Conference thebay::joyoflex

516.0. "How "correct" should a paraphrase be?" by AKOV11::BOYAJIAN (Monsters from the Id) Wed May 04 1988 09:49

    509.8  (SSDEVO::GOLDSTEIN)
    
    �Or, to paraphrase Mr Bumble: If that's what Harbrace says, then
    Harbrace is an ass.�
    
    509.10  (AKOV11::BOYAJIAN)
    
    �If you're going to paraphrase Mr. Bumble, at least do it
    correctly:
    
    �"If that's what Harbrace says, then Harbrace is a ass."�
    
    509.12  (SSDEVO::GOLDSTEIN)
    
    �I think you've raised nit picking to a new level.
    
    �If you're going to correct the paraphrase, at least do it right.
    Mr Bumble said "If that's what the law expects, then the law is a
    ass."                                  ^^^^^^^
    
    �This raises an interesting question: when is a paraphrase to be
    considered incorrect?  In so far as a paraphrase is a rewording,
    doesn't the paraphraser have the option of choosing which words
    to change?�
    
    ****************************************************************
        
    Yes, it's "nit picking to a new level". But...
    
    When I wrote that note, I, too, asked myself, "How faithful should
    a paraphraser have to be to the original, given the very nature
    of paraphrasing?" Clearly, it's a matter of choice, for reasons
    similar to those so eloquently put by Bonnie in 509.11.
    
    However, I think Mr. Bumble's incorrect article is what makes
    that exclamation so quotable, and to paraphrase it without that
    "mistake" removes the very heart from it. If you'd just said your
    line without reference to Bumble, I would've simply smiled at the
    allusion and read on. But there's no point to referring to Bumble
    if you're not going to perpetuate his error. It's just not Bumble's
    line without the mistake.
    
    --- jerry

    So if you agree that the words the paraphraser selects is "a matter
    of choice," then you recant your statement that my paraphrase is
    incorrect.
    
    I think the incorrect article is the least interesting thing about
    Bumble's statement.  He always speaks in the vernacular, and the
    statement in question is no different in that respect from others
    that he makes.  What makes the statement interesting and so often
    quoted and paraphrased is that he did not apply the appelation 'ass'
    to a person as one would expect, but rather to an institution or
    an abstract entity.  That's what makes Bumble's statement so much
    fun; it points up his frustration and incredulity.
    
    Bernie

    Now that the matter has been rattling around in my brain for a while,
    I think what Bumble said was "If the law supposes that, the law
    is a ass."
    
    Bernie

    To quote Bartlett's:
    
    "If the law supposes that," said Mr. Bumble 
    ..."the law is a ass, a idiot."
                
    This is a tough call.  If the quote being paraphrased is
    very familiar, then wide variations from the original
    will still probably convey the flavor of the original.
    
    If, however, the quote is less familiar, then closer
    adherence is probably necessary.  I'm not sure where
    this quote fits;  my personal preference is to continue
    the misteak [sic].
    
    					andrew