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“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” is a little exaggerated itself. Find out the real story behind this famous quote.

Some time ago a report of Mark Twain’s death was sent to England, and one of his English friends cabled to Hartford to ascertain if it were true. Mark at once cabled back: “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated”. In January 1898 “The Niobrara Tribune” of Nebraska printed a version of the anecdote with the adjective “grossly”: 11

Tomorrow is the anniversary of Mark Twain’s famous and often-distorted observation, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” As I described in my 2006 book, The Year That Defined American Journalism , Twain’s comment was prompted by an article published June 1, 1897 , in the New York Herald .

However, Paine’s “grossly exaggerated” version and “The report of my death has been greatly exaggerated,” which seems to be a colloquial variation of Paine’s line, are better known and commonly assumed to be actual quotes by Twain. Of course, as Twain wrote in his book Following the Equator, published in November 1897:

Origin of Reports of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated. This expression comes from the famous American author Samuel Clemens, whose pen name was Mark Twain. Despite being one of the most well known authors today, in the year 1897, Mark Twain was in debt. He had decided to travel to London in order to do a speaking tour, in order to earn ...

Death is so kind, so benignant, to whom he loves; but he goes by us others & will not look our way. - Letter to William D. Howells, 20 December 1898 A distinguished man should be as particular about his last words as he is about his last breath. He should write them out on a slip of paper and take the judgment of his friends on them.

The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated definition: . See examples of THE REPORTS OF MY DEATH ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED used in a sentence.

The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated; The rich get richer and the poor get poorer; The road less travelled; About the Author. Gary Martin. Writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one ...

Misquotation: “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated” The expression derives from the popular form of a longer statement by the American writer, Mark Twain, which appeared in the New York Journal of 2 June 1897: ‘The report of my death was an exaggeration’. The correction was occasioned by newspaper accounts of Twain’s being ill or dead.

“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,” or “The reports of my death are grossly exaggerated” have become some of the most famous quotes by Twain, but they aren’t 100% accurate! There are many misquoted versions of the above that stem from a Mark Twain biography by Albert Bigelow Paine published in 1912 (two years after ...

' "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." (Actually, in 1897, when reports of the illness of James Ross Clemens, a cousin, were somehow misconstrued to mean that Twain himself was lying at death's door in London, he cleared up matters by telling the reporter who'd stopped by to check on him that "The report of my death was an ...

Well, not in April 1910, when the great American humorist Samuel Clemens actually died. Then they were right on the money. But you're probably thinking of 1897, when Twain is reputed to have read a newspaper account of his death and announced, "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." In fact, there are two problems with this story.

However, all of the commonly-heard versions using “greatly exaggerated” or “grossly exaggerated” are misquotes. As noted in many scholarly books of quotations and explained in a post on my This Day in Quotes blog, what Twain actually said was “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”

Quipping that the "rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated," pastor John MacArthur said this week he feels great and is ready to preach again.

"The reports of my death have been greatly..." - Mark Twain quotes from BrainyQuote.com

“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” ― Mark Twain tags: death, humor. Read more quotes from Mark Twain. Share this quote: Like Quote. Recommend to friends. Friends Who Liked This Quote. To see what your friends thought of this quote, please sign up! 336 likes All Members Who Liked This Quote ...

The report of my illness grew out of his illness." The quotation is usually reported as "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." Much earlier (5 July 1863), the following appeared in a letter by Twain to the Territorial Enterprise: "There was a report about town, last night, that Charles Strong, Esq

Say the report is exaggerated. ATTRIBUTION: MARK TWAIN (Samuel L. Clemens), “The Report of My Death,” Mark Twain in Eruption, ed. Bernard De Voto, pp. 252–53 (1940). In 1897, Twain was living in London where a cousin, Dr. Jim Clemens, fell ill. The newspapers, believing Twain was near death, sent reporters to investigate.

The report of my death was an exaggeration. Summary. This quote, often attributed to Mark Twain, suggests that rumors of someone's demise have been greatly exaggerated. It implies that despite widespread speculation or reports, the person is still very much alive. By using humor and irony, the quote highlights the flawed and unreliable nature ...

The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Summary. This quote is often attributed to the American writer and humorist Mark Twain. It suggests that there have been incorrect reports or exaggerated speculation about the speaker's demise. In a figurative sense, the quote highlights the tendency of information to be distorted or ...