Famous Movie Misquotations

Fred Shapiro rounds up famous quotations from movies that for one reason or another—compression, clarity, cadence, to name a few—are altered in our collective memory. A sampling from the On Language column in the New York Times Sunday magazine:

• "Greed is good." (Wall Street). Orginal: "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.”
• "Do you feel lucky, punk?" (Dirty Harry). Condensed from: “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?”
• "Play it again, Sam." (Casablanca). Original: “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.’ ”

• "If you build it, they will come." (Field of Dreams). Original: "If you build it, he will come."
• "Judy, Judy, Judy." Cary Grant never said this in a movie. Ditto Mae West on "Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"
• "Me Tarzan, You Jane." (Tarzan the Apeman). Johnny Weissmuller alternately tapped himself and Jane, repeating, "Jane ... Tarzan."
• "You dirty rat." James Cagney never quite said it, but he came close: "You dirty, yellow-bellied rat” and “dirty, double-crossing rat.”

Read the full list here.
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