly misunderstand.Did you know that "The road less traveled" has nothing to do with actually taking the road less traveled, for instance?Or that Carpe diem is more accurately translated as "Pluck the day"?As for Marie Antoinette's infamous "Let them eat cake," it predated her birth by over a century (and she never said it at all)And did you know that money isn't "the root of all evil," if we read St. Paul closely?Or that his New Testament phrase "vengeance is mine" is paradoxically all about peace?How is it that "the exception proves the rule"? Shouldn't it do the opposite? There's a fun story here that goes all the way back to Cicero.Eli Burnstein also unpacks the meanings behind such iconic and rich quotations as "I think therefore I am," "The medium is the message," "Beauty is truth, truth beauty," and "A rose is a rose is a rose."In Phrased & Confused, Burnstein (contributor to publications including The New Yorker and McSweeney's Internet Tendency and host of the popular event "Spelling Bee") takes readers on a lively, thought‑provoking tour of some of history's most enduring quotations, unpacking the ideas, contexts, and curiosities behind the words we think we know so well. Familiar phrases reveal unexpected depth when examined a little more closely.With clarity, wit, and a gift for explanation, Burnstein explores how timeless quotations came to carry such weight-and why they continue to resonate, confuse, and provoke debate centuries after they were first written.

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