リーダーズダイジェスト11月号の "They Never Said That!" と題した記事です。
Someone suggested that the new Spanish-speaking immigrants might benefit from classes taught in their native language. Furious, Ma picked up the King James Version of the New Testament and shouted, "If English was good enough for Jesus, it's good for Texas!"
Ma has been credited with this goofy statement by New York Times columnist William Safire and Texas humourist Kinky Friedman, among others, none of whom has ever cited a source. Of course, that would be difficult. Ma Ferguson was a college-educated progressive, and it's highly unlikely she said it. The yarn, in fact, dates to at least 1881, when Ferguson was six.
演説や新聞記事などで著名人の言葉が引用されることは多いのですが、この引用された言葉を誰が最初に使ったのかについては結構間違いが多いことを話題にした記事です。オバマ大統領やケネディ大統領も演説で間違って引用していると実例をあげていました。 ところで上に引用した最後の文の "yarn" は毛糸では無いのは確かですが、何でしょう。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: the act of giving an account describing incidents or a course of events
・Dictionary.com: a tale, esp. a long story of adventure or incredible happenings: He spun a yarn that outdid any I had ever heard.
"spin a yarn" は慣用句としても辞書に載っていました。
・American Herritage Dictionary: Tell a story, especially a long drawn-out or totally fanciful one, as in This author really knows how to spin a yarn, or Whenever he's late he spins some yarn about a crisis. Originally a nautical term dating from about 1800, this expression probably owes its life to the fact that it embodies a double meaning, yarn signifying both "spun fiber" and "a tale."
Someone suggested that the new Spanish-speaking immigrants might benefit from classes taught in their native language. Furious, Ma picked up the King James Version of the New Testament and shouted, "If English was good enough for Jesus, it's good for Texas!"
Ma has been credited with this goofy statement by New York Times columnist William Safire and Texas humourist Kinky Friedman, among others, none of whom has ever cited a source. Of course, that would be difficult. Ma Ferguson was a college-educated progressive, and it's highly unlikely she said it. The yarn, in fact, dates to at least 1881, when Ferguson was six.
演説や新聞記事などで著名人の言葉が引用されることは多いのですが、この引用された言葉を誰が最初に使ったのかについては結構間違いが多いことを話題にした記事です。オバマ大統領やケネディ大統領も演説で間違って引用していると実例をあげていました。 ところで上に引用した最後の文の "yarn" は毛糸では無いのは確かですが、何でしょう。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: the act of giving an account describing incidents or a course of events
・Dictionary.com: a tale, esp. a long story of adventure or incredible happenings: He spun a yarn that outdid any I had ever heard.
"spin a yarn" は慣用句としても辞書に載っていました。
・American Herritage Dictionary: Tell a story, especially a long drawn-out or totally fanciful one, as in This author really knows how to spin a yarn, or Whenever he's late he spins some yarn about a crisis. Originally a nautical term dating from about 1800, this expression probably owes its life to the fact that it embodies a double meaning, yarn signifying both "spun fiber" and "a tale."
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