User:Jeffq/Notes

Levels of quoting accuracy

 * 1) Quote with no attribution or source.
 * 2) * Includes all "Anonymous" quotes unless attribution to "Anonymous" is from a reliable source.
 * 3) Quote with attribution, but no source.
 * 4) Quote with attribution, but unreliable source.
 * 5) Quote with attribution and a reliable source, but not verified.
 * 6) Quote attributed, reliably sourced, and verified to match the source.

At the start of 2007, I estimate that over 90% of quotes currently in Wikiquote are at no higher a level than "2", and an unconscionable number are at "1".

Arguments about quote pithiness

 * Only funny in context.
 * [From Terminator 2: Judgment Day.]
 * John Connor: Jesus! You were gonna kill that guy!
 * The Terminator: Of course. I'm a Terminator.
 * What's funny is how nonchalant Ah-nold was in nearly blowing away a bystander, and how we were led to forget his essential dangerousness. It's lost in the plain text of the quote.


 * Great moment, but only if you can see it.
 * [From Veronica Mars episode "Kanes and Abel's".]
 * [Veronica is leaving the office of sleazy P.I. Vinnie Vanlowe.]
 * Veronica: And... you have a little something on your face.
 * [Vinnie leans toward her. She reaches up, rips off his fake moustache, and exits.]
 * Vinnie: That is not cool!

Arguments about POV

 * Quotes that can support opposite sides.
 * [From folk singer Tom Morgan's "The John T. Scopes Trial (The Old Religion's Better After All)".]
 * You may find a new belief
 * It will only bring you grief
 * For a house that's built on sand is sure to fall.
 * Argued that evolution was a "new belief", and "that the old religion's better after all". But equally (and possibly more) plausible to argue that religion is built on sand — the famously unreliable nature of recorded history and superstitious beliefs — rather than scientific evidence that can be tested repeatedly by anyone, anytime.

Statistics

 * over 4,500 WQ usernames created between 2005-09-07 and 2006-04-21
 * 9,322 WQ usernames as of 02:36, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Quote-based observations

 * Evidence of decline of thinking in America, from The Tonight Show, 29 June 2006
 * Jay Leno: You must love the Rush Limbaugh Viagra story.
 * Robin Williams: First of all, it seems, like, a little redundant for him to take Viagra you know? [silence] The fact that he takes it, he gets taller. You know, it's a wonderful— [finally some laughter] I mean, why, what do you need, right… it's a hard thing, when he's a big prick already—
 * [Now, laughs and applause.]
 * Leno: Ho!
 * Note that the first punch line ("a little redundant") was completely missed by all, the second ("he gets taller") only fitfully appreciated, and the third required an explicit use of the phrase "big prick" for most people to get the joke. No wonder MST3K went over the heads of so many people.

Useful websites

 * Critical Thinking on the Web (thanks, Versageek!)